Podcasts about dei

Welcome to this special bonus episode of CBO Speaks. We've asked our recent interviewees about important topics for our listeners and collected their responses to share with you in these mini topical episodes. In this episode, our CBOs discuss how to put action towards diversity, equity, and inclusion... or DEI.

On this week's episode, guest Michelle Jalali (she/her) walks through how to start your diversity, equity and inclusion journey to find your social justice voice and make an impact. Michelle is a trauma-informed DEI consultant and coach who works with small businesses, nonprofits and higher education institutions to dismantle oppressive systems and practices so they can create cultural change and build connections and community. After listening, you'll have a better understanding of how to:Get involved in social justice movements in an intentional wayStart integrating diversity, equity and inclusion work into your lifeNavigate social media and DEI workUse more than your money to support causes that matter to youFOLLOW + SUPPORT JALALI:JALALI'S IG: https://www.instagram.com/jalaliconsulting/ GET $50 FREE WITH NEO: https://join.neo.cc/ellycefulmoreJoin the Queerd Community: INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/ellyce.fulmore/ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@queerd.co WORK WITH ME: https://ellycefulmore.com/Ready to take control of your money? Well I've got you covered with my mini course library. Priced at $47 each, these mini courses are an awesome (and affordable!) way to start taking control of your financial future.https://ellycefulmore.com/mini-courses 

In today's episode, Nathan Stuck sits down for a deep conversation with Jamal Lewis, Economic Opportunity Manager for Georgia's Partnership for Inclusive Innovation (“The Partnership”), about the far-reaching economic and societal impact when you're intentional about fostering community and opportunities for diverse business leaders to innovate at scale across your state when entering your values and actions around inclusion. More about Jamal Lewis Driven by the desire to improve access to resources in underserved and underrepresented communities, Jamal's current role as Economic Opportunity Manager for the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation (the Partnership) allows him to help create spaces and opportunities for those who are often under-resourced. Understanding that inclusion is an imperative struggle, Jamal is focused on igniting and equipping current and future innovators with the capital, partnerships, and resources conducive to creating economic and community success.  Throughout his career, Jamal has maintained the belief that partnerships and equitable access are crucial to the long-term sustainability of opportunities. He has been a longtime advocate for ownership and economic and community development all of which influence his professional endeavors. RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamallewis/  Website: www.PINGeorgia.org  Twitter: @PINGeorgia YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkH6hyMuJY0KCPf6rJwRWcQ  CREDITS Music

In this episode of Fearless Thinkers, the BTS Podcast, Lacee Jacobs, Head of DEI at BTS, and Mac Quartarone, PhD, Director at BTS, reflect on their Harvard Business Review article of the same name discussing the critical differences between inclusion and assimilation. Show notes For a transcript, please click here. Here's a link to the corresponding Harvard Business Review article, "Do Your Diversity Initiatives Promote Assimilation Over Inclusion?"

Summary: Torin Ellis is a diversity strategist, Founder/CEO at the Torin Ellis Brand, Co-Host of the Crazy and the King Podcast, and a published author. As a tenured diversity practitioner, he leads a nimble diversity boutique consultancy with a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) strategy through the lens of recruiting Through his work he ensures teams effectively attract, nurture, and retain the most dynamic talent necessary to not only meet, but transcend business vision. Torin's HR consultancy is on the front lines of corporate diversity. He'e worked with clients including Nike, Redfin and ESPN find diverse executives, create DEI strategies and create programs to mentor and nurture young, diverse talent. In this episode we talk about how to come across as a great people person, how to move through life and lead with love, and how to Torin convinces companies of the importance of Diversity strategies. Torin's appraoch to humanity can be used by anyone to who wants to forms strong bonds with people that may not always look or think like you. Key moments: 13:35 - Learning respect, Service is sales 19:00 - Commanding A Frequency of Love 24:44 - Being human instead of being right 29:20 - How to be a good leader Connect with Torin https://www.linkedin.com/in/torinellis/ (LinkedIN) Connect with Us! https://www.linkedin.com/company/53108426/admin/ (LinkedIN: ) https://stories-of-selling-human.captivate.fm/ (Website: )

Marlene Chism works with C-Suite leaders to build drama-free cultures that drive growth and reduce costly mistakes. She's the author of four commercially-published books and a LinkedIn Learning instructor. Marlene shares simple ways to deal with conflict. Marlene advises using curiosity to learn more about the parties to the conflict, and explains the dangers for new leaders of being nice. She also shares leadership traits and the importance of being in alignment. And remember, willingness is the fulcrum point of change.   Key Takeaways [1:52] Marlene Chism loves to dance. Marlene suggests turning off his “thinking brain” to find his rhythm! [3:38] Marlene says we mismanage conflict with the three “A”s: Appeasement, Aggression, and Avoidance. When we think of conflict as a problem, we fear it. [4:05] Marlene has a new definition for conflict: Opposing Drives, Desires, and Demands. It's not one person “out to get” another. People want different things for different reasons. When you take the personal aspects out of conflict and define it differently, your gut reaction to it changes. [4:34] Generally, we mismanage conflict because we have an inner conflict first. In other words, I might need to have a difficult conversation with you but I also want you to like me. I mismanage it because I have two opposing drives, desires, and demands within myself. [5:35] When is the right time to address potential conflict? Marlene says we have to get curious, and the sooner, the better. Good contracts create good relationships. Marlene offers ways to be direct and find clarity. Bring up questions earlier, rather than later. [6:55] Sometimes we imagine conflict where there is none. Are we negotiating with ourselves? Marlene suggests watching your narrative. Don't believe everything that you think. Say, “I observed this; my perception is that.” That gives grace to the other person to clarify if they meant something else. Being assertive beats the alternative of making up a story and creating a bigger conflict than what was there. [8:29] Marlene says she takes a breath and thinks about whether she has all the facts to be sure she is right. If she's feeling angry, she interprets it as that she needs more information. Marlene always asks “Are you willing to be wrong?” [10:19] Willingness is the fulcrum point of change. Nothing happens until there's willingness. If I haven't been willing, it means I'm in a state of resistance. [11:01] Marlene says drama is an obstacle to peace and prosperity. She uses the visual of a rowboat with a person in it going to an island. A shark between the boat and the island is the obstacle. When we're in drama, we're distracted. Marlene compares employee drama with top-level drama. CEOs who think they are above the drama are not hands-on and are keeping secrets from their team so they look competent. [13:24] If you're not working toward a purpose; if you don't have a shared vision, and if you don't feel excited, that's an obstacle. We all have to take responsibility for our engagement and desires. There is a symbiotic relationship between the employee and the company. [14:05] Marlene discusses her latest book, From Conflict to Courage. In the workplace, Marlene says courage is not taking the easy path; not taking the path of being perceived as “nice.” Marlene's book sets up a framework of Conflict Capacity with three overlapping circles: Culture, Skillset, and Inner Game. The three together give you the ability to clarify conflicts. [16:18] Marlene says in the long run, aligning with your values and what you promised your customer is going to serve you. What is the point of being profitable if you are miserable because you don't understand alignment? [17:26] Marlene defines leadership. It is alignment or focusing energy. Aligning everything in your business trumps opportunity. Opportunity can be a distraction and lead to drama. [18:32] If something is operating in harmony, it's very efficient and very effective. Marlene says the owner wants to get to the treasure chest on the island, the leader wants everybody to row harder and faster, and the rower just wants a better seat cushion on the boat. A consultant has to look at all three perspectives. [19:52] In her latest book, Marlene writes about the price of being nice. She sees three identities of new leaders before they are oriented: Best Friend, Hands-off, or Hero. When we don't align with the values of leadership, we try to align as "best friends." [21:35] We can be friendly; we should be kind and polite, but when we don't understand our role as a leader, then it's about being nice, which is about manipulating. We think that being nice is making people like us, so we avoid being direct because it feels bad to say “No.” We're afraid of hurting people's feelings, versus educating them on why prior decisions are not going to allow that new idea. [22:14] Peter Drucker, in his book, Concept of the Corporation, says that when front-line people give ideas and they don't match, don't look at it as if they're stupid or they don't get it. Look at it as they want to engage but they don't understand how the business operates and how the different departments work together. We should educate them. We want people to grow, not to like us. [23:27] People will like you if you are fair with them. Work on having a relationship with people. You don't need to conduct a personality assessment on your team to resolve conflicts. You need to spend time with them and talk honestly with them without posturing. [24:41] Feigning niceness but not wanting to develop a relationship, is not niceness. Some say the traits they have that distract are virtues. If people say that's just the way I am, Marlene asks them “Is that who you want to be?” Do you want to be authentic to the childish parts of you, or do you want to be authentic to the future you, who is growing, evolving, apologizing and working on yourself? [26:23] With a clear definition of how you want to show up, that changes the game. Ask yourself, am I willing to stop rolling my eyes and interrupting? Am I willing to notice that habit, to be a better communicator? [27:01] What are some of the challenges of building relationships without being in the office? It's an opportunity for those who want to be intentional about connection. Learn to be good in the office, on Zoom, on Teams, on the phone, and in text. Have a system because eventually, it will put you at the top. Be the one who follows through instead of ghosting. [28:22] You will never lose by deciding to be intentional about how you form relationships and how you treat other people.   [29:14] What if you've been a coworker, and were suddenly promoted to manage people who were your “best friends”? Marlene hopes the organization would help to onboard you into management, but it doesn't happen very much. You're going to take on a whole new identity. Don't believe that the better you treat people, the more they're going to do you favors. They will take advantage. It's human nature. [30:09] Have a meeting with everyone, individually and in a group, to explain the new position and what it means. Marlene shares a script for being open and setting expectations from the beginning of the things that will change and how you will go forward. Generally, when expectations have not been set is the time Marlene is called in! You'll have to start with a clean slate and own the part you played. [30:59] You cannot set a new boundary out of the blue. It will make people your enemies. Tell your observations. Acknowledge your part in it. Explain how it is affecting the operation. Set the new rule and say everyone will need to comply. It will require, when someone messes up, for you to enforce the consequence you said would happen. A boundary is not solid unless you keep the boundary. [32:48] Leadership clarity is about situational analysis and the outcome. Without those two points of reference, you cannot solve any problem at all. Identify what's happening that shouldn't be, what's not happening that should be, how that affects your business, the two points of reference and the obstacles you think are in the way. Start with clarity. [33:58] Leadership identity is how you see yourself in relation to these issues. Leadership Identity drives everything but you can only be as effective as your ability to be clear. [35:01] Marlene recently had a clarification meeting with a new client. Just as they were about to sign the contract, the client wanted to add in a StrengthsFinder, as well. Marlene answered, yes, they could do that for an extra fee, but since we know the situation and the outcome, let's see if we can uncover some of those issues that are creating a lack of clarity and resolve them with what we've agreed to do. [36:23] What can happen if a board member is hired by opportunity (deep pockets and good connections) instead of by alignment (having the same values)? Drama! Jim compares conservative and progressive values in corporations around DEI. Marlene encourages getting to know the other person and learning what it's like to be in their shoes, whether or not you agree with them. Align with them. [40:05] The real problem is we're saying, “Just like them” or “Not one of us.” We need to stop doing that. There's room for all, we just have to be willing to build that capacity and to be a little bit uncomfortable with it. That's what conflict capacity is about. Be willing to be wrong and be open. [41:17] The story you tell is the life you live. Whatever narrative you think or feel about yourself, is the source of your suffering. The good news is your story can also be the source of your “salvation.” You can shift your story and see other things that are equally true and explore that.[42:18] Marlene found that you can only coach a regulated person. If someone's in their story and they're upset, all you can do is be a radical listener. You cannot coach someone that's not self-regulated. Marlene loves that you can help a person shift their story, and create a new possibility. [43:09] How and why has Marlene changed her identity several times? Marlene was a blue-collar factory worker for 21 years. She wanted something more. She had to learn business practices the hard way because you don't know what you don't know. She first identified with being a professional speaker. As she became more aware of business practices, she realized she was not as good as she thought! [44:36] Going from a front-line worker to a supervisor gives you a new identity and it can be completely overwhelming if you haven't believed, accepted, and felt that you are in that place. You have to feel it. [45:03] Marlene explains three life tragedies that occur mid-life: 1. I know I want something more but I don't know what it is. 2. I know what it is but I don't believe it's possible. 3. I know what it is and it might be possible, but now I have to be willing. Willingness is the fulcrum point of change. In any tragedy, you don't have clarity. You have to be willing to discover, develop, and deliver. Find your purpose. [47:55] If you're stuck, confused, in drama, or conflict, clarity can change any situation. Marlene's job is to hear the stories of the parties she coaches and help them get clear, and they will know the answer.   Quotable Quotes “We are all afraid of conflict … and so … we try to avoid it. I call it the three ‘A's: Appeasing, Aggression, and Avoidance.” “Generally, we mismanage [conflict] because we have an inner conflict first.” “Watch your narrative. Don't believe everything that you think.” “I could be right, but I might be wrong and there might be one missing piece. … If I'm feeling that angry, instead of interpreting it as I've got all the facts, that means, I've got to have more information … because that helps me to calm down.” “The question I always ask is, ‘Are you willing to be wrong?' Or, ‘Am I willing to be wrong?' Because nothing happens until there's willingness. … Willingness is the fulcrum point of change.” “If I haven't been willing, it means I'm in a state of resistance.” “In the long run, aligning with your values and what you promised your customer is what's  going to serve you. … What is the point of being profitable and being successful if you are miserable because you don't understand alignment?” “My definition for leadership is that if leadership is about anything, it's about alignment and alignment is about focusing energy.” “The owner wants to get to the treasure chest on the island, the leader wants everybody to row harder and faster, and the rower just wants a better seat cushion on the boat. As a consultant … it's about looking at all the perspectives.” “You will never lose by deciding to be intentional about how you form relationships and how you treat other people.” “If you've messed up for a while, which is generally where I come in, what you have to do is you have to start with a clean slate and you have to own the part you played. Because you cannot set a new boundary out of the blue. It will make people your enemy.” “If you care more about them understanding than you do about your boundary, that's where you're going to be a poor leader.” “Wherever there's drama, there's always a lack of clarity.” “That's what conflict capacity is about, ‘I'm uncomfortable with your ideas and thoughts and it's OK that I'm uncomfortable. I might change my mind if I'm willing to be wrong. And you might change yours if you're willing to be open.'” “If you're stuck or you're confused, or you're in drama or conflict, there's something that I live by, and that's: ‘Clarity can change any situation.'”   Resources Mentioned Theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by: Darley.com Marlene Chism Consulting Marlene Chism on LinkedIn Marlene's new book: From Conflict to Courage: How to Stop Avoiding and Start Leading Marlene's previous books: No-Drama Leadership: How Enlightened Leaders Transform Culture in the Workplace Stop Workplace Drama: Train Your Team to Have No Complaints, No Excuses, and No Regrets Success is a Given: Reading the Signs While Reinventing Your Life 7 Ways to Stop Drama in Your Healthcare Practice (Out of stock) LinkedIn Learning The Ladder of Inference Peter Senge The fifth discipline fieldbook: strategies and tools for building a learning organization, by Peter M. Senge Concept of the Corporation, by Peter F. Drucker StrengthsFinder DiSC Profile Tony Robbins  

In the second of our three-part series from the Travel Unity Roadshow, we ask our seven guests to share their thoughts on how the travel industry can make an impact via the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Rhonda's conversations with all of these leaders in our industry were truly fascinating, and we're excited to share them with you. Highlights of this episode include why we should see tour guides for the storytellers they are and how their unique position allows them to be at the forefront of DEI education by expanding the viewpoints in the stories they tell about the destinations that they visit. Our guests also discuss the importance of emphasizing the principles of DEI to young people and college students and why they should be woven into every aspect of a destination. David Naczycz, owner of WeVenture Dustin Woerhmann, President and Creative Director of Communify Elijah Washington, Youth and Collegiate Programs Director at Travel Unity Greg DeShields, Executive Director, Tourism Diversity Matters Janette Roush, Executive Vice President of Marketing at NYC & Co Jennifer Grimmer, President and CEO of Gilmer Chamber of Commerce Karen Kuhl, Executive Director, Cayuga County CVB The Travel Unity Roadshow Defined The Travel Unity Summit highlights the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of the travel and tourism industry. The event allows destination marketers and other travel professionals to discuss how they can incorporate the principles of DEI into their everyday practice. Our seven guests also share their word of the summit — and the terms and concepts that appear are insightful. David Naczycz, Owner of WeVenture David shares why the travel industry has a significant role in promoting DEI. The scale of our industry is vast, as is the number of people we touch so we can impact our teams, our companies, and our visitors and model the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. David also emphasizes the need to take the concept of decolonization seriously, take some time to reflect, and make changes so that we're not exploiting people, we're spreading the wealth, and including everybody. Dustin Woerhmann, President and Creative Director of Communify Dustin outline the steps Communify are taking to bring DEI to their organization in terms of helping destinations to tell their authentic stories. Communify works to create advisory groups with a broad range of interests from a broad range of backgrounds to help put together inclusive marketing content for a destination. Dustin tells us why his word of the summit is inclusive and how the event is shining a light on what it means to be genuinely inclusive. Elijah Washington, Youth and Collegiate Programs Director at Travel Unity Elijah describes the topics most often discussed by students and young people around DEI and what they are primarily interested in. He shares how they are bringing the discussion to the youth in college and how they make the topic more accessible and applicable to students in the high school age range. Elijah also notes why it is so interesting to hear students' views on DEI and how it relates to their community or culture. Greg DeShields, Executive Director, Tourism Diversity Matters Tourism Diversity Matters was founded on the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. As such, it is their priority to work within the travel industry to address those gaps in DEI. They help business leaders with appropriate resources and valuable strategies for their DEI programs via their four-pillar approach. Greg outlines the four pillars of his organization — the apprenticeship program, workforce development, DEI training, and research and data — and explains how each helps in reducing social and economic inequality and building awareness. Janette Roush, Executive Vice President of Marketing at NYC & Co Janette explores why accessibility needs a place in the world of inclusion and how NYC and Co are making an impact as marketers via the stories they tell. She describes why they devoted a lot of time during the pandemic to finding a broad range of stories that touch various audiences and sharing them via content hubs on their site. Janette's word of the summit is ‘warm' because of the welcome she has received and the sense of enlightenment shared by so many passionate people at the summit. Jennifer Grimmer, President and CEO of Gilmer Chamber of Commerce Jennifer believes that the travel industry can make a significant impact by portraying everyone and being inclusive when it comes to travel. Our sector should convey a welcome to anyone visiting any destination and be attentive to people's needs in marketing and discussing travel. It's exciting for Jennifer that the Travel Unity Summit is so popular, and she is thrilled to see that so many people working for DMOs across the country are committed to DEI. Karen Kuhl, Executive Director, Cayuga County CVB Diversity, equity, and inclusion is woven into every part of the tourism industry. Karen shares how the Cayuga County CVB works with a variety of partnerships and ensures that each individual organization has the same opportunity to be elevated and celebrated. She discusses what it means to be an advocate and an authentic friend to organizations means understanding and listening to them, and how that creates an alignment with visitors. I hope you enjoyed the second episode of our special three-part series from the Travel Unity Summitt. All of these inspirational leaders had so much to share on how their organizations continue to impact DEI in the travel and tourism industry. Next week we'll hear from more remarkable travel and tourism experts, so I hope you'll join the conversation! We value your thoughts and feedback and would love to hear from you. Leave us a review on your favorite streaming platform to let us know what you want to hear more of. Here is a quick tutorial on how to leave us a rating and review on iTunes!: https://breaktheicemedia.com/rating-review/

In Episode 86, Julia Taylor Kennedy, Executive Vice President at Coqual, joins Melinda to discuss key insights from Coqual's Equity Series that feature insights on racial, ethnic, and gender equity in the global workforce. Julia takes us through her findings on specific differences around workplace equity across various countries. She shares how professionals from underrepresented groups experience inequity in performance evaluations, promotions, and compensation. She also offers a strategic approach for employers, managers, and DEI practitioners to measure and improve equity in global workplaces by identifying marginalized groups, addressing systemic issues, and understanding where there might be gaps in inclusion initiatives.About Julia Taylor Kennedy (she/her)Julia Taylor Kennedy is executive vice president at Coqual where she leads cutting-edge research on issues affecting today's professional workforce with an eye toward solutions for a more inclusive and equitable global workplace and world. Julia holds a mirror to how workplaces work today—and gives companies a way forward.Julia is a thought leader who has spoken at the United Nations, the Conference Board, the Executive Leadership Council, New York City Bar's Associate Leadership Institute, and many companies. She's been featured in Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, Fortune, Scientific American, and The Washington Post; she also has appeared on Bloomberg TV, American Public Media's Marketplace, Wharton Business Radio, and more.Find Leading With Empathy & Allyship useful? Subscribe to our podcast and like this episode!For more about Change Catalyst, and to join us for our monthly live event, visit https://ally.cc. There, you'll also find educational resources and highlights from this episode.Connect With Julia Taylor Kennedy On SocialLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-taylor-kennedy-893aa25Connect With Us On SocialYouTube: youtube.com/c/changecatalystTwitter: twitter.com/changecatalystsFacebook: facebook.com/changecatalystsInstagram: instagram.com/techinclusionLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/changecatalystsProduction TeamCreator & Host: Melinda Briana EplerCo-Producers: Renzo Santos & Christina Swindlehurst ChanCreative Director @ Podcast Rocket: Rob Scheerbarth[Image description: Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo and photos of Julia Taylor Kennedy, a White woman with short, curly brown hair, amber earrings, and teal blue shirt, and host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with red hair, glasses, and orange shirt holding a white mug behind a laptop.]Support the show

Eric Toda is an award winning Marketing Executive currently at Meta (Head of Meta Prosper & Global Head of Social Marketing) and formerly of Nike, Airbnb, Snapchat. Sits on the board of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, The Asian American Foundation, and Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change. Is an active advocate for the AAPI community but more-so for DEI in totality as a proud father of mixed-race children. His fight, much like all of ours, is to impact the future positively by breaking stereotypes, biases, and misconceptions. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/quientueres/support

How does a reluctant entrepreneur find their worth? Love Odih Kumuyi comes back on the show to give us a taste of Unsiloed's origin story. In this episode, we talk about the current state of DEI, how Love transitioned her “project” into her business, what she learned from the experience, and the realities of success. As an attorney and Equity, Inclusion, and Justice scholar-practitioner, Love founded Unsiloed with a singular mission: To help organizations make psychological safety and human-rights part of everyday culture, for everyone. As a two-time immigrant, she understands firsthand the challenges of being 'othered' and is keen on using creating spaces that feel accessible. Formerly the Associate Dean at Cornell University, Love worked in dynamic capacities with corporate organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), U.S. Peace Corps, law firms, and universities across the globe. She's passionate about driving systemic change with empathy, fostering learning, and facilitating dialogue — all in an effort to redefine human relations, promote inclusion, and build psychologically safe workplaces where people can thrive. She is an adjunct professor at New York University, a certified Psychological safety trainer and coach, mediator, and restorative justice practitioner. In this episode we referenced: · Love's previous appearances on Season 1, Episode 16, and Season 2, Episode 2. · The impact of the Buffalo Grocery Store shooting. · You can connect with Love and her writings on LinkedIn. · She also shared her email: lkumuyi@unsiloed.org --- I'm Jacen from Hawthorne Union, a professional coach. Join me as I discuss career development, personal and professional growth, and leadership from a coach's point of view. Contact: jacen@hawthorneunion.com

What benefits can a company gain from DEI training? What role do white women play in challenging the power structure? In this series on healthcare and social disparities, Dr. Jill Wener, a board-certified Internal Medicine specialist, meditation expert, and tapping practitioner, interviews experts and gives her own insights into multiple fields relating to social justice and anti-racism. In this episode, Jill interviews the founder of Empowered Leadership Cultivation, Trisha Daho. They discuss the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training and how bringing everyone to the table in an organization is necessary in order to make real change. Trisha also highlights her story of converting to Islam and addresses several misconceptions and assumptions about Islam. With a law degree from Case Western Reserve University and a business degree from Miami University, Trisha brings practical results-driven insights as well as leadership acumen. She regularly writes and speaks on a variety of topics, including authenticity in leadership, high impact teams, creating growth cultures, diversity and inclusion, and many more. Trisha is married to a Frenchman named Bachir, whom she met while on vacation in Paris. They plan to travel the world together as soon as he is permanently stateside. In her spare time, Trisha fosters Labrador Retrievers, travels to faraway places, and watches lots of foreign films. LINKS Empowered Leadership Cultivation website: https://empoweredlc.com/ Connect with Trisha on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishadaho/ ** Our website www.consciousantiracism.com You can learn more about Dr. Wener and her online meditation and tapping courses at www.jillwener.com, and you can learn more about her online social justice course, Conscious Anti Racism: Tools for Self-Discovery, Accountability, and Meaningful Change at https://theresttechnique.com/courses/conscious-anti-racism. If you're a healthcare worker looking for a CME-accredited course, check out Conscious Anti-Racism: Tools for Self-Discovery, Accountability, and Meaningful Change in Healthcare at www.theresttechnique.com/courses/conscious-anti-racism-healthcare Join her Conscious Anti-Racism facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/307196473283408 Follow her on: Instagram at @jillwenerMD Twitter at @jillwenerMD Facebook at @jillwenerMDmeditation LinkedIn at @jillwenermd

“A bunch of the workplace norms we practice now in the US were developed in a time when we did very different work.” Our hosts dig into the current conversation around where people need to be in order to do their work. Mental health, care giving, access to consistent technology, + so many more things to consider when planning schedules. Why don't we change behavior when we have data that tells us the way we're doing things isn't effective? Here are some questions to navigate that. 

On today's episode, I'm talking to Social Justice Educator, Researcher, and Coach Dr. Jen Fry about teaching with love.Jen has spent her entire career in higher education, transforming from a collegiate volleyball player to a coach with multiple master's degrees to an academic studying the intersection of race and athletics. Throughout her 15 years as a coach, she met her athletes with compassion and understanding while modeling what it looked like to navigate life's challenges. She just finished her PhD in sport geography, likely making her the first Black woman sport geographer in the world.We talk about:The teachers and coaches who shaped Jen's teaching philosophy.When Jen made a career move outside of collegiate athletics, she found that so many of her skills from running a volleyball program transferred seamlessly. Jen used the sum of her previous experiences to guide her research during her PhD and finish it in only three years. At the end of the episode I shared the free resource I created to help you define your values so you can make sure that you're doing the work that matters to you, no matter what your job or job title is.Grab your free copy of this exercise here!You can find the show notes and more resources at https://madamathlete.comKeep an eye out for new content or let us know what you'd like to see next by following us on social:Instagram:  @theMadamAthleteFacebook:  @MadamAthleteTwitter:  @MadamAthlete

This week as we focus on the sacrament of Holy Communion as a means of grace. You already know that the sacrament of Holy Communion is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. It's a sign of God's love for us. It's a moment to be formed into the imago Dei.  Like the previous means of grace we've explored, Holy Communion is about a relationship with the living God we know in Jesus. It's an opportunity to encounter God's love, experience forgiveness, and be shaped into the person God is inviting us to be.   Wesley reminded us Holy Communion is “the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God” (Sermon 26: Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount") As a means of grace, the “duty of constant communion” can bring objections from some. You've likely heard something like “if we celebrate Holy Communion too frequently, it will lose its power as being special.” Holy Communion: An Encounter with Grace What if instead, the opportunity to encounter God's goodness and grace is a moment to experience the love of God we know in Jesus? What if each time we come to the table we're shaped to be more like Jesus? What if each encounter with God's grace fills us with grace?  As you can probably tell, Tim and Sara are with Wesley on this one. The “duty” of constant communion may bring about objections, but the goodness of God's love can't be contained.  Five Common Objections In this episode, we explore five common objections to the sacrament of Holy Communion and Wesley's teaching on Holy Communion. All as a reminder that as United Methodists, the sacrament of Holy Communion is a means of grace to embrace.  There is hope at Christ's Table. May you experience God's forgiveness and steadfast love each and every time you participate in the sacrament of Holy Communion.  Means of Grace Series Missed the other episodes on the means of grace? Find them here: Episode 227 - The Means of Grace: Where Hope Abounds Episode 228 - Misunderstanding the Means of Grace  - There's Still Hope Episode 229 - The Means of Grace: Searching the Scripture Episode 230 - The Means of Grace: Prayer Learn More Wesley's Sermons: Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount VI Salvation by Faith On the Means of Grace

In this edition of HPS Insights, HPS Partner Tony Fratto and Senior Director Stephanie Dodge host Fanta Traore, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Sadie Collective, and Young-Chan Lim and Doug Ortiz, members of the working group for the Cross-Policy School White Paper on Anti-Racism, for a conversation on racial equity in graduate public policy programs. Fanta, Young-Chan, and Doug discuss the Sadie Collective's upcoming white paper, which draws on input from students across the country to offer recommendations for making graduate public policy programs more inclusive. The group also discusses how using a racial equity & inclusion (REI) lens over a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) lens can lead to better outcomes, both for students of color at public policy programs and policymaking itself.Read more about the Sadie Collective here. Read more about Fanta Traore, Executive Director of the Sadie Collective, here.

On this episode of #WeNeedToTalk, Malynda chats with Equity strategist Tara Jaye Frank. The discuss the need for equity in the workplace, what led her to be in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space and her new book The Waymakers that invites leaders into a space that will allow for equity.  Tara Jaye Frank is an equity stategist and author. She  has worked with thousands of leaders at Fortune 500 companies to help solve culture-based and leadership problems and is frequently called upon to discuss timely DEI issues by top tier media including Business Insider, Forbes, HerMoney, and more. Here is an example of a recent broadcast interview on Fox4 Dallas and Tara's inclusion on the recent confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in Business Insider. This is a fantastic feature in Worth, which was included in both the print on online version.  

Dr. Marlette Jackson, the Global Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Virgin Pulse, and I talk about the value of employee voice, authenticity in the workplace, how to bake DEI into your performance management process, the importance of reframing conversations in the workplace, and more.

In this week's episode, we bring on BuyWhyTho's Founder and Editor-In-Chief Kate Sanchez about the Activision/Blizzard tool we discussed in the previous episode. Why data collection around DEI is so hard and why the internet can sometimes stifle progress by shouting too loudly. In the 411, I talk about Bungie standing up for the Black community and standing up to white supremacy on the heels of the horrific terror attack in Buffalo. Go check out more of Kate's work at https://butwhythopodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week our guest is Sina Pleggenkuhle, Director of Programs & Partnerships and Market Manager at the Minneapolis Farmers Market, Minnesota's largest open air farmers market. Sina is such a ray of sunshine, it's no surprise she's able to keep her farmers and vendors joyful seven days a week, no matter the weather! In this episode we chat about how to make the market your happy place, the pros & cons of hosting resellers at your farmers market, and the importance of listening when it comes to DEI measures and supporting immigrant farmers and vendors. Listen along for a cheerful and inspirational conversation with a kick-butt market manager! This week's episode is made possible by support from Blue Owl Promos.

Today on the Dads with Daughters podcast I talk Ray Arata, father, founder of the Better Man Conference and award-winning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leader, speaker, consultant and trainer with global clients from PwC to Verizon to Toyota to Bloomberg. WE talk about fatherhood as well as his new book Showing Up: How Men Can Become Effective Allies in the Workplace. Learn more about Ray Arata at rayarata.com and bettermanconference.com. SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook: Better Man Movement - Home | Facebook LinkedIn: Better Man Movement | LinkedIn Instagram: Better Man Conference (@bettermanmvmt) • Instagram photos and videos Pinterest: Better Man Conference (bettermanconference) - Profile | Pinterest   If you've enjoyed today's episode of the Dads With Daughters podcast we invite you to check out the Fatherhood Insider. The Fatherhood Insider is the essential resource for any dad that wants to be the best dad that he can be. We know that no child comes with an instruction manual and most are figuring it out as they go along. The Fatherhood Insider is full of valuable

Nicole saw through her education and life experiences that things were not connected. She saw that people were taught their personality but not taught other people's personality and how to communicate in personality. She also saw that people were hurt and wounded in their personality. This affects belonging, something we all need.  In this she developed the Needs Languages, a system to identify and categorize personality types. It is fast and intuitive, helping you feel connected and providing a sense of belonging to all your relationships. So sit back and get ready to learn how to discover belonging.  Nicole did her bachelor's degree with business and conflict resolution. She did her masters in industrial organizational psychology. Nicole is the author of The Needs Language series. She has written 3 booklets one for people dating, parents & romantic partnerships. She has The Needs Languages workplace booklet coming out this April. She is a big component of DEI, especially for people with disabilities. Nicole is doing a TEDx talk this April. If you want to learn how your personality communicates, check out one of her booklets.          3 top tips for my audience: 1. You are a puzzle piece in this world, unique but you fit to make a beautiful picture. It is vital to learn to be both.  2. Learn the difference between silence & silent. Don't silence yourself or others. Give yourself a voice & others. Learn when it is wise to be quiet or silent.  3. Focus on what you like about yourself. That is where growth can come in. Look in the mirror and say I like this about me.  Social media  https://linktr.ee/Nicole.Shir

I just LOVEEEEEE how the left likes to make fun of us for caring about self defense, when meanwhile the only reason we have to defend ourselves is because THEY keep letting criminals out of prison. How about we send criminals to jail instead of living in the wild wild west?DEI (what I call DIE, Diversity, Inclusion, Equity) is finally coming to a head. Big corporations have been hiring people who bring NOTHING to the table simply because of how they look/who they sleep with. Well..... the numbers are in, and hiring people who don't help generate revenue ISNT EXACTLY A GREAT BUSINESS PLAN.Oh, and Elon Musk announced he's a republican and now the left is saying he's a predator LOL.GRAB A FRAPPUCCINO AND LETS GOSSIP SWEETIE. BE UNCANCELLABLE 

What you'll learn in this podcast episode With increasing demands from institutional investors, employees, consumers, and shareholders around ESG priorities, how are company boards assuring that they are shaping business strategy to be responsive to these expectations? In this episode of the Principled Podcast, Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames, partner at Tapestry Networks, explores the role of boards in bringing a strategic mindset to advancing ESG issues with Virginia Addicott, former president and CEO of FedEx Custom Critical and board member of both CDW Corporation and Element Fleet Management. Listen in as the two discuss how the board's own diversity can humanize the elements of creating sustainable corporate cultures and creating meaningful organizational change.   Featured Guest: Virginia Addicott Virginia Addicott recently retired as president and CEO of FedEx Custom Critical®, a leading North American expedited freight carrier located in Green, Ohio. Virginia joined FedEx Custom Critical in 1986 and quickly worked her way up the ranks, holding director positions in various departments where she placed a strong focus on organizational culture, customer satisfaction and developing people. In each role, Virginia used technology to improve productivity. By streamlining processes she has improved efficiency and enhanced communication capabilities to move the company forward.  Virginia has been recognized for her leadership both at work and in the community. In recent years she has been inducted into the Northeastern Ohio Business Hall of Fame (2013), received the Women of Power Award from the Akron Urban League (2013), and also received the Leadership Excellence Award from the National Diversity Council (2014). She has also been named to the Inside Business Power 100 list for the past six years (2011-2016) and the Crain's Cleveland Business Power 150 (2014). She was also named honorary chair for the 2015 Bridgestone Invitational Tournament, the first-ever woman to be named honorary chairperson for the tournament.  Virginia earned a Bachelor of Science degree (‘85) and an EMBA (‘95) from Kent State University. In 2013 she was appointed by Ohio Governor John Kasich to the Kent State Board of Trustees. She is past chair of The Boys and Girls Club of the Western Reserve and past chair of the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce. She also serves on a number of other boards, including Akron Children's Hospital, the Akron Community Foundation and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).   Featured Host: Marsha Ershaghi Hames Marsha is a partner with Tapestry Networks and a leader of our corporate governance practice. She advises non-executive directors, C-suite executives, and in-house counsel on issues related to governance, culture transformation, board leadership, and stakeholder engagement. Prior to joining Tapestry, Marsha was a managing director of strategy and development at LRN, Inc. a global governance, risk and compliance firm. She specialized in the alignment of leaders and organizations for effective corporate governance and organizational culture transformation. Her view is that compliance is no longer merely a legal matter but a strategic and reputational priority.  Marsha has been interviewed and cited by the media including CNBC, CNN, Ethisphere, HR Magazine, Compliance Week, The FCPA Report, Entrepreneur.com, Chief Learning Officer, ATD Talent & Development, Corporate Counsel Magazine, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics and more. She hosted the “PRINCIPLED” Podcast, profiling the stories of some of the top transformational leaders in business. Marsha serves as an expert fellow on USC's Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making and on the advisory boards of LMH Strategies, Inc. an integrative supply chain advisory firm and Compliance.ai, a regulatory change management firm. Marsha holds an Ed.D. and MA from Pepperdine University. Her research was on the role of ethical leadership as an enabler of organizational culture change. Her BA is from the University of Southern California. She is a certified compliance and ethics professional.   Principled Podcast Transcription Intro: Welcome to the Principled Podcast brought to you by LRN. The Principled Podcast brings together the collective wisdom on ethics, business and compliance, transformative stories of leadership, and inspiring workplace culture. Listen in to discover valuable strategies from our community of business leaders and workplace changemakers. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: With increasing demands from institutional investors, employees, consumers, shareholders around ESG priorities, how are corporate boards ensuring that their companies are assessing, measuring, and shaping business strategy to be responsive to these expectations? Hello, and welcome to another episode of LRN's Principled Podcast. I'm your guest host, Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames, a partner at Tapestry Networks. Today, I'm joined by Virginia Addicott, the former president and CEO of FedEx Custom Critical. Virginia serves on the board of CDW Corporation and Element Fleet Management. We're going to be talking about the critical role of boards in shaping ethical corporate culture and why board diversity is essential to creating meaningful organizational change. Virginia is a real expert in the space, having carved out an impressive career in operations and innovation in logistics at a time when relatively few women were in the industry. Virginia joined FedEx Custom Critical in 1986 and quickly worked her way up the ranks holding director positions in various departments where she placed a strong focus on organizational culture, customer satisfaction, and developing people. Virginia has been inducted into the Northeastern Ohio Business Hall of Fame. She's received the Women of Power Award from the Akron Urban League and received the Leadership Excellence Award from the National Diversity Council. Virginia, thank you for coming on the Principled Podcast. Virginia Addicott: Well, thank you very much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: So let's get started from the top. You had such an accomplished career. You retired as president and CEO at FedEx Custom Critical before turning to a distinguished career of service on both corporate and nonprofit boards. Maybe to start, just share a little bit more about your journey and how these experiences have helped shape and prepare you for the lens of oversight and board service. Virginia Addicott: Yes, Absolutely. As you have mentioned, I had a really terrific career at the FedEx corporation leading the FedEx Custom Critical organization. I was with the organization for a little over 33 years. Unbelievable in this day and age I think. But I really did have a terrific career because I started out in the ranks and moved my way up quite quickly. I think really starting out really... I'll say doing the doing, having your hands dirty, and really in the operations really did shape and prepare me for ascending to the role of president and CEO because I really understood how the organization worked, how the people worked together. And through that 33 years, one of the biggest things that I did see was that culture is everything to an organization and how you treat your employees with fairness and dignity and making sure they know that they're valued in their work really makes the difference in how you can execute a strategy. And I love strategy, but without having a really engaged workforce, it's very difficult to take any strategy and put it into play. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: As you came through this, I would say, observation of the importance of the intersection of not just the execution, but the how we get there, there were relatively few examples of female leaders in your industry. A lot of how we look at the lens of decisions can be informed by our own personal and professional experiences. Tell us a little bit more about how your experience of perhaps being the first woman or the only woman in a room shaped how you took your next steps in your career and maybe some of the lessons that you're carrying forward into the boardroom. Virginia Addicott: Well, definitely when I began my career back in the '80s, the later '80s and 90s, you're right, there weren't that many women in the leadership levels of our industry and the transportation industry. And of course today, much different story to that. But one of the things that it was absolutely apparent to me is the whole need for diversity around a table, because one of the things that I witnessed was that when you have the same types of people all sitting around a table and they've had maybe similar backgrounds, similar experiences, et cetera, they come to the table with similar viewpoints. When you start bringing people to the table who have had diverse background, experience, you really do start to get a whole new possibility of how you'll take something forward, how you'll shape your strategy, how you'll handle and work with those people who are working with you and for you. So I really do think that the opportunity to be that person who was maybe the only or one of very few gave me the context as to how that feels and how important it is to have the diversity, but also how to embrace and engage and work with people who come from many different types of backgrounds. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: So I think embrace is a great characterization here because it starts with the willingness to be open and inclusive of ideas or points of view that may differ from your own. I've certainly been in dozens of conversations now with corporate directors that continue to reveal this pressing need for boards to really improve their understanding of diversity, equity, inclusion. And there's a lot of dialogue around the board's role in the governance of DEI, especially as investors and employees are demanding more progress from institutions. I'd like to get your reflections a little bit more on this. I mean, to what extent, both within your own industry, and I think more holistically, are you seeing progress around inclusivity, diversity, even gender parity, and what is really the responsibility that you feel is of the corporation in being more intentional about driving us forward? Virginia Addicott: Well, I have the luxury up sitting of course on a couple of boards. And I can tell you, on both of our boards, we have a really firm look at the entire ESG and we talk about it. But the number one thing we understand before you even get to ESG is how important diversity is. So it's not doing it because somebody just said, "Hey, we have this thing called ESG and this is what you need to do," it's really understanding, and again, embracing the idea that when you have people from different backgrounds, whether it's gender, whether it's ethnic, whether it's background of an experience, when you get those people around a table, you get a better answer. I can't quote them off the top of my head, but there's studies out there that show that when you do have this diversity, a company is much more likely to thrive, grow, and be profitable. So it's a no-brainer to know that that's important. Now, I'll tell you that the boards I sit on, we do talk about this at the board meeting and we do have metrics around it and have the human resources or the chief operating officer. But we include all of the C-level players at these companies in talking about, how are we doing? How can we do better? And really working around the ideas of acceptance of other ideas, embracing other people's thoughts and experiences. So it's an ongoing conversation and a dialogue. And again, it's not one done just because of ESG, it's done because we all understand that diversity will help our company be even better. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: Well, I mean, it's really a testament to the cultures of the boards you sit on too in terms of some of the progressive design and openness to keep this as a priority on agendas, to be more inclusive of some of the C-level executives. Not every board today is taking those approaches, so that's fantastic example. Virginia Addicott: At least my experience has been when you see a board that has good communication amongst themselves, good dialogue, and good dialogue, of course, with the C-level and even those below that level, when you've got good communication, and I'll say respectfulness of thoughts and opinions, that maybe I'll bring something up and maybe the chief operating officer, the CEO or somebody maybe they agree, maybe they disagree with my thought, but they're open to hearing the thought. I think that's where it all begins, is you've got to be respectful of each other and communicating with each other and open to each other's ideas first. Then when you start talking about diversity, certainly that then spills over into it. But I think you have to start with this notion that we are all here for the good of the whole, for the good of the company, for the good of the shareholder, and that we need to be open to ideas so that we don't go down the wrong path or make unnecessary twists and turns. But by listening to each other, we can come up with the best ideas. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: It's so important to point out just the simplicity, but the power of respect and respectful communication and good listening skills. Virginia Addicott: Yeah, absolutely. And it's great when you're sitting in a boardroom and people come up with ideas and we can banter them around. The board is not trying to certainly tell the executives how to run their company, but we're all in it together to advise and to talk about it and to have that good dialogue so that we can come up with the right answers to situations or strategy, et cetera. I think one of the things that I've really witnessed, I can say personally, what I've witnessed is this move from... with ESG coming out, is move from having a plan to become more diverse in an organization and maybe even over a couple of years where you see the plan and it gets presented again and we're not really making that great of a headway or... et cetera. For me, what I'm seeing is we are seeing the plan and we're seeing headway because we, the board, are saying, "Okay, so you didn't get to move the needle as much here, tell me what you're going to do next time." And then again, we banter it around, we talk about best practices we've seen other places, maybe some creative ideas defining diversity to come in or raising people up within the organization. But I think that this ESG certainly has prompted the notion that you can't just keep putting numbers up and them not moving. You need to see movement, and then let's get creative on how we're going to do that. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: Well, building a little bit on ESG issues. So you and I initially we met... You're part of our audit committee network and you have been fantastic contributor to our ethics, culture, and compliance network. However, every committee, I think, that you're on and you're a part of seems to be morphing into some sort of ESG committee. There's just so much focus now on climate risk, people, talent, cyber, tech transformation, and all these issues. And these are great examples around, how do we go from the plan to making headway on the plan? What would be your guidance for our listeners? How can boards start to really approach thinking or planning differently around oversight of these issues? What are some strategies you picked up where boards could be doing better? Virginia Addicott: I think one of the things that we've got to... at least we bring this one up, is that post... and I don't want to say post-COVID because obviously COVID is still alive and well, but I'll say post-vaccine, one of the things that we're seeing is a big stretch on people because of people exiting the workforce or moving companies. So I think one of the things is there is a heightened focus on climate and people and cyber, et cetera, as you've mentioned, and then we have this exit of people. So one of the things we have to do is really understand who is in charge of each of these things? What is the team, the committee? And make sure that they are staffed correctly to get the work done. Because what I'm seeing is quite a bit of stress in workforces just in general. So I think it's really making sure that when you look at each of these areas that are very important to us, that who is on point for it and what resources do they have to do this? The other piece for me that I'm seeing a lot of, which I really love, is the collaborative effort across the companies to address these issues. For instance, cyber is not an IT or technology issue, yes, probably the leadership and ownership sits there from the standpoint of the CIO or whoever it is in that organization, but it's the operations, it's the human resources, it's the marketing, it's the legal, and they all have to collaborate to make sure that we're in compliance, that we are on track with the cyber possibilities and the cyber threats. So one of the things I've seen through all of this is really a nice collaboration. We were just talking the other day, I was at a board meeting, and one of the things we were talking about, and this is around the diversity piece especially, was how everybody has to own diversity. And it's got to be a part of the fabric of each organization within the company. And it's not something we're checking off so that we can have an ESG score, it has to be woven into the fabric of everyday things that we do to make sure that people are, one, from the very beginning that we've got a diverse slate of candidates when we have jobs available, that we're working with let's say universities or colleges, or depending upon what the job is other people, to how do we develop a new slate of candidates? Then within our companies, making sure we're working from within the company to make sure people are getting the right development to move up. But it has to be, each and everything we have to do, are we doing things each day to make sure people feel included, that we're listening, and that we are valuing the opinions and inputs of people who may not look like us, may not come from the same country we do, may not worship the same way, may not like the same people that we do, et cetera? So for me, I'm seeing much more collaboration. And again, let's weave it into the fabric of the organization. This is not a number to check off. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: Yeah, no, this is an excellent example. And what I'm really hearing from you here is the ownership and the threading into the DNA as you're saying [inaudible 00:16:39] it in. How can boards activate this expectation? Because there's a lot of conversation around, who in management owns it? How much time do they have to be visible at the board level in terms of what's being measured and what's changing? But I've also heard, if the board is not demanding or asking of, are we able to affect change? So I'm just wondering, it's this tension between who's driving what? Who's taking those first steps? Virginia Addicott: Right. Definitely, the human resources type function or the chief diversity officer is going to present information. And of course, we want to see that and we want to see those metrics move. But I think one of the places that boards can really... let's say when a new position is coming available, a high-level position is coming available, are we asking, what does that slate of candidate look like? And I'll use the word demanding, but are we really pushing the idea that we need to see a diverse slate? But I think the other place where it's really a bit of a no-brainer and it's super easy to do is let's say the operations is reporting out on something, that we are asking that operational leader, the chief operating officer, or somebody, a director, et cetera, we're going to be asking them questions of their organization and what does their organization look like and how have they been taking other people's opinions and new ideas into putting them into play? I think it's asking the questions to many people, not just in that one section where we talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion. But really asking questions as we go through the entire board meeting and putting an emphasis on that. I think that really helps people get the idea that this isn't a check the box, it's a I need to live my life like this. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So much of this is a purpose, values orientation, but then it goes a little bit back to the culture of the board. Maybe that helps us shift to this topic of, you've been an active contributor to the ethics, culture, and compliance network. We formed a culture measurement working group earlier this year and you contributed to helping create a framework that boards can leverage as a guiding tool to assess culture. Tell me a little bit about how do you see frameworks like this helping directors really move the needle. How are you thinking or leveraging this even within your own boards? Virginia Addicott: I can tell you, when I was talking to one of my boards about being involved in this ethics, culture, and compliance network, they said, "Oh good. I really look forward to seeing what your outcomes are and maybe see how we can use it." So I think number one, from my standpoint, is certainly talking about it and talking about the work that we have been doing. And it was a great group that you all put together. I think there's a lot of boards that really want to do more around this, but maybe don't know how to get started or exactly what does this mean? So I think these frameworks help to frame the question, and what is culture? And what is diversity? What is inclusion? And then giving some good ideas on how the board can... as we just talked about, how can the board in their role as advisor, how can we help to either direct, redirect, or just ask those probing questions to make sure our organization is really embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion all the way through the organization? Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: Well, Virginia, I want to ask one last question before we wrap up, and this is going to be a little more personal. I want to go back to your life, your professional journey, building your career. As you mentioned, 33 years is an exceptional tenure, one that we just don't see in today's professional landscape. But I want to peel back the concept of mentorship. In all my interactions with you, you're incredibly confident, you draw from a strong notion of, "I've tried this." I'm confident asking even the questions that I don't know the answers to. And that's not always easy, especially for us as women, as we're building our careers. I've certainly had a number of mentors that have opened doors for me and that I've drawn upon and have guided me. I want to turn to you and see, were there any significant mentors, or shall I even call them professional sponsors, that maybe had an impact on examples or opening up the trajectory of your career path and how do you, looking back, look at their guidance and how do you in turn give back in terms of your mentorship? Virginia Addicott: Well, this is definitely a topic that I enjoy talking about it because I think it's really important. And absolutely I have had mentors and I have had champions. For me, just to clarify, I say a mentor is somebody that you can sit down and really talk about things with and, "Hey, this is the dilemma going on. Maybe how should I handle it?" Or, "Hey, I'm thinking about this career, I'm thinking about this job. Help me to develop myself for that role." That's to me a mentor. A champion or a sponsor for me is somebody who when I'm not in the room, they're the person saying, "Hey, Virginia would be great at that. Let's put Virginia in charge of that." Or new possibility coming up is speaking out and saying, "Oh, let's put her in that role." And I'm very much a person who wants to mentor men and women because I think everybody needs this. So I think sponsoring somebody, so speaking up for them on their behalf when they're not even there, and really being their champion and mentoring, helping to guide, are very important things. Yes, I've had plenty of them myself. And I still have them, so don't mishear me. I still have people who I go to and talk to. But I also am very keen always to help people who are in this upward climb of the corporate ladder, if you will. So I do spend quite a bit of time. I love doing it because it gives me the opportunity to share some of my experiences. And I will tell you, I'm very quick. In fact, I'm mentoring a young woman out of Chicago who has great upward mobility. And I was telling her something the other day, she was going to give a presentation, and I said, "Listen, I would love to work with you on the presentation if you want me to because I was given tremendous feedback that was so helpful to me." And I explained to her what I had done wrong and how it impacted me and how through some coaching that I got from an outside firm my presentations got so much better. So to me, it's not about, this is what you should do, but also giving experiences where it didn't work out so great for me and these were some of the things, the lessons I learned, and maybe I can impart that to you. But I really think it's very helpful for men and women to help those who are in these lower levels and have this upward trajectory and the desire to really take the time to stop, turn around, and as people say, lend a hand to pull somebody up along with you. As a woman, I think it's important to have mentors who are men and mentors who are women, because when we talk about diversity, people come at things from different angles, and people who have diverse backgrounds and experiences, not just somebody in your business line or your organization. So you get the idea. But I'm really big on mentoring. I love to do it, I love to spend the time with people, and it's so... I always say it, all through my career, the most rewarding piece of my career was not my upward mobility and climbing, but it was to see people that you were working with or that you had maybe hooked up with, another coach or mentor, to see them move ahead. That development to me was worth everything from the standpoint of making me feel like, okay, we are really accomplishing something here. So I certainly suggest to everybody that they get to be mentors and hopefully they're champions for people as well. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: No, you couldn't have said it any better. It can be so rewarding. And it's a very positive, if not infectious behavior. So I hope we can spread more of that. Virginia, I could speak to you for hours. I've learned so much through your reflections. But we're going to be respectful for our listeners' time. So I want to thank you for opening up and sharing a lot of your thoughts on all of these matters from ESG to the trajectory of your career, mentorship, being a good champion, the importance of diversity and culture. There's so much that we covered. But thank you Virginia for your time. Virginia Addicott: Thank you, Marsha. I really appreciate being asked to participate on your podcast. I hope that our discussion here today triggers something in somebody's mind to think differently about maybe whether it's ESG or culture or mentoring. It would be great. Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames: Thank you. Thank you. And to you all, I'm going to close up. This is Dr. Marsha Ershaghi Hames. I want to thank you all for listening to the Principled Podcast by LRN. Outro: We hope you enjoyed this episode. The Principled Podcast is brought to you by LRN. At LRN, our mission is to inspire principled performance in global organizations by helping them foster winning ethical cultures rooted in sustained values. Please visit us at lrn.com to learn more. And if you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen. And don't forget to leave us a review.  

Hear the discussion on three ways health systems are moving forward to address health equity, and our top episodes from our favorite TV show, Atlanta.

Burnout becoming more common among professionals in different industries, but diversity and inclusion practitioners in particular seem to experience it at higher rates. With so many factors at play within the role of a DEI professional, it's not surprising that so many of us doing this work feel drained, overwhelmed or even helpless sometimes. But what people may not have a clear understanding of is why diversity and inclusion practitioners experience burnout so often and so severely. On today's episode of Inclusion in Progress, we dive into what it is about DEI work that causes burnout; what obstacles stand in the way of practitioners in corporate environments that often lead to burnout; what needs to change in order for DEI to get the traction it truly requires to make lasting change; and what organizational leaders, DEI practitioners and allies alike can to do move in the direction of that vision.   In This Episode: [1:17] Why this episode is so important to DEI practitioners, and how we can get it into the earbuds of even more people who would benefit from hearing it so they don't feel alone. [6:15] Kay shares her mental health journey and how her lived experiences provide the context and perspective through which she approaches DEI work with the Inclusion in Progress team. [11:04] Why are companies struggling to find effective DEI solutions, and what will it take for DEI to get the consideration, priority and attention it truly requires and deserves within organizations. [18:09] What obstacles are created by workplace structures, and what can organizations do to help their DEI leaders navigate those challenges and reduce the likelihood of turnover. [20:43] Why DEI leaders feel like they are under immense pressure, where those pressures are coming from, and how DEI professionals can find help within and outside their organization to support them in their work. [28:10] Why burnout in DEI professionals can be mitigated with the support of leaders, employees and listeners like you to band together to create change with our organizations, instead if inclusion work only falling on one person or a small team.   Links: info@inclusionandprogress.com  www.inclusioninprogress.com/podcast www.instagram.com/inclusioninprogress www.twitter.com/inclusioninprog www.linkedin.com/company/inclusion-in-progress   To learn how to leave a review for the podcast, click here. Connect with Us info@inclusioninprogress.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/inclusion-in-progress Connect with Our Founder https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayfabella   Content Disclaimer The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this article, video or audio are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article, video or audio. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article, video or audio. Inclusion in Progress disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article, video or audio. Disclaimer: Some of these links are for products and services offered by the podcast creator.

Uplifting Impact is excited to announce Actions Speak Louder, the latest book by author and DEI expert, our very own, Deanna Singh. This book, available starting May 31st, 2022, is a step-by-step guide on how to create change and inclusivity both in the workplace and beyond. In this book, Deanna seeks to answer questions for organizations and teams of all sizes on how to create more inclusivity. Actions Speak Louder creates a blueprint for those who are ready to read, take action now, and build a better tomorrow. In the third episode of the Book Talk series, Deanna Sigh talks with guest host Jon Kaupla, President and Executive Director of the Wisconsin School of Business Center for Professional & Executive Development. They discuss how Deanna and her team settled on the title of her new book, Action Speak Louder, the avoidable mistakes companies make in their DEI efforts, and why the great resignation doesn't have to threaten your DEI efforts.  TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE -The most beautiful things about writing a book -Avoidable mistakes companies make in their DEI efforts -How Deanna settled on the title of her new book -How writing and publishing a book is like having a baby -Understanding the privileges you probably didn't realize you had -Ways a legacy-driven mindset will define your leadership -The negative impacts of inequity in organizations -The great resignation and why we can no longer ignore it -DEI in the remote working environment  RESOURCES: Book Pre-Order: https://www.upliftingimpact.com/actio... Launch Team Book Club: https://www.upliftingimpact.com/actio... Jon Kaupla's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonkaupla/ Deanna Singh's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannasingh/ Deanna Singh's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deannasingh1/ UpliftingImpact.com: https://www.upliftingimpact.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Uplifting Impact is excited to announce Actions Speak Louder, the latest book by author and DEI expert, our very own, Deanna Singh. This book, available starting May 31st, 2022, is a step-by-step guide on how to create change and inclusivity both in the workplace and beyond. In this book, Deanna seeks to answer questions for organizations and teams of all sizes on how to create more inclusivity. Actions Speak Louder creates a blueprint for those who are ready to read, take action now, and build a better tomorrow. In this episode, Justin Ponder and Deanna Singh dissect Deanna's new book Actions Speak Louder and share the nuts and bolts of what goes into writing a book. They reveal the motivations behind the new book, what to expect from it, what got left out, and the parts of writing a book that people don't really get to see. They also share insights from the book that leaders can use to take actionable steps towards creating inclusive workplaces where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE -The main motivation behind Deanna's new book Actions Speak Louder -The book as Deanna's letter to her younger self -How the book strikes a balance between personal experiences and provable data -Why vulnerability in leadership is a strength -How inclusivity in the workplace is built on people's actions -Why inclusivity doesn't have to be complicated -Parts of the book that had to be edited out -Deanna's message to her future self. RESOURCES Book Pre-Order: https://www.upliftingimpact.com/actio... Launch Team Book Club: https://www.upliftingimpact.com/actio... Justin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-po... Deanna's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannasingh/ UpliftingImpact.com: https://www.upliftingimpact.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David is joined this week by Andrew Crapuchettes, the past CEO of leading labor-economics firm EMSI and the founder and CEO of RedBalloon.Work. Their discussion ranges from what has escalated the present DEI insanity in corporate America to how all of this will play out. Hint: You will be encouraged by where they see this going, as labor and capital share a destination of the most rational application.

In today's episode, we showcase two rising stars within the pharmacy profession and describe their viewpoints on the importance of DEI work within pharmacy practice. Dr. Yodit Teklu is currently an PGY2 ambulatory care pharmacy resident with the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Her work and practice is rooted in advancing and serving the medically underrepresented and underserved. Joining Dr. Teklu is Dr. Maya Bell, who is a PGY2 infectious diseases pharmacy resident with the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Dr. Bell has started her career with focuses on underserved health and the importance of health equity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

‘Genein, I can't take any more voice over powerpoints! This is having no long term effect on people's behavior around these DEI topics!”   I heard this and I knew one reason why. If facilitators aren't tapping into people's emotional brain, there is no strong connection to the topic. Sitting in a 60 minute lecture you are not emotionally committed to means it goes in one ear and out the other. Especially if it is a topic that can put people in a defensive mode or a ‘I'm not engaged' mode. The neuroscience is clear. The hippocampus's decision to store memories hinges on two factors: emotional significance and previous knowledge for association. Emotion leads. Content follows. Connection leads. Learning (and then hopefully behavior change) follows. In this Diamond Mentor Moment, I'll discuss the importance of training, professional development and classroom learning that utilizes emotional imaginative strategies to teach difficult topics that bring about change. This new era of thinking needs new strategies of online and in person teaching. This new era needs Intercultural Creativity®. Join us! Genein Letford, M.Ed CAFFE Strategies, LLC https://caffestrategies.com/

In this week's episode of the PR Talk Podcast, Amy speaks with Fatou B Barry, founder of AB Media Group and the PR Girl Manifesto, a nonprofit digital community of over 40,000 members on a mission to make careers in communications more accessible. She is also the co-founder of Hold the PRess, now merged with Sixth Hundred & Rising, which advocates for black voices in PR and advertising.  Amy and Fatou discuss creating an inclusive platform for PR practitioners, what diversity in PR looks like today, and if PR practitioners should address diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with their clients. For the entire write-up visit https://www.veracityagency.com/podcast/pr-industry-change/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CHRIS NEWBOLD: Hello, well-being friends, and welcome to The Path To Well-Being in Law podcast, an initiative of the Institute for Well-Being in Law. I'm your co-host Chris Newbold, executive vice president of Alps Malpractice Insurance and most of our listeners know that our goal is pretty straightforward. We want to introduce you to thought leaders doing meaningful work in the wellbeing space and within the legal profession. In the process we want to build and nurture a national network of wellbeing advocates intent on creating a culture shift within the profession. I am always pleased to introduce my co-host Bree Buchanan. Bree, how's it going? BREE BUCHANAN: It's going great, Chris. How is your spring starting off? CHRIS: It's a little colder in Montana than I would like, but the warm weather is on the way. So I'm certainly looking forward to that. So a lot going on, obviously, in the wellbeing world and super excited to continue with kind of thoughtful discussion here on the podcast. We're going to continue. I think our series here on diversity, equity and inclusion and the intersection of DEI with well-being and super excited to be welcoming Lia Dorsey to the podcast. Bree, would you be so kind to introduce Lia to our listeners? BREE: I would love to. So we are so delighted to bring to you Lia Dorsey today, and she is a thought leader in the movement to advanced diversity and a driver for inclusive change. As the chief diversity equity and inclusion officer at Ogletree Deakins, she's responsible for the development and execution of the firm's diversity equity and inclusion strategy. Ms. Dorsey collaborates with firm leadership, practice group leaders and business resource groups to expand in advance efforts in the recruitment development promotion and retention of diverse talent. BREE: Ms. Dorsey previously served as the head of diversity and inclusion at Denton's, U.S. There she was responsible for the strategic oversight, design and implementation of this very large terms, diversity and inclusion initiatives. Before that she served as the director of diversity and inclusion at Eversheds Sutherland and has also held senior positions at DLA Piper and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. All of those names that many of us know. Lia's also president emeritus, I told her the best place, best position to have, of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals. She's a sought after presenter in panelist on a broad range of topics covering diversity, equity, and inclusion at conferences across the country. Lia, welcome. We are so glad you're here with us today. LIA DORSEY: Thank you, Bree. Thank you, Chris, for having me. I am thrilled. Thrilled to be here. BREE: Yeah. Thank you so much. So Lia, I'm going to ask you the question that we ask all of our guests, because I think it just is well, so interesting. So what are some of your experiences in your life that are drivers behind your very clear passion for the work around DEI? LIA DORSEY: Great, great question. I like to start by saying that I've always been an inclusionist, if you will, although it didn't have a term back in the day as I was growing up and I'll just kind of share just a really funny story. I used to get in trouble a lot as a child, because I would give away my toys to my friends who didn't have them. So I would always just share, I would always just give. I was always that compassionate person and I think my parents appreciated it until I gave away my brand new pink and white huffy bike with the [inaudible 00:03:54] and then I think after that, it's "Okay, I think we need to kind of reign this in and pray." But all jokes aside I've always been a giver. I've always been a giver and I live by the verse, "To whom much is given, much will be required," and I seriously take that to heart. LIA DORSEY: I've long supported those from different backgrounds and environments. I've been a volunteer for a long time. I mentor, especially now in my role, I think it's very, very important for me to reach back and pull others forward. But for me, this was just what you did as a good person, right, it was never about shine or the accolades. You helped people who need it. I'm still an inclusionist, but now I like to refer to myself as a disruptor for good. BREE: All right. LIA DORSEY: Just today I heard someone else describe herself as a professional troublemaker, and I think I'm going to borrow that one as well, because at the end of the day to do this work, you have to be brave and you have to be bold. I'm also clear that it's not for everyone, that this is by far the hardest job that I've ever had, but it's also the most rewarding and I honestly can't see myself doing anything else. BREE: Yeah. I hope that I can be a professional disruptor at some point, but it does take a lot of courage. Absolutely. So good for you. CHRIS: It does. Lia, tell us a little bit about... One of the things I was impressed about kind of how your professional journey has kind of taken shape, is you've had the ability to move in and out of different cultures within the legal profession, which I just find is really fascinating. Tell us about your journey in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion and in the time that you have been a disruptor for good, how have things changed over that time? LIA DORSEY: Yeah, so I have been in law firms for a very, very, very long time. Although, I didn't start out in DE&I. I actually started out on the business side of the law firm for years and at one particular firm, we didn't have anyone at that time leading DE&I in an official capacity. So I raised my hand, again, I would love to volunteer and that's a reoccurring theme with me. But two years later, I found myself with almost two full time jobs. So the job that I was hired to do and the job that I was meant to do, and that was the DE&I role. So that same firm really saw how passionate I was about DE&I work and just how happy I was doing it. They actually created a role for me as the director of DE&I at that firm and as they say the rest was history. LIA DORSEY: But when we think about what changed over time, I think we've seen DE&I become more of a strategic focus in priority for firms. Even before the events of 2020, I think, we started to see firms dedicate more resources to DE&I, like creating full time positions, moving away from DE&I being embedded in HR or being seen as a compliance requirement from the GCs office. So we had really started to see kind of an elevation of DE&I and the role. Then 2020 happened and we'll talk about that a little bit more, but what we saw was even more of a cohesion around DE&I. We saw leaders speaking up, stepping up. We saw a heightened level of awareness. LIA DORSEY: People became aware of issues that weren't on their radar in the past. I think the murder of George Floyd was a pivotal moment. I'm often asked how that moment was so different because sadly George Floyd, wasn't the first Black man to be murdered at the hands of police and sadly he wasn't the last, but I think the difference that the world was at home, watching it happen and people who thought things like this didn't happen were now outraged, right. But that rage led to empowerment. We have to do something. We have to say something. LIA DORSEY: So we're seeing a lot of folks speaking up more because they aren't afraid and they're making demands for change. All of that is great and that is a big change, because I would say before 2020, I don't think that you would've seen people speaking up and standing up the way that we're seeing it now. I think all of that is great, but I also think that we're in an inflection point, right, because there are forces in this world who don't want things to change. The thought is the system has worked in one way for so long, so why change it? But the only way to move forward successfully is to change and I'm one of those change agents that's working to try to make this world a better place. BREE: Absolutely. Wow, absolutely. That's so wonderful. So [inaudible 00:08:48], I've seen you... Lia, I'm sorry, seen or heard you talk about your experience over time here. What have you seen now that legal employers are doing right in this area? What are some good examples and we'll get to weaving in the intersectionality of well-being, but right now let's stick with the DEI work. What do you see as going right here? LIA DORSEY: Absolutely. I think there's much more focus and intention being put around the advancement and retention of diverse talent, specifically minority talent. Recruiting is still a focus of course, but we realize that diverse talent need meaningful support once they join the firm. So for the listeners, I just challenge them to ask themselves, how are you investing in your diverse talent? Are you having real conversations around the development of your talent because we really need to make serious and meaningful investments. I've always said that the talent is there, but the opportunities aren't always there and the opportunities that I'm talking about are things like introductions to key clients and the ability to develop client relationships. It's getting the high value work. It's being able to tap into the resources for business development and the list goes on, because we all know that these are the types of things that can really impact someone's career. LIA DORSEY: So with that as the backdrop here, a few things that I'm kind of seeing that are having a meaningful impact today. We're seeing the creation of formal DE&I sponsorship programs. So we know the difference between mentorship and sponsorship, right. So a mentor talks to you and a sponsor talks about you and the best DE&I sponsorship programs that I've seen have leaders of the firms and that's the board, it's the managing partner, the executive committee and what I like to call the front page of the [inaudible 00:10:36] sheet lawyers. But that group of people are actually the ones serving as the sponsors. That has two great benefits. One is that it shows the stakeholders that the leaders are invested in the diverse attorney's development and they aren't pushing it off on someone else to do. So we know that law firms are top down organizations, right, but having those at the top who are actively engaged in the DE&I work has a profound impact. LIA DORSEY: The second thing is that that group of people are in a position to make sure that the lawyers are getting those opportunities that are referenced, right. So they actually have the work and they can make those key introductions. So I think sponsorship programs are definitely on the rise and I think that they can be very, very effective and can lead to retention. LIA DORSEY: The second thing that I'm seeing is kind of a focus on culture overall, because we know that culture is a differentiator, right. It's the reason people stay or go. A survey by McKenzie found that the majority of employees have considered the inclusiveness of companies when they're making career decisions. I like to say this, if you ask the people at the top of the organization to describe the culture, I'm sure that what they would say is probably different than what those who aren't at the top would say. I mean, and this is what we like to call that perception gap that often exists between the leaders and the employees and it's how do we get everyone to kind of experience the culture in the same way? So just think about it and ask yourself is your culture by default or by design. BREE: Wow. LIA DORSEY: Right. So we've been talking a lot about the great resignation and the she session, but now we're... I love that term. I mean, it's sad, but it's still a good term. BREE: I love it. I hadn't heard it before. CHRIS: I hadn't either. That's a good one. BREE: She session. Yeah. LIA DORSEY: The she session. Yeah. But now we're talking about the great reboot or the great realization and the reality is that the world is different since the start of the pandemic. People are expecting to work differently and they want companies to kind of meet more in their needs. So this is really an opportunity for firms to reimagine their workplace and their culture. Then the last thing I would say here is the inclusion of staff, right. Inclusion really is inclusion for all and not for some, but we know that law firms typically focus on the benefits of the lawyers and now we're seeing staff being introduced into that conversation, which is long overdue, but it's definitely necessary. If I can just touch just quickly on the things that don't work. BREE: Yeah. Please, please. CHRIS: Yeah. For sure. Lessons learned. LIA DORSEY: When companies don't make DE&I a priority. So when they still think it's just a nice to do, or if the efforts are just performative and they're doing it because their clients are kind of forcing them to do it. So you have to make it a priority. It has to be part of the overall firm strategy. And then if your leaders aren't engaged, and I'll talk a little bit more later about the difference between commitment and engagement, if they aren't engaged, then you're probably not going to have a lot of success. BREE: Right, right. So important. CHRIS: It seems Lia that you're, I feel like in your tone that you are optimistic that the level of engagement and particularly leadership leaning in, is increasing. Is that fair? LIA DORSEY: It is. It is definitely increasing. There were people who just because they could have been checked out of this conversation for such a long time, and now they are checking into the conversation. But I'll also say that just because you're checking in it doesn't always mean that you know what to do and know what to say and that's where folks like me and people who do this kind of work can really help with that. But I am definitely encouraged and I like to look at life as glass, half full with the way that things are progressing and the level of interest by certain stakeholders. It's really encouraging. CHRIS: Yeah. Because I know we're going to talk about this a little bit more, but I just think it's so fascinating how, as you know, even in the work that Bree and I do on the well-being front, so much of what maybe I'm going to say, not the easy part, but building awareness and educating others is one element to it. But ultimately action and taking on systemic barriers become probably the harder part of advancing social change and being a catalyst for cultural shifts, right. Sometimes it takes years, sometimes decades, right, to effectively be able to do that. But I find such interesting similarities in the efforts to advance both one DEI on a track, one well-being on a track and then the intersection of the two, which I think is even more interesting because some of the challenges are obviously unique and differentiated that... Really interesting. CHRIS: You said earlier in the podcast, Lia, that the hardest job that you've had, and that a lot of this has to do with, is the fact that you are trying to get people to change, right, and evolve their thinking and ultimately act in appropriate and effective ways. What works here and how do you get people to not necessarily... Well, I would call it evolve their attitudes and actions as they think about what the right work culture is and what ultimately is the right thing to do. But also, advances kind of where the firm is as a business entity. LIA DORSEY: Yeah. That's such a great question. You can't do this work thinking that you will be able to get people to change, right. There's a great cartoon clip of someone addressing a crowd of people asking who wants to change and everyone raises their hand and then they ask, who wants to change and then all the hands go down, right. That graphic perfectly sums up what it's like doing this work. A lot of people are committed to DE&I and they care and they have good intentions, but not many folks are actively engaged and I said I would talk about the difference between the two. LIA DORSEY: I think right now you'd be hard pressed to find a leader who would actively come out and say that they aren't committed to DE&I, but it's more difficult to get them to actually engage in the work. It's hard to get folks to willingly use their influence and internal capital to help someone else, especially if that individual isn't like them. So they don't look like them and you're not part of my in group, but that said, if we won't change, we cannot sit on the sidelines, right. So I believe that in action or neutrality is complicity. Action is courage and courage is a habit. It's a muscle that you build over time. It's consistently committing to something, knowing that at times you may get it wrong or you may be uncomfortable. I mean, look, sometimes I still get it wrong and I do this for a living, but- BREE: Thank you for saying that, Lia, thank you for saying that. Oh, my gosh. LIA DORSEY: It's just, it's continually showing up and engaging and if you get it wrong, you get up and you continue to try again. So, we spent a lot of times educating our stakeholders and raising awareness around DE&I. What does it mean to really be an ally or an upstander? What do those terms mean, right. What does equity really look like in a law firm? How do you work across difference? How do you have courageous and meaningful conversations with others who are not like you, right. What is bias? How does it show up in your interaction with others? LIA DORSEY: So once you understand some of these issues, hopefully that'll lead to greater empathy and then hopefully that will lead to action. Just in closing, I'll say, so instead of focusing solely on changing minds, focus on changing your systems and changing your processes and changing your policies, because that's also where a lot of this bias breeds, which sometimes folks don't want to change their minds because they're set on something. As my friend, Michelle Silverthorne, she is a popular DE&I and culture consultant says, if you change the system, you'll change the world. So I spend a lot more of my time focusing on changing the systems and then the hearts and minds will follow. BREE: Absolutely. That's just absolutely brilliant. Yeah. I've always thought that if you get the right form in place, things will follow. You ask the right questions on the right forms- LIA DORSEY: Absolutely. BREE: ... And that starts to shift the culture. Yeah. Yeah. So important. So Lia, I'm wondering if you could tell us a little bit, we're going to take a break here in just a second, but you are just coming off as president of the association of law firm, diversity professionals, and I can really hear the polish of your message, which I'm sure that you honed over the time as president. What has that group been focusing on? What are you guys focusing on now? LIA DORSEY: Oh, absolutely. So, for those who may not know, ALFDP is an association of law firm professionals working in the DE&I space in the United States, Canada, and in the U.S. I'm sorry, UK. The association is around what, 16 years old at this point. As you mentioned, I served as president for two years. I served as VP before that. I'm technically still on the board and it is just an absolutely amazing organization just to be able to connect with people who are trying to solve the same problems, right, and achieve the same goals. So let's try to put our heads together and solve it together. But essentially we equip our members with the tools, tips, and talking points that they need to advance DE&I within their own firms and to help get the buy in and the resources that they need and resources is sometimes talent and then sometimes it's money. LIA DORSEY: Another great thing that we do is to collaborate with other DE&I focused organizations as well. Last year, we collaborated with Thompson Reuters and the ACC Foundation on a white paper called the Pandemic Nation: Understanding its impact on lawyers from underrepresented communities. It was a great white paper. I encourage your listeners to download it. It essentially was an in depth look at the impact of the pandemic on the careers and lawyers from underrepresented communities. What's great about that research even now is that it really points out the challenges and the opportunities of those historically excluded lawyers, which is really, really important. Particularly the opportunities part as all of us are slowly returning to the office. LIA DORSEY: There are things that organizations can keep in mind and I'm cleared about saying returning to the office and not returning to work because trust and believe for the past two years, we have been working hard, harder than we ever have. So I really want to remind people, we're talking about returning to the office, but ALFDP keeps on top of the primary issues that everybody is dealing with and then we try to find resources and give tips and tools to help solve some of those challenges. So great, great association and I'm so glad and honored to have been able to lead it. BREE: So, Lia, what is the web address for that in case our listeners are interested in checking it out? LIA DORSEY: Absolutely, www.alfdp.com. CHRIS: Lia, I have to imagine that, and this would be an encouraging sign that your membership has expanded significantly of late. Is that the case? LIA DORSEY: Oh, my gosh. Yes. CHRIS: Right. I mean that's a sign that, again, people are leaning in, that they're looking for a community that can provide national resources to be able to aid them. I mean, this is an organization that I wasn't aware of, but again, gives me cause for optimism that there are change agents that are coming together and sharing best practices that are ultimately going to advance our profession. LIA DORSEY: Absolutely. The membership grows every day and a lot of that is because a lot of these firms are creating a lot of DE&I roles and positions and sometimes they're elevating existing people. So the interest in DE&I overall, and in ALFDP, specifically, is just amazing. CHRIS: Awesome. Well, this is a great place... Let's take a quick break and hear from one of our sponsors and then we'll come back and I'm really excited to kind of start to talk about the intersection of DEI and well-being. So we'll be right back.   — Advertisement: Meet Vera, your firm's virtual ethics risk assessment guide. Developed by ALPS, Vera's purpose is to help you uncover risk management blind spots from client intake to calendaring, to cybersecurity and more. Vera: I require only your honest input to my short series of questions. I will offer you a summary of recommendations to provide course corrections if needed, and to keep your firm on the right path. Generous and discrete, Vera is a free and anonymous risk management guide from ALPS to help firms, like yours, be their best. Visit Vera at alpsinsurance.com/vera.   — CHRIS: All right, we are back with Lia Dorsey, chief diversity equity and inclusion officer at Ogletree Deakins. This is an area that I've been just very excited to delve into, because I know that our board at the Institute for Well-being in Law, you can't talk about well-being unless you're integrating and considering elements of diversity, equity and inclusion as well. Lia, I'd love just to hear more about in your experience, how do they intersect, right, and how do we think about them, I guess not as two tracks, but two tracks, obviously intertwined. LIA DORSEY: Yeah. Mental health and DE&I are definitely closely connected. I would say right now, mental health and wellness and burnout, are very common topics in the workplace today and I think it's great that we're starting to normalize conversations around those topics. Asking for help now is not seen as a weakness and people are having dialogues and they're willing to talk about their personal experiences and their struggles. When we talk about DE&I, diversity, equity and inclusion, there's also another letter that's joining that and that's the B for belonging and that's really the psychological safety that folks feel. Honestly, we weren't talking about these things before, but it is just so important that we're having these conversations now and the fact that all of us spend the majority of our time at work, prioritizing mental health in the workplace is really, really a must. LIA DORSEY: Many of us are managing work related stress and experiencing diminished mental health because of the pandemic and the racial injustice crisis. This is, it's taken a toll on people and more so for those from diverse backgrounds in communities. We talked about, since 2020, there's been a much needed spotlight on racial justice, but it's also highlighted the serious lack of dialogue, addressing specific mental health needs and challenges for those from underrepresented communities. I think just kind of navigating and adapting to those challenges is really important because there's a lot of stress that that community is experiencing because of what's going on and that stress can worsen and it can cause health problems, it can lead to increased mental health conditions and so much more. LIA DORSEY: On the diversity piece of it, folks from diverse backgrounds often face increased bias and microaggressions and other stressors that impact their mental health and that psychological safety. So I think for the intersection between the two, it's really important to focus on that sense of belonging, because it's critical for overall mental health and well-being, because the more we feel like we belong, the more we feel like we can be ourselves, right. BREE: Absolutely. LIA DORSEY: [inaudible 00:27:16] like we have that support, then we can cope effectively with the stress and the difficulties in our lives. So firms and companies really need to prioritize creating this type of culture that supports, not only just mental health and wellness, but that inclusion and that belonging piece as well. I think another way that they intersect, and it's a way that a lot of people don't think about often is when you think about benefits. So really, evaluate the benefits that you are offering at your company. Are they inclusive? Are your wellness benefits available to everyone, or just... And now that we're talking about possibly, returning back to the office, look at your flexible working policies. Who gets to continue to work a hybrid schedule, who's asked to come back into the office, and when you examine that, you'll see how that too impacts diversity. So as we're trying to all come up with these solutions around mental health and wellbeing, it's really important to keep some key DE&I concepts in mind, as well. BREE: Absolutely. I just love what you're saying there around inclusion and belonging. One of the things that I teach about when I talk is also the idea, and this is where I touch upon the intersectionality here, and I talk about the impact on mental health outcomes of what's called thwarted belongingness. I don't know if you've heard that phrase before, but it's also something that's been studied in a precursor or predictor or suicidality. I mean, it's really serious. I think about, I use the example of, if you can't think of anything else, remember what it's like to be a little kid and everybody's being chosen for the basketball team and you're the last one, that was my experience, [inaudible 00:29:04], and just how awful that feels. Can you try to touch into that and have some empathy or compassion? So, yeah. That's brilliant. LIA DORSEY: Absolutely. If I may, there's one thing when you just shared that story and I was the person who got picked last too, I don't have any [inaudible 00:29:19]. But it just made me think about this amazing quote and I'm sure a lot of folks have heard at this point, but it's by Bernie Myers, and it says, "Diversity is being invited to the party and inclusion is being asked to dance." It's that last part that is just so important, right, because it's not good enough just to be seen, right. It's also about being included, being involved, feeling that sense of belonging and so that made me think of that quote, as you just shared [inaudible 00:29:48]. BREE: Yeah, that's great. I'm afraid I also the person [inaudible 00:29:51] not being asked to dance, but anyway, that's another story. So Lia, I really want to dig to hear a little bit about a theme that has run through our conversations here, is about the role of leaders in the profession. Of course there are the CEOs of the big law firms, some of the ones that you have worked for. There's other leaders of the profession that I think really have a responsibility here are the judges and the state bar presidents, people that really are at the forefront of the profession. So what thoughts do you have about how we influence these leaders, that if you care about wellbeing, you have to care about diversity, equity, inclusion, and vice versa. How do you get them to pay attention and to take action to become, I think you were saying, it's not commitment, it's engagement. LIA DORSEY: Absolutely. Absolutely. Deloitte conducted a survey. I believe it was last year, which found that DE&I and employment health and well-being are top priorities for CEOs. I thought that was very, very telling, right. So leaders really need to prioritize their employees total well-being, and that includes their physical, mental, emotional health and it also includes work life balance. But in order to do that leaders must understand and address the unique challenges that their underrepresented employees face. We talked about this a little earlier, so that's the bias, the microaggression, it's the health disparities potentially, it's different mental health treatment and outcomes. Sadly I think that list goes on. So I think you can influence and encourage them, if you will, by just making sure that they understand that this is really important for every single employee, right, and some of the current support programs that they have in place, it's just not enough. LIA DORSEY: Firms have to really take a strategic and a holistic approach to mental health and wellness because there isn't one solution to the problem or silver bullet, but it's really a series of actions that they need to take. Then you need to tie this some kind of way to retention and culture, because we talked about this at the top, culture plays a big role in mental health, right it's about those safe spaces. It's about inclusion, because we know that inclusive workspace are more engaged and productive, but if you can really help your employees feel like they truly, truly belong, then you can help them achieve that greater sense of satisfaction in health and wellness and that can impact retention. LIA DORSEY: So just to kind of sum this up, leaders really need to prioritize their people and they need to create a workplace that fully supports every single employee, even the one from historically excluded groups and they must address those needs. If they want to create connected and inclusive workplaces, they have to address mental health because it's not an option to continue to ignore it. BREE: That's right. CHRIS: Yeah. Well, said. Let's look forward a decade and if we were to do a good job around evolving and changing attitudes and encouraging engagement and affecting hearts and minds, Lia, how will the legal profession be different? LIA DORSEY: Well, for starters, I hope the profession will be more diverse 10 years from now. It's a shame that after all these efforts and initiatives and research and data that the legal profession is still struggling with diversity. I want to see more of this diversity at the top as well. We all know that representation matters and I'd also like to see more accountability, right. How do we hold our leaders to account? I would love to see firms and I'm sure a lot of people are not going to like this, but I would love to see firms link the compensation to the advancement of DE&I, because our corporate partners are already doing this, right. I always say that diversity isn't black and white, it's green, because when you start talking about money, people listen. [inaudible 00:34:10]. So I would love to see that link because I think that will get us more change faster and sooner. BREE: Right. LIA DORSEY: So that's what I would say. CHRIS: Okay, and I'm just curious as we think about one thing, law schools obviously have a role here to play as a kind of a pathway into the profession. I'm just curious on your impressions on how they're doing relative to some of these challenges. Obviously, a lot of our work on the well-being front kind of starts with how folks come into the profession. I got to think that there's some direct corollaries there. LIA DORSEY: It is. One of the things that I've seen, which I think is great, is that our law schools are talking about DE&I earlier in the process or period, because it was a time when they weren't. So the fact that they're introducing and they're talking about these topics in law school, I think is great. Then we're also seeing a connection with some of the law school offerings and partnering with firms and other diversity associations that are out there, NCCA, the DFA and LCLD are three that come to mind. They're really just trying to make sure that particularly the diverse students are well prepared for a full enriched career in a law firm and really looking at how do we make sure that they know what to do and to make sure that they can ask the right questions and to find that mentor early and all of the things that come with that. So I'm really encouraged to see that type of partnering with some of the law schools and some of the other associations that are out there and with some law firms, as well CHRIS: As you said earlier, evolution here or progress I think has been slower than almost all of us believe could have been achieved. Are you optimistic about the future, and if so, what are some of the accelerator drivers that have you particularly excited for what's on the horizon? LIA DORSEY: Oh, Chris, I have to stay optimistic because if I don't, I'll go in my room, sit in the ball and cry. I just think it's really just my outlook. If I think about when I started in this field, not that long ago really, but when I started, we weren't even talking about some of the stuff that we're talking about even now and we were not as bold then as we are now. So, that definitely gives me hope. Some of the people that I see who are starting to do this work gives me hope. The fact that we're seeing managing partners and CEOs who are standing up and speaking up and actually putting that capital and using it to help advance it, all of that gives me hope. LIA DORSEY: I don't think that we will get there in my lifetime, but I am happy to be a person right now and a change agent who's really trying to plant the seeds that hopefully folks will continue to water. I tell people, this is a marathon. It didn't take us overnight to get into this and it's not going to take us overnight to get out of it. It's going to take some time, but I am very, very hopeful. CHRIS: Awesome. Well again, thank you so much for joining us. Whenever we can have a disruptor for good or a professional troublemaker on the podcast, we are all in and Lia, we certainly commend you for your longtime commitment, the impact that you're having, the willingness to serve and leadership structures and challenging the status quo, improving cultures, right. I mean, you are doing critical work, not just for your firm in particular, but well beyond in terms of improving this profession and the ability for this profession to ultimately serve the legal needs of the country, all of the legal needs of the country, right, not just certain legal needs of our country. So again, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. BREE: Thank you. Wonderful. Wonderful. LIA DORSEY: Thank you, Bree. Thank you, Chris. I have enjoyed my time immensely and I would be happy to come back if ever you would have me. This has been great and I love this so much. I can talk about this all day. I feel like our time just flew by. So thank you. Thank you again for having me. CHRIS: It certainly did and we will be back in a couple weeks with one final installment of kind of our series on the intersection of diversity, equity, inclusion, and well-being. Thanks to all of our friends out there for listening in and if you have ideas, continue to reach out to Bree or I for suggestions on future speakers. BREE: Absolutely. CHRIS: So everyone be well out there. Thank you. BREE: Take good care everyone. Bye-bye.  

Jeanie Chang is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Founder of Your Change Provider, PLLC®, an interdisciplinary practice founded on solutions and her unique framework Cultural Confidence®. Jeanie is a bestselling author and an accomplished international speaker for corporations, community organizations, and colleges on topics such as burnout, resilience, mindfulness, stress, and mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Jeanie is also a McKinsey & Company external faculty and executive coach, corporate wellness and DEI consultant, and AAPI mental health expert. In addition, she is a teacher on Headspace, and provides support groups around the country for DEI and AAPI leaders as well as journalists.

Rick Graham is the Chief Risk Officer for SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority), the nation's sixth-largest provider of public transportation. Rick leads a team of ten risk management professionals responsible for the authority's treatment of risk, management, and employee injury claims. He also oversees a comprehensive vocational rehabilitation program and currently serves as the VP of the Delaware Valley Chapter of RIMS. He earned his BA in political science from Meridian College. In today's live episode, from the 2022 RIMS Conference, Rick highlights the successes, challenges, and future of risk management and public transportation.   Key Takeaways Rick highlights the chapters of his risk management career. As a risk manager in public transportation, what does Rick want people to know? Public transportation provides great opportunities for inclusion and equity. Seeking solutions for the unique exposures that are presented in public transportation. Public transportation has seen major technology changes over the last decade. Rick highlights some of the innovations in railroad technology and smartphones. As a public entity, public transportation has been affected by the current state of the finance market. Rick details his approach to the changing dynamics of the environment, including the impact of climate change. Cyberattacks present a very real threat to any company. Rick emphasizes the importance of handling IT infrastructure with the same emphasis as physical infrastructure. How will public transportation continue to change as more people adopt a hybrid work model? The impact that the pandemic has had on the demand for public transportation. Future challenges in public transportation and the most important steps professionals can take today to prepare for the future. With a focus on DEI, changes still need to happen in the public transportation industry to effectively welcome more people in. RIMS recognizes that greater diversity, equity, and inclusion need to happen, and are working as a leader in increasing DEI in the industry. Why come to insurance? Rick shares some of the highlights and rewards of his career. Ideas for pulling non-traditional candidates into risk management industries. An optimistic look at the future of the risk management industry includes a younger, more diverse workforce. Rick reveals what he wishes he had known at the beginning of his risk management career.   Keep Getting Better Richard Graham at RIMS Richard Graham on LinkedIn   Quotes   “There is a lot of focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion right now, and public transportation really affords people to be inclusive and provide equity.”   “We're acutely aware of [the impact of climate change] taking the risk management model and applying it.”   “You have to look at your IT infrastructure the same way you look at your physical infrastructure.”   “The most important thing that we have to do as a profession is not to accept things as they are today.”   “We've got to look at diversity, equity, and inclusion as an opportunity, not as a threat.”  

The University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry is involved in efforts to promote and implement Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). In this podcast, four faculty members offer brief presentations and discuss the importance of DEI. Guests include Sarah Pederson, PhD; Paul Pikonis, PhD; Piper Carroll, MD; and César Escobar-Viera, MD, PhD. They discuss linking the Department of Psychiatry to the Pittsburgh community; the psychiatry residency training curriculum; departmental surveys; and LGBTQ+ health matters.

In this series, we dive into the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and hear the perspectives of leaders within the travel and tourism industry. My team has taken the show on the road without me for this episode, and I'm excited that they and you are benefitting from all the great information shared at The Travel Unity Summit. For this first episode in a special three-part series of Destination on the Left, Rhonda and Brittany visited the Travel Unity Summit to chat to attendees about their experiences working in the travel and tourism industry, and particularly their experience of DEI in their communities. I'm excited to share all the discussions and experiences that came out of my team's experience at the Travel Unity Roadshow in Brookhaven, Georgia, and the candid conversations they had with guests at the summit. In this first episode of a special three-part Destination On The Left series, you'll hear from these five fantastic travel and tourism leaders: Amber Cameron, Operations Director for Travel Unity Aquan Robinson, Director of Destination Sales for Experience Montgomery Bethany Rogers, Executive Director, NewTown Loans Billy Kolber, CEO and Co-founder of Hospitable ME Danny Guerrero, Founder, The Culturist Group Insights and Experiences from the Travel Unity Roadshow The Travel Unity Summit is focused on allowing everyone in the travel and tourism industry to come together to tackle how to move forward on the vital work of incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into strategic planning and implementation. Destination marketers and members of the travel industry share ideas on applying the principles of DEI to ensure that their communities are welcoming to people of all backgrounds and abilities. Amber Cameron from Travel Unity Amber shares how she was able to incorporate DEI into every process every step of the way because she created the HR department from scratch at Travel Unity. She describes how by using the DEI standards that Travel Unity had created using a committee of external participants from around the travel industry, they were able to follow a pre-drawn roadmap to successfully refine their policies. Amber also shares her insights into building a fully engaged team to support the organization and the wider community in their DEI endeavors. Aquan Robinson from Experience Montgomery The travel industry is often the first touchpoint you have in many spaces. And whatever the attractions or destinations in the local community, it is vital to make sure that everyone has a fair and equitable experience. Aquan describes why we can make a business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion and why it's essential for cities like Montgomery to be at the forefront of these conversations. The travel industry is so crucial to every community so it must lead the way in doing the right thing with regard to DEI. Bethany Rogers from NewTown Loans Bethany describes how NewTown Loans have been instrumental in increasing storefront occupancy in Macon, Georgia, by giving people opportunities to purchase that bigger banks have denied them. She shares what the Travel Unity Summit means to her and why for her, knowing that the whole travel and tourism community is moving in the same direction with diversity, equity, and inclusion is inspirational. Billy Kolber from Hospitable ME Billy explains how Hospitable ME provides inclusive hospitality strategy and education for tourism, retail, and healthcare organizations with particular expertise in LGBTQ+. He highlights the three steps they're taking to bring DEI to their customers, including helping them understand who LGBTQ people are and how the LGBTQ plus market is relevant to their destination or organization. Billy also shares how his organization helps destinations build an LGBTQ+ network to engage with the community and offer queer-specific content that integrates queer people and LGBTQ+ topics and venues into their overall marketing campaigns. Danny Guerrero from The Culturist Group DEI is fundamental for Danny Guerrero, and he shares why he considers multicultural marketing and marketing resources and platforms in the travel and tourism industry to be an absolute must. The research shows that so many people are not feeling seen or welcome or represented in destination marketing — and often marketers want to be inclusive, but they often don't know how to. Danny emphasizes that t's not about selecting or segregating; it's about reinforcing your brand strategy and approach to better understand the values and motivators of marginalized groups. I hope you enjoyed this first episode of our special three-part series from the Travel Unity Summitt. Rhonda and Brittany and the leaders they spoke to have shared so many valuable insights into how destinations can move forward to embrace the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Next week we'll hear from more remarkable travel and tourism experts, so I hope you'll join the conversation! We value your thoughts and feedback and would love to hear from you. Leave us a review on your favorite streaming platform to let us know what you want to hear more of. Here is a quick tutorial on how to leave us a rating and review on iTunes!: https://breaktheicemedia.com/rating-review/  

On this episode of THRIVE — sponsored by accessiBe — Kelly and Rhodes Perry discuss how each agency leader can transform their culture into one of belonging and inclusion over time.Rhodes Perry and I cover these points and more:How Rhodes felt the challenges he faced in the beginning of his career led to his work;Why self-actualization is so powerful and how to examine ourselves to be better leaders;What the deeper reason of why DEI work fails, and the most common pushbacks;Examples of how this work is never done, and why it's a decades' long experience;Taking the risk to utilize the courage to share your story in order to model vulnerability.Be sure to tune in to all the episodes of THRIVE to get practical tips on becoming a conscious leader, growing your agency, and more. Thanks for listening, and I'd love to hear your takeaways!If you enjoyed this episode, post it in your stories and tag me @agencyscaler. And don't forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast wherever you listen.Learn more about THRIVE at https://klcampbell.com/category/podcast/ and https://accessibe.com/thrive CONNECT WITH GUEST NAME:WebsiteTwitterLinkedInPodcastCONNECT WITH KELLY CAMPBELL:LinkedInInstagramTwitterWork with Kelly 

In this episode, Erika Van Noort welcomes Oguo Atuanya, General Manager of Global Scale and Global Partner Solutions at Microsoft. As a Senior Executive leading Microsoft's global cloud scale services, Oguo weaves together a mixed cultural background from his education in three different continents and passion for democratization in technology. He talks about how the Microsoft workforce is more diverse than it's ever been, and how the new generation of employees is making it a priority to work for a company that shares their values. Oguo also discusses the real concrete DEI efforts underway at Microsoft to move us from tokenism to transformation. His unique personal story and passion for mentorship and making a difference, will inspire you in your own  journey.Featuring:Oguo Atuanya, General Manager of Global Scale and Global Partner Solutions at MicrosoftSpecial thanks to Softchoice voices Houman Aryan and Karly Pierce for lending their thoughts!The Catalyst by Softchoice is the podcast shining a light on the human side of IT leaders and reframing our relationship with technology.This episode is brought to you by Microsoft – a proud leader when it comes to diversity and inclusion. To start building your cloud and workplace strategy with an organization that's committed to making the world a better place to live and work, visit Softchoice.com/Microsoft to learn more.