NEW YORK, NY – Return On InclusionTM (ROI) announced today that its full slate of training modules is now available. ROI is a groundbreaking online diversity and inclusion education platform designed to develop inclusive leaders in college athletics and foster a culture of belonging across social and cultural differences.
With ROI, coaches, athletics administrators and staff have a unique opportunity to engage in an impactful, relevant and personalized mode of learning that leverages technology as higher education adapts to a new reality of socially-distanced and online learning. Topics for ROI’s six self-paced online modules include:
- Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Foundations
- Cultural Competence & Managing Relationships
- Overcoming Bias & Decoding Microaggressions
- Unpacking Racism, Anti-Racism & Privilege
- LGBTQ+ Inclusion & Gender Stereotypes
- Inclusive Leadership & Strategic Plan Development
Instruction in all six modules is provided by ROI founder Nevin Caple, a national thought leader on diversity, inclusion and belonging in sport. The curriculum was developed by Caple in collaboration with the ROI advisory board – a diverse group of college athletics administrators and scholars from around the country. "I am thrilled to share ROI with the community I care so deeply about,” Caple said. “We should all have access to the tools we need to do our jobs most effectively. I hope ROI will serve as a catalyst for many institutions to prioritize learning for coaches, athletic administrators, and staff as they embark on their inclusive leadership journey."
Board members Resa Lovelace and Yannick Kluch emphasize that ROI will give clients a strong foundation on which to build inclusive communities and athletic departments. "Over the last few months, we have seen an increased awareness by administrators, coaches and student-athletes on creating an inclusive community,” Lovelace said. “In many of these conversations it's been geared towards finding a solid foundation of understanding and learning that everyone can be centered on. I believe that any person that goes through the ROI modules will have the solid foundation that they need in order to move the needle forward within their athletic, campus and greater community. ROI will lead people to thinking about how to support all identities of members within their community."
“One of the strengths of ROI is that it brings together a diverse set of leaders from across the intercollegiate athletics community to create an innovative and timely curriculum that empowers participants to drive strategic change in their athletic departments and beyond,” Kluch said. “Given the multiple crises we are facing at the societal level, ROI’s fully online training opportunities provide an important first step in promoting inclusive excellence.”
As coaches and administrators complete the training, they will be better equipped to support and mentor student-athletes from diverse social and cultural backgrounds. Those who successfully complete all six modules will earn the ROI Inclusive Leader Certificate, recognizing their personal investment in developing the skills and competencies necessary to support student-athletes across differences. The ROI modules can be purchased individually or as part of the Inclusive Leader Certificate Bundle. Several college athletic departments have signed up for the complete curriculum. See what some of our clients have to say below:
Lori Runksmeier, Eastern Connecticut State Athletic Director
“Learning to respect, and even enjoy, the differences among teammates is one of the benefits sport can provide. We are looking to work with ROI to maximize our student-athletes’ understanding of both diversity and inclusion. By doing so, we believe we can make the Warrior team even stronger.”
UW-River Falls Associate Athletics Director, Kellen Wells-Mangold
“Though there is a great focus on diversity, equity and inclusion right now across the country, it has been a focus for our athletics department as a whole for a while and something we see as a priority. The ROI program meets our needs right now in that we can’t bring experts to campus to help us focus on these things, but we can utilize this platform to learn and grow as a department for the benefit of our staff, student-athletes, and campus community as a whole.”
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About Return On Inclusion
Return On InclusionTM (ROI) is a sport-specific diversity and inclusion education platform dedicated to developing inclusive leaders and fostering a culture of belonging across social and cultural differences. Our self-paced modules standardize learning methods, deepening our commitment to help every coach and athletic administrator develop the skills and competencies necessary to support student-athletes and achieve inclusive excellence in programs, policies and practices. The ROI Advisory Board includes national thought leaders in college athletics who have made significant contributions to fostering inclusive teams and programs:
Board Chair, Resa Lovelace (Maryland), DaWon Baker (Nebraska), Isa Berardo (Pomona-Pitzer), Cherish Burks (Alabama), Clyde Doughty (Bowie State), Kim Doran (Ohio State), Jessica Duff (Bates), Jaide-Hinds Clarke (Richmond), Katie Harbert (Oregon), Noah Knight (Kansas City Athletics), Yannick Kluch (Rowan), Jacqie McWilliams (CIAA), John Square (GW), Maria Sanchez (Northwestern), Whitney Johnson (NCAA).
Visit roinclusion.com or follow @ROInclusion on Twitter for more information.
Press Contact
Kyle Chilton (he/him)
801-372-2080