Address
P O Box 46 256 Herne Bay Auckland
Contact person:
Philip Patston
Email address:
philip@diversitynz.com
Phone/fax
+64 9 376 4830
Website
www.diversitynz.com

Description:
Diversityworks aims to foster creative change with diversity. It’s also a philosophy and a way of being that embraces creativity, uniqueness and wisdom. Diversityworks’ creator Philip Patston is a social entrepreneur and change consultant based in Auckland, New Zealand, with fifteen years’ experience as a professional comedian. He is highly regarded as an entertaining and engaging speaker on social innovation and constructive change, ideal for community, conference and corporate events.

Several years ago, having grown tired of his labels: gay, disabled and vegetarian, Philip began to consider alternative ways to conceive social difference. He published a paper on functional diversity in an international journal in 2007, and spoke about functional and experiential diversity at the Skoll Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. He now aims to promote the reinvention of social structure using different thought patterns, new language and constructive behaviour, reframing the distinction between normal and abnormal as common and unique.

Services offered:

• Education
• Audits
• Consultancy
• Research
• Resource development
• Professional development
• Speaking and motivational presentations, creative vision building

I take a general approach but also specialise in issues concerning gender and sexuality and disability.

Workshop-course descriptions:

• Step 1: Change thinking
  Learn the thought patterns needed to change from dualistic thinking (yes/no, right/wrong, good/bad) to synergistic thinking (uniqueness and commonality, intuition and pragmatism, experience and expression).
• Step 2: Change words
  Adapt written and spoken language to accurately reflect experience and expression. Reduce labeling and stereotyping. Increase interest and engagement.
• Step 3: Change behaviour
  Interact, communicate and build relationships with people in ways you never thought possible: void of judgment, full of exploration and brimming with creativity.

ALL COURSES TAILORED (TIME/NUMBERS) TO SUIT CLIENT NEEDS

I work with:

• Community groups
• Government Departments
• Educational institutions
• General Public
• Business

Other information:
I evaluate our work using participant evaluation methods. and keep our knowledge current through reading, research, professional development, networking and peer mentoring. Trainers are European and Māori. Diversity is a way of thinking, not a checklist for representation.