Joel Lesko

Joel Lesko is an award-winning filmmaker, eLearning developer and workshop facilitator with a passion for diversity and inclusion and a commitment to helping people and organizations create more respectful workplaces. Joel is the founder of SunShower Learning, a leading producer of D&I leadership training programs. In 2019, Liberty Mutual Insurance developed the eLearning in partnership with SunShower Learning and Visions Inc. The Inclusion in Action eLearning video series has been viewed by more than 35,000 Liberty Mutual employees and is part of onboarding process for new employees. Employees rated the video series a 4.6 out of 5 stars and two-thirds report that their managers continue to reference and use the video teachings. Joel Lesko has more than 30 years of experience in all phases of film, TV and documentary production. His work has appeared on PBS, network and cable TV and in classrooms and training rooms around the world. He's worked on films with Al Gore, Deepak Chopra, Maharishi and other leaders, authors and teachers to explore breakthroughs in consciousness, health and the environment. Joel's written numerous spec screenplays. Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts is THE bestselling diversity program of all time. From AT&T to McDonald's to UCLA and Microsoft, Ouch is being used in tens of thousands of workplaces and a wide variety of industries, especially service industries. Ouch teaches people how to speak up against bias without blame, shame and conflict by teaching six concrete things people can say, including, "ouch, that stereotype hurts!" In response to requests for unconscious bias training, Joel wrote and produced Defeating Unconscious Bias: 5 Strategies. The video, elearning course and in-person workshop is designed to help people address their own hidden biases that affect hiring, promoting and team building, impacting everyone in the workplace. In other programs, SunShower has addressed topics like creating a welcoming workplace for LGBTQ employees, how to recover from tense conversations and exploring the science of bias. In recent years Joel has delivered unconscious bias workshops for organizations including the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and Yale New Haven Health in New Haven. Joel was born in NYC and kept moving west. Although he continues to travel for productions and workshops, his base is now in Ashland, Oregon, where he lives with Alia, his wife, and a rambunctious Australian Shepherd named Nova. Before he embarked on his career in film and video, Joel traveled the world teaching meditation.