Twomey Center for Peace through Justice Training Center
Celebrating over 60 years as America's premier Jesuit civil rights mission institute
About Twomey Training Center
The Twomey Training Center provides training and consulting for people and organizations committed to developing change processes where peace, justice, and empowerment are valued. The Center offers training in valuing diversity, anti-racism, building effective teams, inclusive strategic planning, outdoor teambuilding, conflict resolution, violence prevention, and mediation skills. We provide these services to schools, community groups, labor leaders, businesses, local, national or international organizations.
The Twomey Training Center's organizational development model builds on the strengths of participants who bring diverse backgrounds to the process of change. We assist organizations in understanding and working with diverse human and technical resources. We make extensive use of experience-based learning and adult learning principles in all our training and organizational development work. We teach participants to recognize and celebrate the unique approaches to problem solving that emerge from the resource diversity their organizations already possess.
The Twomey Training Center's experiential workshops are designed to:
- Teach and practice the principles and behaviors of transformational community focused leadership development;
- Surface issues which unite and divide diverse groups who are trying to work together toward a common goal;
- Develop skills for effective communication between diverse individuals and groups in conflict;
- Develop conflict resolution skills in the process of working on issues surfaced by the group;
- Foster understanding of prejudice, stereotyping, racism, internalized oppression and other "isms" and develop skills for reducing and confronting them.
New Orleans City Leaders Proudly Completing Workshops of the Twomey Training Center
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The Twomey Center's training empowers groups with an understanding and skills to help them move along the developmental process towards being effective multi-cultural organizations.
The Center has attracted and retained an expanding list of local, regional, and national clients. Some of these include United Way agencies, Metropolitan Area Committee Education Project, community parent/education partnerships, environmental groups, numerous public schools, housing and homeless advocacy organizations, and police-community relations programs.
Corporations and governmental agencies that have benefited from the Center's anti-racism and diversity workshops include Du Pont, Lucent Technologies, Chevron USA, United States Department of Agriculture, and the Federal Aviation Administration. Training programs for each of these groups have been developed and delivered both locally and nationally.
Training resources and staff time have also been contributed to organizing community dialogue events such the Day of Healing conferences on racism held in New Orleans; the Common Ground Project's discussions on race relations sponsored by Tulane University's Southern Institute; and the Baton Rouge Mayor's Town Hall Meeting on Racism. We take special pride in being a voice for racial dialogue in the region, a fifty year legacy of the spirit of Father Twomey.
To schedule a training, contact Ted Quant at 504.861.5831
Guest Worker speaking to the news media on worker conditions at Mississippi Halliburton
Workers Rights
Workers' Rights are championed through educational and advocacy programs. The Labor Studies Program offers courses for adult education in the area of labor relations. Courses include topics such as leadership development, the rights of workers in the work place and organizational skills. Pursuing a flexible educational model, the Labor Studies Program offers hands-on training in leadership development.
The Labor Studies Program has encouraged and assisted in the development of advocacy organizations like the Louisiana Workers Against Toxic and Chemical Hazards (LA WATCH). The Injured Workers Union, another advocacy organization established through the sponsorship of the Labor Studies Program, seeks just compensation for those injured on the job. The Injured Workers Union now numbers over 1,500 members.
To schedule a training, contact Ted Quant at 504.861.5831
New Orleans citizens taking leadership on a community challenge
Local Initiatives
The Twomey Center's programs have served as the inspiration for other creative initiatives. Many of these projects have emerged as independent institutions that continue the struggle toward achieving social justice. Some examples of such initiatives are:
- J. Bennett Johnston Learning Center
- C. J. Peete Power Computer School
- Prison Education Project
- Death Penalty Project
- Institute for Grassroots Leadership
- The Injured Workers Union
The Greater Metropolitan New Orleans area is truly enriched by these and other programs conceived by the Twomey Center. Their work has contributed significantly in improving the quality of life for the New Orleans community.
If you are interested in utilizing the Twomey Training Center, please contact Ted Quant at 504.861.5831
