About Intercultural Innovations Inc.
“Children learn more from what you are than what you teach.”
—W. E. B. Du Bois
Philosophy Statement
Intercultural Innovations Incorporated (I3) philosophy is grounded in 3 foundational concepts:
- Transformative Perspective: “Through proper education individuals transform themselves as learners, which provide themselves with the necessary tools to bring about radical structural changes that support a democratic lifestyle and equitable solutions.”
—Paulo Freire - Systems Ideology: Society is a link or a web of relationships between people, institutions and the environment. These relationships are present and needed so that “ALL” can survive, engage, and support systems allowing for multiple perspectives, which are transformative to collaboration (Peter Senge).
- Participatory Consciousness: For effective change to occur we must generate shared meaning and importance involving coherent movement of thought, which requires suspended judgments or assumptions while attempting to focus on common content (knowledge) and agendas (David Bohm).
Work Plan
I3 is committed to designing and conducting DEAI professional development for all stakeholders, including: Leadership, Paraprofessional Staff, Clerical, Custodian, and Nutritional Service Staff. These unique trainings will increase understanding of the individual, institutional, and structural oppression and how all levels of oppression impact educational disparities and the achievement of each student. All trainings are differentiated to specifically meet the needs of each system and budget. All options are adaptable through collaboration.
Customized Content Development
Intercultural Innovations Incorporated (I3) has established copywritten system tools that will provide the general structure and framework for the sessions. These tools include: the CLEAR Model (Culture, Learning, Equity, Achievement, Relevance), 3Cs of Change, Capacity Equation, 4R Equation, CLEAR (Culture, Learning, Equity, Achievement, Relevance) Solutions Framework and the I.M.P.A.C.T (Individuals Making Positive Academic Change Together) Model.
I3 has customizable metrics (3 Cs of Change and the Capacity Equation) for measuring the effectiveness of professional development offerings.
These tools are required to systemize the work and will be utilized throughout all the trainings to establish common language and direction. However specific content such as articles and videos that are relative and timely to individuals and the community allow a greater level of engagement and can be utilized to provide personalized context. This collaboration on content is optional and can be contractually negotiated if a district desires to participate in content development.
“What if all knowledge that is, has been, and ever will be, has and will continue to always exist… What if that is true.”
—Rev Hillstrom
Vetting Statement
The powerful and transformative tools utilized in The CLEAR Solutions Framework and penned by the hand of Dr. Rev PM Crowley Hillstrom, are copyrighted to Intercultural Innovations Inc. (I3) and are foundational to systems change work.
The aggregate of these tools provides functional representations of the scholarly, academic, and professional body of work offered through Dr. Hillstrom.
Inspiration for the various tools and models is rooted within a dedicated understanding of Indigenous epistemology and ontology.
In addition to the Indigenous foundation of Dr. Hillstrom and his academic dedication to his work, several academics, scholars and change agents have and continue to profoundly influence the formation and growth of the CLEAR Solutions Framework and its associated system tools.
These scholars and transformational leaders include, but are not limited to: Paulo Freire, Dr. Cater G. Woodson, Carlos Mariani Rosa, Dr. David Bohm, Dr. Rose Chu, Derrick Bell, James Baldwin, Robert Seth Price, Johnny Smith, Dr. Henry Giroux, Dr. Geneva Gay, Dr. Gloria Lansing-Billings, Leiataua Dr. Jon Peterson, Dr. Eric Buffalohead, Dr. Eric Cooper and Dr. Yevette Jackson.
Affirmation and validation for the effectiveness of The CLEAR Solutions Framework and associated tools is evidenced through numerous institutions and practitioners. This includes literally thousands of individual practitioners who have been trained in the tools and apply them to their daily practices in Culturally Validating Pedagogy (CVP) and Culturally Validating Leadership (CVL).
In addition to the thousands of practitioners currently using the I3 system tools in their daily practice, several highly respected institutions, organizations, and districts have contributed to the vetting process of I3’s system tools and thus recognize the credibility of Dr. Hillstrom’s work. Some of these include the Minnesota Department of Education, the University of Minnesota, National Urban Alliance (NUA), and the Minnesota Educational Equity Partnership (MnEEP) along with multiple districts throughout the country.