Authentic allyship involves actively supporting and advocating for marginalized groups, rather than just passively expressing sympathy. To engage people in becoming effective allies, it is important to educate them on the experiences and struggles of marginalized communities and to emphasize the importance of taking action to create change.

Evidence-based strategies have been shown to improve relations due to allyship, which our guest, Allison Mahaley, has generously shared in this episode.

By following these principles and strategies, individuals can become effective allies and work towards creating a more equitable and just society.

The focus is on discussing authentic allyship and how to engage people to become effective allies. Evidence-based strategies that have improved relations through allyship are also explored. Additionally, principles for engaging and being an ally are discussed.

Guest Bio:
Allison Mahaley, MSA
Partner, The Dialogue Company, LLC
Co-Founder and CEO, Red Fern, LLC
Certified High Performance Learning Journey (HPLJ) Designer
Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Conflict Styles (ICS)TM
Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)TM

Allison is an anti-racism trainer, learning designer, public speaker, and change consultant. After a decade in the classroom, she earned her Masters in School Leadership from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2008 with a focus on equity, excellence, and change management. 

As an educator, she consistently succeeded in closing both achievement and discipline gaps. After 20 years as an educational leader, she entered the world of advocacy to address structural racism through education and community organizing. She was awarded several grants to complete projects focused on increasing awareness and commitment to equity in local communities. In 2015, she founded Red Fern, LLC a consulting company focused on creating Virtual Reality (VR) experiences to
increase human understanding. She continues to lead Red Fern as the CEO.

In 2018, she joined the Dialogue Company as a co-facilitator of the Ally Conversation Toolkit Workshop, and her work as an anti-racism trainer entered the corporate arena. She earned a certificate in High-Performance Learning Journey design (HPLJ) in 2019 and worked to translate the ACT toolkit into a transformative learning
experience applicable across domains. Thousands of workshop participants have now experienced the transformative power of effective dialogue as a tool to advance racial equity.

In 2021, Allison became a Partner at the Dialogue Company, focusing on customized learning design and training delivery with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

As a learning intervention designer, Allison partners with clients to understand their goals with regard to DEI. She uses multiple methods including but not limited to, the Intercultural Development InventoryTM and the

Conflict Style InventoryTM to assess current beliefs and institutional culture and structure. She then crafts learning interventions to help groups and individuals connect anti-racism efforts to performance metrics and tangible outcomes. She has taught scores of large-group workshops for corporations and nonprofits large and
small, facilitated large and small group dialogues, and designed many multi- stage learning journeys – all with the focus on raising individual awareness to recognize and overcome bias and barriers to equity and inclusion.

Allison is heavily involved in her local community, serving on the Human Relations Commission, the Board of her religious congregation, the executive board and equity committee of the NC Council of Churches, and the

Secretary in her local branch of the NAACP.

Contact:
Web: allisonmahaley.com/contact