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5 Conversation Starters to Help a Leader Buy-In to Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace
Creating a more inclusive work environment Q: What can you do if you are asked by your boss to create a more inclusive environment in your workplace, and while your boss is supportive, they just don’t fully buy in and don’t model the behaviors consistent with the environment that you’re trying to create? A: This is an ongoing conversation for future webinars, virtual institutes, and my Master Class for Inclusion Practitioners. Click here to learn more about this program and watch my events page to see what’s coming up next. Diversity in the workplace is paramount Have you been asked by a superior to organize a diversity initiative only to…
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Interrupt Racism, The White Way Is Not The Only Way
As we grew up, most of us didn’t realize we were being educated to believe white is right. I was socialized as a college administrator in predominantly white organizations that reinforced white cultural practices as the right way – the only way – to serve students. I couldn’t see the forest for the trees – I told myself I wasn’t racist! I didn’t realize I was perpetuating the very system I was fighting against. It never occurred to me that the dances I coordinated or the training I designed and facilitated did not address the needs and issues of students of color. I simply perpetuated ideas and approaches that privileged whites had…
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Can You Recognize Your Own Racist Beliefs?
Change Starts With Recognizing Your Own Racism Ever heard of the Harvard Implicit Bias Test? Years ago, a colleague urged me to take the test. When the results indicated I had negative prejudices towards African Americans, my ego roared out NO WAY! Me? So I did what most people would do: I critiqued the methodology of the test. There was something wrong with the test – certainly NOT ME. Truth is, we all need to get real with ourselves, to stop making excuses or casting blame. So often we put ourselves up on a pedestal, linking racism to an outdated image of a Confederate-flag-flying, gun-toting KKK member. The inner dialogue…
