Ethical Fitness seminar

Posted by Institute for Global Ethics on September 28, 2015

IGE Returning to Philadelphia Sept. 30 to Teach Ethics Training

The Institute for Global Ethics (IGE), the country’s leading ethics think tank, is returning to Philadelphia September 30 to teach another ethics training for area nonprofit and business leaders.

The participatory Ethical Fitness® seminar continues the initial phase of IGE’s City-Wide Training Initiatives project in Philadelphia, a nationwide effort to blanket the civic infrastructure of target communities with subsidized ethics training.

A kickoff event in August attracted enough participants that the nonprofit organization has added a second date: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the offices of The Pew Charitable Trusts at One Commerce Square, 2005 Market St., Suite 2800.

Anyone interested in participating in the training can register here.

https://www.globalethics.org/philly-ethics.aspx

NOTE: The registration deadline is September 29 at 12 PM due to security issues.

IGE is positioned to provide subsidized ethics trainings on an unprecedented scale in the greater Philadelphia area, thanks to a $25,000 sponsorship through Philadelphia’s Hamilton Family Foundation, a private foundation that supports education for underserved Philadelphia youth, and through additional funding the organization is seeking.

“IGE trainers will go into local businesses, grade schools, community colleges, universities, nonprofits and municipal government offices — anywhere we’re invited in each target city, and particularly in organizations that may not otherwise have the resources to provide ethics training to their members,” says IGE President and C.E.O. Anthony J. Gray.

Katie Micciolo, director of development at St. Francis de Sales School in West Philadelphia, found IGE’s August training to be insightful and relevant to her daily work. She regularly encounters ethical dilemmas and socially enforced cycles of poor decision-making among her students.

“I think families of our students may find themselves in situations that compromise their ethical standards because of the stressful financial situations they face,” she says. Teachers and school staff often become involved in parent-child or child-child conflicts “because these types of confrontations can become very volatile.”

Applying IGE’s ethical framework “would be helpful for the teachers who are placed in situations where they know children are making decisions based on how their home life is managed,” Micciolo says.

Rachel Loeper, education director at Mighty Writers, the after-school writing program with four locations across Philadelphia, also sees potential organizational benefits from ethics training after participating in IGE’s training.

Lots of passionate people at Mighty Writers — students, staff and volunteers — want what is best for kids, but “deciding what is best for kids isn’t always easy. It’s a judgment wrapped up with individuals’ values,” she says. “The Ethical Fitness framework provided a new way for me to frame these important conversations.”

“In order to be successful, we believe students need to write and think with clarity. Ethical training provides a clear framework and philosophy for good decision-making,” she added.

Another IGE training participant, Teresa Araco Rodgers, founder of the philanthropy advisory firm harp-weaver LLC, says the training opened her eyes to the value of applying a framework to handle the complexity of decisions to “do the right thing.”

In working with clients, “even within a family there can be such varied perspectives, and the process of coming together and agreeing on a set of values can be difficult. … Sometimes we may use shorthand and not fully get to consider all aspects,” she says. “I see the benefit of applying a framework so that all options and the cause/effect can be explored and considered.”

About IGE: Founded in 1990, with offices in New York City, Camden, Maine and headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, the Institute for Global Ethics in is an independent, nonsectarian, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting ethical action in a global context.

Anyone interested in participating in the training can register here.

https://www.globalethics.org/philly-ethics.aspx

NOTE: The registration deadline is September 29 at 12 PM due to security issues.