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MissionMy name is Faye Seidler and I'm a suicide prevention advocate who has lived in North Dakota for most of my life. While North Dakota is my home, I barely survived growing up here and have personally experienced the many ways that organizations involved in social work, healthcare, or education can fail people. My consulting and training is based on data-driven research to meaningfully improve outcomes and prevent suicides. I specialize in LGBTQ+ populations and am the North Dakota data outcome expert on the subject.
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Commonly Asked Questions
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What is faye seidler consulting?
I have been working across the state for many years as a community organizer both inside and outside of the non-profit sector. In my role as a community organizer, I would routinely provided consulting and training services to organizations within my advocacy networks. As time progressed more organizations approached me through word-of-mouth looking for these opportunities. This website was created to help organizations better connect with my work. This website and these services provided are an extension of my statewide suicide prevention advocacy and human rights work. While there are costs associated with my services, my priority will always be directly related to my mission of improving outcomes for queer individuals. If you share this mission with me, we can work something out to achieve it together. DOES MY ORGANIZATION NEED LGBTQ+ FOCUSED CONSULTING OR TRAINING?
All organizations can benefit from training or consulting. Most professionals already have the tools they need to teach students, heal patients, or help clients, but they may not be aware of the unique struggles that queer individuals face or how those struggles will impact service or suicidality. Training like this is extremely important for three main reasons: IT IS AN ACCESSIBILITY ISSUE Sexual orientation and gender identity are considered protected classes at various levels and infringing on LGBTQ+ individuals could result in lawsuits. More importantly, without adequate training or understanding of LGBTQ+ demographics, it is difficult to gauge if they are even able to access or are utilizing services. IT WILL IMPROVE OUTCOMES AND OPERATIONAL GOALS Queer individuals experience significantly worse outcomes across the board due to bias, prejudice, discrimination, and violence. If an organization doesn't intentionally take steps to reduce cultural bias and to understand the specific ways that it impacts this community, they are not going to be able to serve this community's needs and they are instead very likely to reinforce the disparities that already exist. LGBTQ+ INDIVIDUALS ARE A SIZABLE DEMOGRAPHIC Recent survey data suggests that 20% of generational Z identifies within the LGBTQ+ community. Approximately 2% identifying as transgender and 10% identifying as non-binary. Not every organization is youth oriented, but these are the adults of tomorrow and the population size we can expect to serve. WHAT IF MY STAFF ISN'T RECEPTIVE OR we are completely NEW TO QUEER ISSUES?
The training or consulting is not about being an ally. My work is designed specifically around getting better outcomes within the context of the many cultural barriers that exist in North Dakota. We can achieve this in a number of ways: NON-JUDGMENTAL AND ACCESSIBLE This work understands that everyone has had different experiences and barriers coming into the conversation. This work invites people in to learn. It does not hold them accountable to the past, but gives them opportunities to make a better future. It is accessible and approachable by individuals regardless of their background on the topic previously. RESEARCH AND DATA DRIVEN The information we provide is always geared towards what the research and data says are best practices in the field. OUTCOME FOCUSED The work we do is always oriented around improving outcomes. The consulting and training I provide always has components detailing what individuals can meaningfully do to impact change. There are exercises to improve ability and apply knowledge to organizational and logistical operations. The training I provide is not simply a discussion piece on a topic, but it actively gives listeners the tools they need to make change. When consulting an organization, I will look at the organization from the bottom to the top to ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals are safe at every step. What Experience can you bring to our organization?
I have spent the majority of my adulthood researching and analyzing queer outcome data across multiple sectors. I have personal experience and connection with these issues. I've a lead a research project into understanding how to specifically give training to organizations in the North Dakota sectors of Healthcare, Education, Government, Business, and Outreach. While I am not an expert on being a doctor or a teacher, I can teach either of these individuals how to use the tools they have to make sure they're getting healthy and happy queer students. Beyond being a subject matter expert, I'm also a statewide organizer, award winning activist, and I'm dedicated to doing this work for the rest of my life. This isn't a business for me or something that will close if I don't make enough. This website is only here to formalize work I've been doing for the last several years. If you're interested in ensuring that your patients, students, or clients have real hope in this state, I will make something work out. |
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Testimonial |
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"The presentation today by Faye Seidler was really good. I had a couple of our teachers comment to me how great it was too. That would be a good presentation for any and all school staff to be exposed to. Informational, real and straight forward. Nice to see our state and community data throughout it too."
