Testimonials

    adam stoffel, a man with short brown hair who’s wearing glasses and a button-down shirt and tie, smiles while standing in front of a light-colored background

    Compelling

    ❝ Really compelling way to both learn something new and having interesting conversations with teammates. Everyone enjoyed the activities and the content quite a bit. ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Adam Stoffel, Founder & Head of Operations
        Caravel Labs

    Changes The Way You Think

    ❝ It changes the way you think about common things! ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    ahran lee, a woman with long dark-brown hair who’s wearing glasses and a multicolored sleeveless top, smiles while sitting in front of a pink-colored background

    Real & Vulnerable & Fun

    ❝ The art making created a gentle space for connection which beautifully primed us to be more vulnerable and open with navigating JEDI conversations. Thank you for making this experience not feel like one of those "mandatory" jedi workshops. It felt real and vulnerable and fun! ❞

    8 out of 10

    — Ahran Lee, Facilitator & Multidisciplinary Artist

    I Haven't Forgotten It A Week Later

    ❝ [My favorite part of this online workshop was] the honesty that it facilitated and how much I learned about topics I thought I was well versed in. Also - BEING CREATIVE!

    Thank you Liz & Ta! Initially I was upset because I felt the weight and guilt of systemic injustice being a white person that also struggles with barely having a seat at the table myself because of my gender. However, over time and with reflection, I found this incredibly powerful and I haven't forgotten it a week later. Most training is forgotten in a handful of hours.

    [I'd describe it to someone else as] an unexpectedly creative workshop that engages the right brain and encourages one to be open, honest, and vulnerable. ❞

    9 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    almavasquez, a woman with long dark-brown hair who’s wearing a blue and white striped blouse, sits on a couch resting her chin on her fist and smiles

    Magic

    ❝ Magic & Practical ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Alma Vasquez, Coach

    Excited To Share It With My Kids

    ❝ A wonderful team building experience that encourages open mindedness without necessarily laying on guilt. I’m excited to share the activities and ideas with my kids. ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    brianna brown, a woman with long brown hair who’s wearing a black short-sleeved top, smiles while leaning forward and clasping her hands

    Broke Down Barriers

    ❝ Exceptional team building activity that got us out of our day to day work and into conversation with one another. Learning from innovators in Mexico, we learned about different cultural perspectives on inclusive design in an extremely approachable way. Creating a craft together broke down barriers and allowed us to have a very real and critical discussion about concepts related to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Brianna Brown, Co-Founder
        Decade Impact

    Inspiring

    ❝ Fun, well put together, inspiring! ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    Non-Threatening Way To Get Concrete

    ❝ I liked the final discussion on breaking down JEDI as it applies to our work! It was a quick and non-threatening way to get concrete about how we can be more thoughtful about it in different facets of our work.❞

    7 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    claudia meier, a woman with short dark-brown hair who's wearing a glasses and a blue top, smiles while standing in front of a brick wall

    Wonderful

    ❝ [Smith Assembly's] work was wonderful on so many levels! ❞

    — Claudia Meier, Europe Lead
        Build Up

    Cross-Cultural

    ❝ Opportunity to learn about JEDI from a cross-cultural perspective! ❞

    8 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    Respectful & Particularly Effective

    ❝ I really enjoyed the workshop, it inspired very good discussions during and afterwards. Liz and Ta have high emotional intelligence which makes their facilitation style respectful and particularly effective. ❞

    — Elizabeth Cross Nichol, Co-Founder
        APIS Health Angels

    emily mcgill, a woman with brown bunned hair who’s wearing a knit scarf, smiles while standing outside near a river

    Invaluable Thought Partner

    ❝ Smith Assembly acted as an invaluable thought partner throughout the development of our first-ever Building Your Circular Strategy workshop series. Along with the hard knowledge upgrade they provided for our curriculum, we benefitted from their clear depth of knowledge and ability to sense, identify and communicate around our unseen gaps in our teaching methods. ❞

    ❝ [Smith Assembly] answered our call to improve accessibility, and went above and beyond to advise us on practical ways to translate the complexity of our material into more digestible exercises, considering a range of learning styles. Working with Liz and Ta, we benefitted from their rapport, professionalism, and flexibility with our changing and emergent needs. This modeled for us some of the principles for how our team would also like to act in our own consulting services. ❞

    — Emily McGill, Collaboration Strategist
        Textile Lab for Circularity

    Inspirational & Life-Enriching

    ❝ The discussion on JEDI was very inspirational. A very life-enriching experience. ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    heather ramsey, a woman with shoulder-length blond hair who’s wearing hoop earrings and a green blouse, smiles while sitting in front of an off-white background

    Discuss Areas Difficult To Bring Up

    ❝ It offers a way to discuss some areas that are difficult to bring up naturally with our teams. Appreciate the dynamic between the two of you and the way you integrate the ability for participants to choose their path. Thank YOU! ❞

    8 out of 10

    — Heather Ramsey, Managing Partner
        Soujourn Partners

    Fun & Engaging

    ❝ Great experience, fun and engaging! ❞

    9 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    Skilled At Facilitating

    ❝ As a seasoned diversity and inclusion consultant, I was impressed at how much new information I learned from the discussions with Smith Assembly. Their talented professionals are skilled at facilitating group discussions in meaningful ways that help all participants to grow. ❞

    — Heather Tarman, President & CEO
        Infin8 Solutions

    jennifer hogg, a woman with dark shoulder-length hair who’s wearing glasses and a nose ring, smiles

    Get You Thinking In Different Ways

    ❝ This hands-on, interactive workshop will get you thinking in different ways about yourself, your team, and the concepts within JEDI. The fun activities get you working together in a different way that is a nice break from the usual workday. ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Jennifer Hogg, Client Services Manager
        DreamRider Productions Society

    Time To Create But Also Connect

    ❝ I really enjoyed engaging in building something and sharing that experience with my colleagues. It was time to create but also connect and learn more about each other. It was great! Glad I had the opportunity to participate in this workshop! ❞

    9 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    Get To Know A Culture

    ❝ A great and fun way to get to know a culture! ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    Enjoyed All Aspects

    ❝ [My favorite part of this online workshop was] is a hard question to answer. I honestly enjoyed all aspects and the way they fit together. [I'd describe it to someone else as] fun, relaxed, educational, participatory, interactive, and engaging. Thank you! ❞

    8 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    kristy o'leary, a woman with dark-brown bunned hair who’s wearing glasses and a black sweater, smiles while sitting in front of a plant and framed mirror

    Uniquely Powerful & Moving

    ❝ A new take on JEDI conversations. We were completely blown away by how good the workshop was. The experience definitely forced me to reframe my thoughts about pre-recorded content; it can be uniquely powerful and moving. The exercises went quite quickly... time flies when you're having fun I suppose! I will do more workshops with Smith Assembly! ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Kristy O’Leary, Co-Founder
        Decade Impact

    Casual Icebreaking & Deep Conversations

    ❝ [My favorite part of this online workshop was] the hands-on project because I enjoy crafts and not having to stare at a screen. The workshop was a nice mix of casual icebreaking activities and deep conversation. ❞

    8 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    Heads, Hearts, & Hands

    ❝ Smith Assembly's virtual workshop was powerful and moving in that it not only illustrated the capacity of co-design to change people's lives, but it cleverly incorporated design opportunities so that the viewers themselves could fully participate in the course with their heads, hearts, and hands. Ultimately, it affirmed my commitment as a development professional to incorporate user-generated design activities in my work and it inspired me to push the limits of virtual learning when working with students at MIT D-Lab. ❞

    — Libby McDonald, Inclusive Economies Specialist & Lecturer
        MIT D-Lab

    lisa-hemingway, a woman with short dark-brown hair who’s wearing a khaki blouse, smiles while standing outside in a grassy area

    Got Us Out Of 'Work' Mode

    ❝ [My favorite part of this online workshop was] the icebreaker. So eye-opening and got us all out of 'work' mode. Well done. : ) It was a lot of fun and we're all going to try to continue the D&I convo on slack. ❞

    8 out of 10

    — Lisa Hemingway, Co-Owner + Director of Creativity & Opportunities
        iilo Creative Alliance

    Creative Workshop

    ❝ This is a creative workshop that lets you understand different contexts and apply creative thinking to design solutions as many other communities do with their limited resources. ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Rodrigo Condado, Media Guru
        iLab

    Fun

    ❝ We had fun! ❞

    8 out of 10

    — Anonymous

    Open Doorways To Deep Conversation

    ❝ It is a fun creative workshop designed to get your team into a collaborative space and open doorways to deep conversation on important change making topics that matter to the world. ❞

    7 out of 10

    — Sara Holt, Founding Member
        DreamRider Productions

    sher vogel, a woman with shoulder-length brown hair who’s wearing a white scarf, smiles while standing in a building

    Community Builder

    ❝ A great time to connect and create. I found this much more enjoyable than an online dance party or virtual happy hour with drinking. I think this could be a great "truly happy hour" community builder. ❞

    10 out of 10

    — Sher Vogel, Global Trainings Manager
        MIT D-Lab

    subham kundu, a man with short dark-brown hair and beard who’s wearing a hoodie, smiles while standing in front of a purple-colored background

    Great Learning

    ❝ You will have a great learning. ❞

    9 out of 10

    — Subham Kundu, Engineer
        Caravel Labs

    tom malone, a man with short gray hair who’s wearing a white button-down shirt, smiles while standing in front of a dark-colored background

    Approachable & Productive

    ❝ Smith Assembly made the concepts of JEDI feel approachable. The things I learned in their workshop helped me have more open and productive conversations afterwards. ❞

    — Tom Malone, CEO
        VR Ulysses