KEYNOTE SPEAKER
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ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT

Lauren N. Nile is an attorney who has worked for the past fifteen years as an organizational development consultant specializing in providing assistance to organizations in the areas of cultural diversity and inclusivity, sexual harassment, equal employment opportunity, team building, leadership, effective communication, ethics, and conflict resolution. At the selection of the Equal Employment Opportunity Office of the Executive Office of the President, (EOP) Ms. Nile conducted the first office-wide sexual harassment training for the EOP during the eight years of the Clinton administration. She has also conducted Equal Employment Opportunity training for the EOP, which included members of the White House staff. At the request of The U.S. Information Agency, Ms. Nile traveled to Jordan and Gaza to speak with members of the press, university groups and Palestinian womens' groups on issues of cultural and gender diversity in the American workplace. Additionally, at the request of the U.S. State Department's Office of International Information Programs, Ms. Nile delivered keynote addresses on workplace diversity in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo Brazil. She was selected by the Texaco Corporation to be a member of its national diversity training team. In her former capacity as Director of Training for The National MultiCultural Institute, Ms. Nile authored the nationally recognized Guide for Diversity Trainers Manual. As a consultant, she has worked with Fortune 500 corporations, governmental agencies and non-profit organizations. Ms. Nile produces and directs her own Los Angeles-based cable television show, "Conversations with Lauren".

As a workshop facilitator, Ms. Nile is active and engaging. At the individual level, her very practical and dynamic presentations captivate and challenge participants to achieve higher levels of self-awareness and thus personal growth. At the group level, her work is designed to foster insight, dialogue, understanding and transformation. Ms. Nile's sessions are highly experiential. She uses interactive, adult learning techniques including role play, video, simulations, small group work, large group discussion and lecturette. Her background in both philosophy and law supports an insightful, yet practical approach to complex social issues. As an attorney with a professional background in both Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action, Ms. Nile is able to inform participants of both the human and the legal ramifications of engaging in prohibited behaviors.

Ms. Nile's fervor for a just social order greatly influenced her professional career choices. She began her career as Assistant Dean of Admissions at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. In that position, she co-founded the New England Consortium of Black Admissions Counselors, (NECBAC), coordinated the university's Minority Students Admission Program and recruited students-of-color from Ghana, Puerto Rico, and across the U.S. Ms. Nile has consistently worked in the public arena. She has been an Equal Opportunity Specialist in the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education. After her first year of law school, Ms. Nile did a summer internship at the Women's Rights Project of the ACLU. The summer after her second year, she interned in the Harlem Legal Aid Office. After law school, Ms. Nile worked for the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau in the unit which represents abused and neglected children. She then served as Staff Attorney for the Women's Equity Action League in Washington, D.C. Ms. Nile subsequently acted as Assistant Counsel for the National Treasury Employees Union in Washington, D.C.

In addition to consulting, Ms. Nile is often asked to deliver keynote addresses on a variety of gender and cultural issues. Speaking on those issues, she has been interviewed on National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" and Pacifica Radio's "Julienne Malveaux Show". In addition, Ms. Nile has been interviewed on the Fox Network Morning News and has been quoted in the Washington Post, Business Week and the Christian Science Monitor.

The goal of Ms. Nile's work is to help organizations create work environments in which every individual, irrespective of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, class, language or any other difference, is both equally welcomed and equally valued. Ms. Nile holds a B.A. degree in Philosophy from The University of New Orleans, an M.A. degree in Philosophy from The University of Connecticut and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Cornell University's School of Law.