Organizational Considerations for Working with the Global Majority: A Somatic Lens by Shannarese Sims, MA, LPC

January 6, 2025
LEAP

“Organizational Considerations for Working with the Global Majority: A Somatic Lens”

by Shannarese Sims, MA, LPC

Organizations striving for equity and inclusion often focus on external impact while overlooking the internal dynamics that affect their most valuable asset: their staff. Shannarese Sims, MA, LPC, offers a transformative resource, “Organizational Considerations for Working with the Global Majority: A Somatic Lens,” to help organizations bridge this gap.

This project serves as a guide for victim-service agencies and advocacy organizations to reflect on their workplace practices through a somatic lens. By doing so, they can better understand how racialized stressors, vicarious trauma, and re-traumatization uniquely affect the global majority in their work environments.

Why a Somatic Lens?

Historical and lived experiences of oppression often manifest not just in thought but in the body. Racialized stress, institutional trauma, and systemic inequities impact how individuals physically express and experience stress. A somatic lens allows organizations to identify these patterns, fostering a culture that prioritizes healing and resilience.

Key Benefits of this Resource

  • Addressing Re-Traumatization: Highlights workplace practices that may inadvertently harm staff from the Global Majority, emphasizing the importance of creating vicarious trauma-informed structures.
  • Fostering Healthy Workplace Cultures: Encourages organizations to adopt practices that acknowledge and mitigate racialized stressors, ensuring a sustainable and supportive environment for staff.
  • Supporting Diverse Teams: Designed for victim-service and advocacy organizations with culturally and gender-diverse teams, this resource offers practical strategies to honor and support staff’s unique experiences and needs.

Who Can Benefit?

This resource is tailored for organizations committed to serving diverse communities, whether broadly inclusive or culturally specific. It’s especially relevant for agencies working within systems of advocacy, victim services, and social justice, where staff are often directly impacted by the traumas they work to address.

By integrating the somatic insights and strategies offered in this guide, organizations can take meaningful steps toward equity, healing, and sustainability—not just for the communities they serve but for the people doing the work.

Visit the document below to explore Organizational Considerations for Working with the Global Majority: A Somatic Lens and learn how to create a workplace culture that truly supports and empowers your team.

Organizational Considerations for Working with the Global Majority