How can you build a train-the-trainer program to teach volunteer diversity training?

1 Assess your needs

Before you start designing your train-the-trainer program, you need to assess your current situation and identify your goals and gaps. Some questions to ask yourself are: How diverse is your volunteer pool? What are the main diversity issues or challenges they face? How do they interact with each other and with the people they serve? What are the learning outcomes you want to achieve with your diversity training? How many volunteers do you need to train and how often? How will you measure the impact of your training?

2 Select your trainers

The next step is to select the volunteers who will become your trainers. You want to choose volunteers who have a passion for diversity, a willingness to learn and share, and a good rapport with their peers. You also want to consider their availability, commitment, and communication skills. Depending on your needs and resources, you may want to have a small or large group of trainers, or a mix of experienced and novice trainers. You can recruit your trainers through various channels, such as newsletters, social media, word-of-mouth, or referrals.

3 Develop your curriculum

Once you have your trainers, you need to develop your diversity training curriculum. This is the core of your train-the-trainer program, as it will provide the content and structure for your training sessions. Your curriculum should be aligned with your learning outcomes, relevant to your volunteer context, and interactive and engaging for your learners. You can use various methods and tools to deliver your training, such as presentations, videos, games, case studies, role plays, or quizzes. You should also include activities and exercises that will help your trainers practice their facilitation skills and receive feedback.

5 Conduct your training

The next step is to conduct your train-the-trainer program, where you will teach your trainers how to deliver your diversity training curriculum. You can choose to do this in person or online, depending on your preferences and possibilities. You should plan your training sessions carefully, taking into account the time, location, and format of your program. You should also create a positive and supportive learning environment, where you can model good facilitation practices, encourage participation and collaboration, and address questions and concerns.

6 Follow up and evaluate

The last step is to follow up and evaluate your train-the-trainer program, as well as the diversity training sessions that your trainers will deliver. You should maintain regular communication with your trainers, providing them with guidance, support, and recognition. You should also collect feedback from your trainers and their learners, using various methods and indicators, such as surveys, interviews, observations, or testimonials. You should use this feedback to measure the effectiveness and impact of your training, and to identify areas for improvement and innovation.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?