Our Approach
Exposed Brick Theatre consulting aims to create a society in which all
communities can experience safety, belonging and agency. We strive to create
inclusion, equity, belonging and justice in all communities and workplaces by
building safe and culturally responsive spaces and systems. In our work with
organizations, we place a great deal of importance on relationship and trust
building. We believe that this creates a cohesive group dynamic where
meaningful change can happen while maintaining the dignity of all. We also
believe that developing equitable, inclusive and just environments requires a set
of important leadership skills that lead to the sustainable outcomes of an
organization’s efforts. Therefore, all of our sessions focus on building one or
more of the following key intercultural skills needed for inclusion and equity.
- Self Awareness
- Empathy
- Flexibility and Tolerance for Ambiguity
- Curiosity
- Patience
- Listening
We believe that everyone’s story matters. All of our workshops incorporate
aspects of personal storytelling as a way to practice and develop the
intercultural skills above.
Our Workshops
Workshops
Creating a Culture of Belonging - Stories of Equity & Inclusion
Participants will be guided through personal story sharing and listening as a
way to create belonging and equity. We will practice a mindful listening
technique while also demonstrating courage and vulnerability by sharing our
own stories. We will also engage in creating space for multiple perspectives
and unpack how different people may experience and be impacted by
belonging and non-belonging.
Self Awareness & Equity
Participants engage in a deeper understanding of their own social identities. They will learn how these identities shape assumptions, interpretations and judgements that can lead to implicit and explicit bias in daily interactions.
Perspective Taking
Participants learn and apply a four-step perspective taking technique in
which they practice understanding and empathizing with perspectives they
may strongly disagree, while learning to bridge across disagreement.
How to Be An Ally
This workshop engages participants in exercises and techniques to develop
the skills necessary to be an effective ally. Participants will learn what it means
to be an ally and will practice important allyship skills through case studies
and scenarios designed to prepare them for real life situations. This workshop
will also discuss the bystander effect and will address how our own identities
and experiences can either hinder or help us in situations requiring us to
intervene.
Somatic Reslience
This workshop helps participants identify their own stress responses of fight,
flight, freeze and appease that arise when confronting difficult situations
around race, gender, ability and all the differences that make a difference
when it comes to access disparities. Participants will learn how these stress
responses can hinder action and create obstacles to change. We will practice
how to sit in and get through the discomfort that arises from these stress
responses so that meaningful action and change can happen.
About Us
Aamera Siddiqui
Aamera Siddiqui’s experience navigating across cultural difference began early in life. By the age of thirteen she had resided in five different countries and three separate continents. Her experiences as a global nomad in Tanzania, Zambia, India, the United States and North Yemen provided experiences in multiple cultures, languages and religions thus sparking a strong interest in Intercultural Competence. Having lived outside her comfort zone her entire life, Siddiqui is passionate about developing empathy and understanding and building work communities where everyone experiences belonging.
Siddiqui is a certified Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Administrator. Since 2004, she has been using the IDI to develop stage appropriate training and interventions designed to assist organizations increase cultural competence and develop inclusive work environments. As a consultant, she has worked with numerous organizations including K-12 schools, universities and colleges and both public and private foundations.
Aamera is also a playwright and has penned five plays. Her plays exist in the hyphens – in the intersections where racial, cultural, religious and gender identities meet with politics and patriarchy. Through her work she aims to empower narratives that are silenced and omitted from mainstream arts and culture
Suzy Messerole
Suzy Messerole grew up in a town of 400 and has been climbing the population ladder ever since. As a child, the local library was her lifeline, allowing her to travel the world through books. Her wild imagination sometimes got her into trouble, but it was also her greatest strength. And she knew her calling was a creative one from a very young age.
As a queer director, activist, teacher & consultant in the Twin Cities, she has spent the last 30 years using that creativity at the intersection of theater and social change. She is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory & has been working alongside Aamera Siddiqui as an consultant for the past 5 years, co-facilitating numerous trainings with schools, universities, arts organizations, foundations, and more.
Suzy is a passionate advocate for greater equity & inclusivity in the arts. She has directed numerous new works for the stage, particularly plays written by Aamera Siddiqui. In addition to Exposed Brick, Suzy is a lead organizer with the Million Artists Movement, a cooperative arts organization that believes in the power of art to dismantle racist systems. She is also the co-founder of The Subversive Sirens, a social justice synchronized swimming team. Whether in the classroom as a teacher, on a stage as a director, in a conference room as a facilitator, or in the pool as a swimmer - Suzy uses the tools of intercultural competency to create spaces where everyone experiences a sense of belonging.