Paul Mann wants to create a safe space for white men.

Mann, a white man who has spent years in the education industry, has begun leading workshops in San Francisco that encourage people in his demographic to explore feelings about race and gender and think about how to better assist women and nonwhites in their workplaces.

Most diversity training is inclusive of all races and genders. But Stepping Up, Mann’s program that began in January, is unusual because the workshops are designed for white men and led by a white man.

It’s an approach that has inevitably stirred controversy. It’s not something that Starbucks, for example, will pursue when it closes its stores in May for a half-day diversity training in the wake of the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia coffee shop. And creating a “safe space,” a stated goal of Stepping Up, is a concept traditionally associated with people who feel marginalized or victimized.

But Mann says some white men are afraid of saying the wrong thing or worry they’ll be put on the defensive — and Stepping Up allows them to express themselves openly and practice language without hurting anyone.

“All this attention has been paid to tech companies not having enough women and not being racially diverse,” Mann said. “It just seems obvious to me that we are ignoring the whole half of the equation, which is white people and men.”

Kim Scott, a former Google executive and author of the leadership book, “Radical Candor,” strongly disagrees with the approach, saying it’s important to learn from people with different backgrounds and perspectives.

“I am glad they care enough to discuss the issue,” Scott said. “I’m very sorry to hear that white men feel so fearful that they feel they have to have this conversation without inviting women and minorities to join.”

Stepping Up, a for-profit business, held its first two public workshops this year. Each was attended by 12 men, who paid $100 to $300 based on their income. Those who made less than $60,000 could qualify for a scholarship. People of other genders and races haven’t attended his workshops, but Mann says he’s open to having a conversation if they want to come. He has no more public workshops scheduled and is instead reaching out to technology companies, schools and education nonprofits to see if they are interested in Stepping Up workshops for their employees.

Before the recent workshops, men were encouraged to listen to or read material relating to race, like the podcast “Seeing White,” which discusses the history of whiteness. Together, they talk about racially charged incidents where they felt uncomfortable.

Tucker Hutchinson attended one of the workshops after hearing about it through a friend and called it a rewarding experience. Before attending, Hutchinson said, he would never have emailed a group of guy friends to discuss a passage about racial injustice. But recently Hutchinson and other men who went through Stepping Up got together to do just that. They ate roast chicken and vegetables, and talked about a passage from African American writer bell hooks’ book, “The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love.”

“It felt fun,” said Hutchinson, 32, chief operating officer for a Berkeley startup that markets overseas travel programs.

Mann, 37, was most recently a recruiter with Rocketship Public Schools, a network of charter schools. Fifteen years ago, he said, he wouldn’t have thought of race as a major factor in people’s lack of opportunity; it seemed more of a socioeconomic or class issue. His thinking evolved after he worked in the education industry and learned through reading and from African American women friends.

During his work in Stepping Up, Mann recalled, a client told Mann about an incident in which an African American employee accused him of race-based favoritism. The client’s initial reaction was that he had to defend himself. Mann says that in situations like these, people tend to think only one person can be right, but that perhaps in this case, they were both right.

Often, when people hurt others, they want to focus on the intent, but what really matters is the impact, Mann said.

“He may not have intended to cause harm, but he did,” Mann said. “It’s important, once that’s acknowledged, to listen, learn, apologize and make it right.”

Mann says his workshop is for those who enjoy privileged status (white men are often in leadership roles in tech companies, for example) and want to use it to help women and people of color.

He recalled an instance in which his nonwhite students felt they were receiving different treatment based on their race, and he was able to speak on their behalf. Colleagues who were women and nonwhite had raised these issues with the program before, but their complaints were not taken as seriously until Mann spoke up.

Melissa Thomas-Hunt, a vice provost for inclusive excellence at Vanderbilt University, said Stepping Up could be the starting point for white men to have a larger conversation about diversity. “Yes, I would love it if white men and white women were willing to say, ‘I am comfortable in sitting in discomfort,’” she said. “As human beings that is not where we are. It feels unrealistic to ask people to subject themselves to it.”

Kourtni Marshall, a member and former co-chairman of the Black Googler Network, also sees how the program could be beneficial. “If we can create a space, in whatever way, for people to genuinely investigate this stuff, especially from a seat of more empowered people to make further changes in their circle and friends — that is how we move further as a society,” Marshall said.

Scott, the author and former Google executive, believes it’s important to open the conversation to everybody. Years ago when she was an intern, she said, the CEO of the company told her that he “didn’t know they let pretty girls be interns.” She told the story to a group, and many women said they wouldn’t know how to respond. An older white man offered a potential rejoinder: “When you say something like that, it breaks my heart and it makes me think I won’t be successful here.”

“There is increasingly this tendency for men and women to break into their separate spaces,” Scott said. “We’re never going to sort this problem out unless we talk with each other.”

Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee