“Dr. Bhattar, hosted a training for student affairs educators and student-facing staff for University of Minnesota Crookston on topics surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. The content was both timely and approachable. My staff described their experiences as "very thought-provoking and engaging; fun; things I hadn't thought of before; I had never had this content presented in a way that I could relate to." I would absolutely invite them back again and would highly recommend having them facilitate similar trainings for others.”
Dr. Savala DeVoge
Dean of Student Engagement and Wellness
University of Minnesota Crookston
“Dr. Bhattar conducted a staff development with our student affairs staff at the University of Minnesota Crookston, it was to say the least, phenomenal. Raja took the time to engage with the participants, listen to them and challenge their thoughts when appropriate. Raja, realmente ha sido un placer conocerte, muchas gracias por compartir tus experiencias con nuesto equipo.
Alma Torres Pierce
Interim Director for Student Success and Academic Advising
University of Minnesota Crookston
“Raja is a thoughtful and engaging educator. From the very beginning of our meetings, Raja’s approach was to work with our leadership team to support the EDI efforts we had in place and affirm the work we were doing. The online training provided lots of storytelling, honesty, courageous sharing, and centering of humanity. It was clear that Raja was committed to allowing space for mistakes while also holding our community members accountable for collectively building an inclusive environment. I absolutely loved working with Raja and our department continues to sing their praises. They are certainly someone I would recommend without reservations and with my whole being!”
Dr. Ashley L. Brown
Assistant Director, Equity Diversity, & Inclusion, University Housing
Georgia State University
“Working with Raja and Bhattar Consulting was a wonderful and productive experience for the Harper College community. They were welcoming and respectful of various constituent groups to help us learn how to improve our college. In addition, Raja and team were adaptive, flexible and nimble to meet the needs of our community as we experienced challenges with the pandemic. I highly recommend working with Raja to evaluate your college's diversity, equity and inclusion work!”
Dr. Claudia Mercado
Interim Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Harper College
“Dr. Bhattar conducted a two-day virtual consultation with our residence life staff UT Austin and it was AMAZING. In 24 hours, we were able to revise our learning agenda, shift our priorities, and remove non-essential tasks from our I.D.E.A. (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Advocacy) committee functions. Dr. Bhattar listens to the needs of clients, is very intentional about getting to the core of what your needs are, and ALWAYS follows through on expectations/ deliverables. So if you’re in need of a client-centered DEI consultant to advance your organization’s social justice agenda (or create one), I strongly recommend Dr. Bhattar!”
Dr. Brandon Jones
Associate Director for Student Learning and Development
The University of Texas at Austin
“Raja served on a consulting team at a University where I served as the Chief Student Affairs Officer on the topic of how the University could best respond to bias incident reporting. Raja was a terrific consultant to work with - professional, engaging, and timely with deliverables. I am pleased to provide them a strong recommendation for consulting work.”
J. Davidson (Dusty) Porter, PhD
Vice President of Student Affairs
Tulane University
“Dr. Bhattar facilitated a safe space training for me at Whittier College in 2009 that focused on foundational concepts and an introduction to active allyship. They are engaging in their approach and find ways to promote meaningful dialogue and perspective taking while maintaining a commitment to anti-oppressive facilitation. They will not shame a participant, but will unapologetically create a space that centers on doing no harm. If this means confronting problematic behavior, they will do so unapologetically, but in a way that continues to invite all participants to the conversation through a lens of learning and inquiry. Dr. Bhattar’s work at private, elite, public, small, and large institutions with students, faculty, staff, and administrators has afforded them the necessary skillsets to facilitate trainings that involve a range of participant knowledge and experience. They can effectively train a group of student leaders and seamlessly transition to a conversation with faculty and administrators. Their intersectional approach to advocacy and content is informed through their direct work with international, religious, queer, and Black and brown communities.”
Dr. Joy S. Hoffman
Interim Dean of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion
Washington University in St. Louis
“Raja has a strong knowledge of intersectionality, identity-development, organizational effectiveness and collective visioning for student affairs professionals. Raja’s training on leadership engagement, went beyond the expected objectives of learning outcomes based in traditional topics related to collaboration with colleagues and organizational influence. Their training was grounded within an equity and social justice framework and emphasized community-building, self-reflection and collective collaboration. The time we spent together allowed our team and our campus partners to dive deep into the meaning behind our work and the ways in which our experiences and histories influence our community engagement. Raja’s ability to build connection amongst a room of colleagues was incredible. They have a unique gift of relaying information in an accessible and comfortable way and their willingness and ability to manage difficult conversations was inspiring. I am grateful for the time spent with Raja and the lessons learned from their training.”
Satya Chima
Equity Programs Supervisor, Housing Insecure Liaison
American River College
“Dr. Bhattar played an instrumental role in our inaugural Bruin G.O.L.D. (Greek Organizations Leadership & Development) Academy as one of our facilitators in 2017. While being the only non-Greek affiliated member at the academy, they challenged the leaders of fraternities and sororities to critically think about the welcoming or non-welcoming experiences they are providing the members of their organizations while being in an exclusive community. Dr. Bhattar’s approach was critical yet engaging which provided an opportunity for leaders to think beyond their comfort zones and for them to be more thoughtful regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
Kevin A. Dougherty, Ed.D.
Associate Vice Provost & Dean of Students
Oregon State University
“Dr. Raja Gopal Bhattar brings a wealth of experience in the facilitation of learning about equity, inclusion, and leadership. I recommend Raja not only for the expertise they bring to training sessions but also for the style and manner in which their message resonates with participants. Raja's genuine approach connects with the human spirit, recognizing and celebrating the value that each person brings to an organization and community. Raja will leave you and your participants feeling inspired long after the encounter and wishing Raja could be a regular guest or member of your organization or community.”
Alex Kappus
Associate Director of Student Success/Orientation
Central Michigan University