Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants (Maine Intercultural) is a for-profit consulting firm that offers training for schools and businesses that promotes critical race theory-aligned ideas. It advocates for business and school to set equity standards. [1] [2]
Background
Founded in 2015, Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants is a far-left consulting firm based in Portland, Maine [3] that advocates for employers to prioritize diversity in hiring and set equity standards. [4]
Maine Intercultural promotes identity politics and states that white people need to overcome their so-called “whiteness” biases. It is also a staunch supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and has drafted statements for companies advocating support for the movement. [5]
Services
Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants offers single training sessions as well as a six-to-nine-month training program. It offers a four-hour course on cultural differences and a two-and-a-half-hour course on Islam. Both are designed to assist trainees in overcoming their alleged bias against other cultures and identity groups. [6]
Maine Intercultural requires organizations interested in its services to take the Intercultural Development Inventory, [7] a test that assesses the extent to which individuals and organizations are able to overcome bias, based on identity politics. [8] Maine Intercultural states that a lack of equitable outcomes is a sign of racial and cultural bias. [9]
People
Liz Greason is a co-founder of Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants. She previously taught courses on cross-cultural communication at American University in Dubai and served on the faculty of the University of Southern Maine and Portland Adult Education. [10]
Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Deb Breiting is a co-founder of Maine Intercultural. She is an English as a Second Language teacher and previously taught at the Portland Adult Education for the New Mainers Resource Center and developed projects that supported integrating immigrants into Maine’s workforce. [11]