Sunday, Oct 15, 6-8 pm on Zoom. Join facilitator Amihan Mattias to learn more about bias, its impacts, and how to recognize and challenge our own biases.

 Unconscious biases are stereotypes or assumptions that a person makes about a certain group of individuals outside of their own conscious awareness. Implicit biases exist because a person’s “conscious brain” can only process about 40 bits of information per second, leaving the “unconscious brain” to process the rest. To do so, the “unconscious brain” continually runs in the background and quickly filters, prioritizes, and categorizes information, so that the “conscious brain” can focus on the information it deems most important. When this process is applied to the characteristics of groups of people, the brain creates stereotypes. When people apply these stereotypes to interactions and decisions about others, it can lead to discrimination.

Unconscious bias training helps make people aware that unconscious bias exists and helps them take steps to reduce the likelihood that bias will impact their decisions. Raising awareness is critical in combatting the influence of implicit bias. When people understand that they have implicit biases, they are more likely to take steps to slow down their decision-making process. This allows their more logical brain to make decisions instead of relying on their gut instinct, which can be influenced by bias.

In this workshop participants will:

• Learn what unconscious bias is.
• Explore the impact of unconscious bias.
• Begin to recognize our own unconscious bias.
• Discuss ways to address and challenge our bias and stereotypes.