“I’m looking forward to letting Black women know what life is like in Paris.”
SAN BERNARDINO CALIF. Katherine Dameron, a multi-certified leadership and motivational coach whose client roster has included the likes of 3M, Pfizer, and Herman Miller, is coming to San Bernardino for Black History Month to give a series of talks about living as an expatriate in Paris.
“I’m looking forward to letting Black women know what life is like in Paris,” said. Dameron, “and I am happy to repeat what Richard Wright once said, ‘There is more freedom in one block of Paris than all of the United States for a Black man.'”
Dameron was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and moved to Paris when she was young to study the French language and culture and was welcomed by the locals. She found that racism does exist there, but it is a very different kind. In Paris, “American Blacks are at the top of the racial hierarchy,” said Dameron.
The French have demonstrated over and over again their love for American Blacks. The wild success of Miles Davis on tour there is one famous example. “And my own experiences there is another,” said Dameron.
The history of American Blacks finding respect and admiration in Paris goes back to Thomas Jefferson’s consort Sally Hemmings. Josephine Baker became Europe’s first superstar in the 1920s there. In modern times, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, and Beauford Delaney all found a receptive audience in France.
The Dameron family 1965 in E. St. Louis, IL. Barbara, Carl T., Crystal (baby), Denise, Carl, and Kathleen. “We we integrators,” said Katheleen Dameron.
“American Blacks have come to Paris to feel safe, feel recognized, develop their talents, eat, work and love as they desire…to thrive!” said Dameron. “I have two loves: Paris and the country of my birth.”
“I want to share my experiences with Black women and let them know how they, too, can experience the kind of welcoming that I have had and perhaps inspire them to go for a visit themselves. That’s why I have prepared a 45-minute presentation that I will be happy to deliver to any group that would care to hear what I have to say,” said Dameron.
Bookings can be made by calling Carl Dameron at (909) 534-9500.
About Kathleen Dameron
Kathleen’s strong facilitation skills and her highly flexible approach enable her to facilitate large groups or provide one-on-one coaching, as the client’s needs dictate. In addition to her specialty in multicultural and multilingual situations, she is also experienced in designing and delivering experiential-based, professionally targeted interventions, e.g., leadership development, organizational development, and increasing multicultural skills.
Representative clients include 3M, AGF, Alcan, Axe, Rio-Tinto, Aerospatiale, BNP Paribas, Faurecia, CDA (No.1 in ski resorts), Delphi, Essilor, Herman Miller, Lima grain, LVMH (Louis Vuitton) MBDA, Pfizer, PSA (makers of Peugeot & Citroen automobiles), Thales, Thomson Multimedia, Tyco Electronics, and Veolia. Kathleen teaches at ESSEC (leading French business school) in the Executive MBA program, MG, and the Maître en Stratégieat des Affaires Internationales (MS SIAI), as well as programs specifically designed for individual companies.
Kathleen, born and raised in America, has dual American and French nationality. She was trained at American and French universities in both Cross-Cultural Studies & Communications and Social and Economic Administration. She trains, facilitates, and coaches in English, French, and Spanish.
Kathleen Dameron, president and founder of KD Conseil, works to build international partnerships with companies that are going through cultural changes.
(Paris, France) Weathering the storm of an international recession is not an easy task. However, for international businesses, one thing has remained constant in good, as well as bad times, a competent multinational and multi-ethnic team. The ability to sustain effective cross-cultural communications is a crucial skill required for international business success in today’s global economy.
For the past 21 years, KD Conseil has played a key role in facilitating this skill. Launched by Kathleen Dameron in 1992, KD Conseil improves the intercultural communications skills between the corporate offices and the executive management teams who work in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia.
Dameron, based in Paris, France, says “KD Conseil is strategically situated both geographically, as well as for business cultures in most industries and Fortune 500 companies. We know how to meet the demands and needs of our clients in an international business center for multinational corporations.”
“I truly adore the city of Paris. The companies here have very strong business connections with the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia,” said Dameron. “It’s easy to travel from Paris all around Europe, the Middle East and Africa.”
Bridging corporate cultures for more than twenty years, Kathleen Dameron founded KD Conseil to stimulate multicultural competency.
Dameron explains that some of the key challenges faced by companies working across national and corporate environments are born out of cultural differences. It is those differences in cultures that can also create the building blocks to success.
“If an organization works with other cultures, I help them make it possible for senior managers, experts and employees to work together with greater efficiency and comfort,” said Dameron. “There is a joy that comes from working in an intercultural surrounding, discovery of different ways of succeeding, new and tried solutions to issues, as well as the pain of differences in attitudes and ways of working. My role is to help individuals, teams and organizations understand and appreciate those differences, thus developing a more harmonious working environment.”
Standing the test of time, KD Conseil has developed quality relationships with clients, generating customer referrals, which have enabled her business to grow even in difficult economic times for businesses globally.
“I believe that one of the keys to our success during this economic hardship is our ability to guide clients through different interventions,” said Dameron. “For instance, we develop intervention materials that assist in increasing multicultural competencies or adjusting to an organizational change. The goal is for our clients to keep their employees motivated and improve performance and that has a positive affect on their bottom-line.”
However, Dameron points out that KD Conseil’s affect should not be measured solely by quantity and direct immediate contribution to the bottom-line. In fact, she informs that the best contribution comes when her company is embraced as a partner on a strategic journey to understand and implement cultural change.
This enables her to implement the best evaluation measurements, reviewing what has changed over a six-month period.
With the growth of the global economy, Dameron notes that her industry has likewise expanded. Others are finding their way to play a role in assisting businesses to adapt and adjust multicultural working environments on an international level.
“This is an exciting time for the multicultural training industry,” said Dameron. “20 years ago, I had to explain what multicultural intervention was all about. Today all of the corporate leaders I speak to say they are engaged in some sort of multicultural professional activity.”
Dameron says the key is to go beyond merely giving a catalogue listing of “dos and don’ts.” KD Conseil delivers facilitators who develop strategies to increase individual, team and overall organizational multicultural competence.
“Keeping abreast of what is happening in the business world, as well as taking the time to interview managers and business leaders is key to any successful intervention,” said Dameron. “However, investing in your client by listening, to develop their skills and vision, that is what allows you to create leading edge impact intervention processes.”
