Pelham local Erica Winter teaches ethics and harassment prevention through her company

Erica Winter LLC, a Pelham company run by resident Erica Winter, specializes in ethics training and harassment prevention. Through interactive anti-harassment exercises, teams engage in important conversations that result in a shared understanding of appropriate workplace conduct. 

There’s increasing need for Winter’s services. Sweeping new anti-harassment laws went into effect in October 2018 requiring all employers in New York State to provide interactive anti-harassment training to their employees by Oct. 9, and annually thereafter. Employers with New York City employees were further required to provide bystander training. A learning session which engages participants is the most effective way of educating employees and positively influencing workplace behavior. 

Over the summer, this reporter participated in an internship program with Erica Winter LLC through Pelham Together. I learned a great deal about what it takes to educate and train employees about sexual harassment prevention. During my time at the organization, I observed two successful training sessions for New Rochelle YMCA employees and was a participant in the harassment prevention training Erica Winter LLC provided to Pelham Together interns as well. Something that stood out was that all of the YMCA employees participating were heavily engaged in the activities. All the scenarios used in the training were based on real cases. Though there were disagreements between some participants, everyone learned how to maintain a healthy work environment.

“The most important part of any harassment prevention training is the participant discussion,” said Winter. “This is where you can see an organization’s culture changing as colleagues realize that certain behaviors they thought were okay are not seen that way by their coworkers.” 

Winter has led investigations surrounding sexual harassment throughout Latin America and the United States. Soon after her experience drew to a close at the World Bank in Washington, Winter spent time investigating in Sao Paulo. She started her company in 2010 and established it in the U.S. five years later in Pelham.

Winter has done influential work for the ethics offices of the United Nations, UNICEF, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Pan American Health Organization. She holds an MBA in human relations management from Universidad del Salvador in Argentina and a BA and Latin American studies certificate from Dickinson College. Winter is a native speaker of English and Brazilian Portuguese and is proficient in Spanish. 

Sara Mallach of Pelham joined Erica Winter LLC in 2018 as a professional educator and training facilitator. Mallach’s areas of expertise include harassment prevention, communications and frontline customer service. Mallach holds a BEd in elementary education and early child development from Eastern Michigan University.

Both women are personally and professionally active in the Pelham community. They have conducted trainings locally for the Pelham Art Center and Nonprofit Westchester, among others.

“While we advise nationally and internationally, it is a special privilege to work with our neighbors and serve the community we call home,” said Winter.

Click here to find out more about Erica Winter LLC.