CircleUp® Consulting
Professional expert consulting in DEI, Leadership Development, Restorative Justice, HR Conflict Resolution
Clarity-Driven, People-Centered Solutions That Stick
Our process isn’t cookie-cutter. It’s needs-based, client-specific, and backed by over a decade of experience helping teams just like yours solve problems with clarity, intention, and measurable outcomes. Whether you're launching something new or getting back on track, our consultants act as thought partners—critical thinkers trained to cut through complexity and help you find solutions that actually work.
Find A Better Path Forward with Expert Consulting Support
Unsure if your organization is heading toward lasting success? Exploring new DEI or culture initiatives and don’t know where to start? Or maybe you’ve worked with another firm in the past that left you with more conflict than clarity. That’s why we created our high-impact consulting and coaching services—designed to support every collection we offer at CircleUp Education.
Choose Your Consulting Topic. Find The Perfect Solution.
UpGuidance™
CircleUp’s General Consulting Sessions
We understand that many leaders come to us not just looking for solutions—but searching for clarity. Sometimes the real challenge isn’t obvious at first. Maybe the questions behind the questions haven’t been named yet. Maybe there’s no clear starting point. That’s exactly where UpGuidance™ begins.
UpGuidance™ is CircleUp Education’s flagship consulting service, designed to help you navigate uncertainty, align your team, and move from stuck to strategic. Whether you're a director, principal, founder, or manager, our approach meets you where you are—especially when you're not sure where to go next.
Backed by over a decade of experience and rooted in restorative principles, UpGuidance™ Sessions support organizational leaders through complex, high-stakes challenges:
Personnel conflicts
Communication breakdowns
Structural or cultural misalignment
Discrimination and equity-related concerns
Strategic pivots and leadership transitions
Our role is to partner with you—not to tell you what to do, but to help uncover what’s needed. We guide you toward needs-based next steps that reduce harm, strengthen alignment, and build long-term resilience. Together, we identify potential pitfalls before they become problems, and co-create a path forward that feels authentic, actionable, and aligned with your values.
Biascend™ Consulting
Biascend™ Consulting helps organizations go beyond awareness by addressing how implicit and explicit bias show up in everyday decisions, systems, and cultures. This consulting service is designed to support teams in recognizing the real-world impact of bias and developing creative, action-based strategies to mitigate it—without relying solely on training.
Consulting Solutions
-
This foundational consulting service is designed to support your organization in identifying and navigating challenges related to implicit bias, explicit bias, equity, and workplace fairness. Whether you're facing complex team dynamics, HR dilemmas, or leadership accountability issues, this service offers strategic support to help you untangle the impact of bias at both the interpersonal and structural levels. From employee engagement to discipline or decision-making practices, Biascend™ Consulting is your go-to partner for equity-centered guidance and bias-related problem solving.
-
EquiScope™ is a targeted consulting service focused on analyzing your organization’s policies, practices, and internal systems to uncover hidden inequities and opportunities for improvement. Building on our EquiScope™ Lens training, this hands-on consultation brings in a skilled equity strategist to scan, assess, and collaborate with your team to identify risks, improve alignment, and enhance fairness across departments. You’ll receive actionable recommendations tailored to your organizational goals and vision—so your systems don’t just appear equitable, they operate that way.
-
Changing bias requires more than awareness—it requires strategic reinforcement. This innovative consulting service focuses on building positive, automatic behaviors that can interrupt harmful biases and rewire team culture. We’ll work with you to design and implement bias reinforcement strategies that use repetition, behavioral nudges, and daily practices to cultivate fairness, empathy, and inclusion across your workplace. This service is ideal for organizations looking to move beyond one-time trainings and embed equity into the muscle memory of their culture. text goes here
CircleRestora™ Consulting
CircleRestora™ was created for organizations that are serious about implementing restorative justice—not just as a practice, but as a transformative approach to relationship building, conflict resolution, and discipline system reform.
Consulting Solutions
-
For General Restorative Justice Guidance
This consulting service provides technical support, strategic guidance, and deep-rooted analysis to help you build, evaluate, and refine your restorative justice efforts. Whether you're launching a new initiative, experiencing implementation challenges, or facing resistance from staff or leadership, CircleRestora™ offers the kind of nuanced support that’s often missing from traditional consulting.
We help existing practitioners and leadership teams problem-solve complex, site-specific challenges that arise when applying restorative principles in real-world settings—especially when those challenges involve equity concerns, resistance to change, or system-level misalignment.
-
This service supports organizations in building or refining their restorative justice infrastructure. From policy review and equity alignment to protocol redesign and system integration, we help ensure your restorative efforts are embedded at every level. Ideal for teams launching new restorative initiatives or seeking to deepen and align their existing practices with restorative values.
-
Designed for climate leads, RJ coordinators, and conflict coaches, this coaching-based consulting service provides personalized assessment, advanced skill-building, and strategic troubleshooting. Whether you're supporting new practitioners or experienced facilitators facing tough challenges, we help your team grow their confidence, capacity, and impact.
-
This service explores the powerful intersection of Social Emotional Learning and Restorative Practices to reduce conflict and challenging behavior. Whether you're addressing school climate concerns or workplace drama, we offer customized strategies to create safer, more connected environments rooted in empathy, equity, and accountability.
Conflict Restora™ Consulting
At CircleUp®, we know that not all workplace conflict looks the same—and not every situation needs the same solution. That’s why Conflict Restora™ Consulting offers a range of strategic support services to meet you where you are. Whether you're looking to prevent escalation, bring in a neutral third party, build internal resolution capacity, or redesign your conflict response systems, our expert consultants are here to help.
Each service is designed to offer clarity, structure, and care—so your team can move from tension to transformation with confidence.
Consulting Solutions
-
Navigate everyday workplace conflict with clarity and care.
When tension arises between team members, departments, or leadership, a clear and thoughtful approach is essential. This consulting service is designed for supervisors, managers, and directors facing general workplace conflict and in need of outside guidance, de-escalation strategies, or support navigating interpersonal dynamics.
Whether you’re trying to understand the root of an issue, respond to a concern before it escalates, or make needs-based decisions about next steps, we’ll help you break through the confusion and move toward resolution with integrity.
-
When neutrality matters, bring in an experienced third party.
Some situations are too charged, too complex, or too sensitive to manage internally. This consulting service offers conflict assessment without direct resolution facilitation—perfect for organizations that need someone to listen, gather insight, and report back findings in an unbiased, trauma-informed way.
We meet confidentially with individuals or teams, hold space for emotional or controversial perspectives, and provide thoughtful observations to help you shape your next steps. This is especially helpful when:
A neutral third party is required
Trust or communication has broken down
Leadership needs a clearer understanding before taking action
-
Build your internal capacity to address conflict—strategically.
If you're looking to create a long-term, internal solution for resolving workplace conflict, this consulting pathway is for you. We help organizations design, support, and maintain internal conflict coach teams—employees trained to facilitate low- and mid-level conflict resolution among staff.
From strategic planning and structural design to buy-in, policy integration, and support systems for coaches, we help you build something that lasts. Already have conflict coaches? We also provide expert consultation for coaching dilemmas, implementation roadblocks, and structural barriers to making your program effective.
-
Design systems that support healthy conflict, not just reactive fixes.
This consulting service is for leaders who want to go deeper than just resolving isolated incidents—it’s about building an internal culture and structure for alternative conflict resolution. We work with you to explore:
What internal processes can reduce dependence on legal or union-based solutions
How to design conflict resolution pathways that are accessible and trusted
Which policies, practices, or communication structures need revision or creation
You’ll walk away with a clearer plan for implementation, messaging strategies to help staff understand and trust the process, and expert insight from facilitators who have built similar frameworks across diverse organizations.
DREAM™ Assessment Consulting
DREAM™ stands for Diversity, Respect, Equity, Advancement, and Metrics—but too often, workplace assessments stop at the “metrics” and fall short of meaningful impact. DREAM™ Assessment Consulting is designed to help you move beyond the numbers. Whether you're launching a new workplace climate initiative, refining your data strategy, or struggling to turn feedback into change, our consultants guide you through each stage with insight, clarity, and compassion.
From data collection to analysis to action planning, we help you transform climate assessments into culture-shaping tools that actually move the needle on equity and inclusion.
Consulting Solutions
-
Foundational support for navigating climate assessment challenges.
Launching or managing a workplace climate initiative comes with countless questions: Where do we begin? What should we measure? How do we avoid unintentional harm? This consulting session provides expert guidance to help you think through the design, implementation, and application of the DREAM™ Assessment—or any other climate assessment you’re exploring.
We draw from experience with hundreds of organizations to help you anticipate challenges, frame the process thoughtfully, and navigate the cultural and logistical complexities that often arise when measuring workplace inclusion.
-
Get the questions—and the data—right.
Asking the right questions is both a science and an art. In this consulting session, we support your team in designing and refining survey instruments that produce meaningful, measurable results—whether you’re using the DREAM™ tool, another framework, or a custom-built assessment.
We’ll help you understand when to use qualitative vs. quantitative data, how to balance emotional insight with numerical patterns, and how to avoid data that confuses more than it clarifies. The result? Clearer analysis, stronger storytelling, and actionable results.
-
Don’t let valuable data sit in a folder. Put it to work.
Far too often, organizations collect feedback but lack the skills or structure to turn insights into impact. This consulting service is designed to help you move from raw data to concrete action. We’ll support you in reviewing your survey results, identifying themes, and building action plans that are both measurable and meaningful.
You'll learn how to filter out low-impact ideas, prioritize initiatives that align with your goals, and communicate your plans in ways that build trust and momentum. We also provide guidance on synthesizing open-ended feedback to ensure qualitative insights drive decision-making alongside your metrics.
-
Launching a DEI-focused workplace survey isn’t just about asking questions—it’s about building a process people believe in. This consulting session is designed to help you lay the groundwork for a successful initiative by focusing on:
Clear communication
Cultural readiness
Message alignment
Structural support for feedback loops
We’ll help you avoid common missteps and ensure your survey launch generates not just data—but deeper understanding, participation, and shared commitment to change.
-
When things get stuck, tense, or unclear—we’re here to help.
Even with the best intentions, climate assessments can spark disagreement, fear, or frustration. This consulting service is designed to help your team pause, reflect, and regroup when facing conflict or confusion about your data journey.
Whether you're unsure how to interpret results, debating how to message findings, or facing resistance about what to share and how, our team helps you problem-solve with transparency and care. Together, we’ll co-create solutions that reduce tension, protect trust, and keep your work moving forward in ways that feel responsible and aligned.
FutureForm™ DEI Consulting
FutureForm™ DEI Consulting is CircleUp Education’s most sought-after consulting service—designed specifically to support DEI committees, task forces, and equity leaders who are creating, launching, or sustaining meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within their organizations.
Whether you’re forming a new DEI committee from the ground up or working to refocus an existing team, our expert consultants bring proven frameworks, tailored guidance, and real-world insights drawn from supporting hundreds of successful DEI initiatives.
Consulting Solutions
-
Starting or leading a DEI committee can feel overwhelming—even for experienced professionals. This general consulting service is ideal for managers, team leads, or staff members tasked with sustaining DEI or anti-discrimination committees. Whether you’re navigating unexpected challenges, unsure of next steps, or just need a trusted thought partner, our consultants are here to support you. No question is too small, and no issue is too complex. We tailor each session to your committee’s unique needs, offering practical, grounded guidance to help your work stay aligned, focused, and impactful.
-
Align your DEI programs with equity, fairness, and legal clarity.
As the future of DEI continues to evolve, so does the need for organizations to ensure their initiatives align with the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, and other anti-discrimination laws. Even well-intentioned DEI programs can unintentionally exclude or disadvantage certain groups if not carefully designed and assessed.
This FutureForm™ consulting service is designed to help your leadership team:
Review your current DEI policies, programs, and training through the lens of Title IX and the Civil Rights Act
Identify and address areas where existing initiatives may create unintended inequities or legal risk
Refine language, frameworks, and practices to ensure your equity strategies promote fairness for all
We also support organizations in developing a clearer understanding of meritocracy, equal opportunity, and how to structure hiring, promotion, and advancement systems to reflect true fairness—without reinforcing bias or disparity.
In addition, we help teams interpret Supremacy Clause implications and navigate federal vs. state-level policy tensions, offering expert guidance on how to respond to today’s complex DEI landscape with both courage and compliance.
-
There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for launching a successful DEI committee—but we’ve helped hundreds of organizations do it well. This service is designed for teams in the early planning stages or newly formed committees looking to build a strong foundation. From identifying purpose and goals to messaging, structure, member recruitment, and communication strategy, we guide you through the essential steps for launching with clarity, credibility, and momentum. Especially helpful for organizations navigating resistance or public scrutiny, this consulting ensures your DEI work is rooted in values—and presented with intention.
-
If your committee is already off the ground but momentum has stalled, this session is for you. We work with established DEI committees and task forces to assess current strategies, identify bottlenecks, and adjust or expand initiatives to better meet organizational goals. Whether you need to reset direction, refine metrics, or enhance team collaboration, this consulting service helps your committee move from planning to progress—and sustain the impact you’ve worked so hard to build.
-
From leadership changes to community pushback, even the most committed DEI committees face moments of tension, resistance, or organizational gridlock. This consulting session is built for those difficult moments—when progress is challenged by conflict, politics, or deeply rooted inequities. Our team helps you uncover the root causes of committee fatigue, paralysis, or backlash, and works with you to design creative, needs-based strategies to reignite momentum. Whether you’re navigating interpersonal tensions or systemic resistance, we’re here to help you move from stuck to strategic.
CivilRise™ Consulting
Upholding Civil Rights in the Modern Workplace
Building a workplace that truly respects civil rights requires more than compliance—it requires courage, clarity, and a deep understanding of power, identity, and responsibility. CivilRise™ Consulting helps organizations and leaders uphold the spirit and letter of anti-discrimination laws while addressing the real, everyday challenges of bias, dissonance, and systemic inequity.
Whether you’re launching anti-discrimination initiatives, struggling with how to respond to racism in the moment, or trying to dismantle long-standing structures of harm, we offer guidance rooted in lived experience, legal context, and restorative values.
Consulting Solutions
-
Talking about race, gender, religion, sex, or national origin in the workplace is challenging—even for experienced leaders. This consulting session provides space to process complex or controversial staff dynamics, while helping you identify effective strategies for communication, de-escalation, and resolution. We’ll walk with you through the intricacies of addressing bias and discrimination in real time, helping you navigate competing perspectives and move toward solutions that promote fairness, dignity, and legal alignment.
This session is ideal when you need expert input to reduce harm, clarify next steps, or strategize around sensitive workplace concerns.
-
How you launch an anti-discrimination effort often determines how far it will go. This session is designed to guide your leadership team through the earliest and most critical planning stages of DEI-adjacent initiatives—such as anti-racism, anti-ableism, or anti-misogyny campaigns.
We help you think through potential risks, anticipate resistance, and design communication that feels aligned and culturally responsive. If you're unsure how to get started, how to talk about the initiative with staff, or how to message your values while staying grounded in legal protections, this service is the perfect starting point.
-
Many organizations are operating under policies or norms that, intentionally or not, reinforce inequity and discrimination. This consulting session supports you in examining internal systems—rules, policies, procedures, and power dynamics—that may violate civil rights law or disproportionately benefit certain groups.
Through collaborative dialogue and guided assessment, we help you explore what needs to shift structurally, what change can happen immediately, and what requires longer-term coordination. This service is about mapping a path from unintentional harm to intentional equity—creating more balanced and legally sound practices for everyone.
-
Supervisors and managers are expected to interrupt racism and discrimination when they show up—but that doesn't mean they’ve been taught how. This consulting session helps leaders and decision-makers practice what it means to respond to harm without shutting down conversations or escalating tension.
We walk through real-life scenarios, role-play interruptions, and build your confidence to respond with compassion and clarity when discomfort, backlash, or bias surfaces in your workplace. If you’ve ever thought “I don’t know what to say” or “I should’ve handled that differently,” this session will help prepare you for next time.
-
Understanding gender identity and expression is both a cultural skill and a legal necessity—especially in states like California with explicit protections. This consulting service supports your leadership and HR team in developing gender-affirming policies, navigating common staff questions or pushback, and practicing how to communicate these efforts with respect and confidence.
We’ll also cover key considerations around pronouns, privacy, language use, and inclusive culture-building—so your team can lead these efforts with greater clarity and care.
-
Creating a workplace that is truly accessible and inclusive of disabled employees requires more than ADA compliance—it requires a shift in culture, language, and everyday practices. This session offers thought partnership on everything from language use and policy design to event planning and cultural awareness.
Whether you’re seeking guidance on how to incorporate ASL interpreters, structure inclusive meetings, or eliminate subtle access barriers, we’ll help you identify ways to evolve beyond performative inclusion and build a more disability-affirming environment.
Executive, Leadership & HR Consulting
DEI Decision Making for Leadership Consulting
Need Support?
Let’s Talk!
Schedule Your FREE 30-minute assessment meeting today!
Interested in working together? Schedule your free assessment meeting today!
Let’s Connect Today!
Hours
Monday–Friday
7am–7pm Pacific Standard Time
Phone
(510) 470-5290
Location
Oakland, California | & Your City!