Student enrollment in higher education is becoming increasingly diverse. Despite this increase in diversity, students from traditionally marginalized groups such as students of color or from low-income families continue to be underrepresented. A lack of cultural understanding and the presence of biases and prejudices are considered a root cause of the inequities and educational disparities. A higher education training program is proposed with an aim to bring awareness of cultural understanding and how one reacts to people and groups who are unfamiliar. The training presents intercultural experiences in Brazilian art forms (samba dance, percussion, and capoeira) using kinesthetic learning modalities combined with strategies for understanding oneself as a first step toward a culturally proficient practice. This research study is two-fold. First, the creation of the training program involved the process of autoethnography to explore the connections between the researcher's lived experience of embodying Brazilian art forms and the cultural proficiency framework. Next, a small group of experts and professionals in higher education (n=5) evaluated the effectiveness of the training program content and design. Evaluators expressed mostly favorable opinions on the organization and presentation of the sessions. They also listed meaningful insights that may increase self-awareness, implement cultural proficiency concepts, and be applied to daily work life. Findings suggest that introducing a cultural and arts-based mindset to foster diversity and inclusion in higher education can provide insight for higher education staff, faculty, and administrators to implement an inside-out approach to further develop self-awareness. The promotion of diversity and inclusion through potentially new cultural activities can broaden perspectives and mindsets and has important implications for higher education students, personnel, and educational leadership. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]