Diversity has been
part of my life for as long as I can remember. We just never called it
diversity when I was growing up. But it was there all along.
It started with being
the youngest of eight children; five brothers and two sisters, all of whom are
very different. Add in their friends and you get the picture: a bustling,
dynamic house with a never-ending, revolving door of high school and college
students. As the youngest, I spent a lot of time observing the differences and
similarities of my siblings and their friends, trying to understand what made
each person tick.
My early memories
start with having Rotary Youth Exchange students in our house, which is when
where an American high school student lives in another country for a year,
while a student from that country lives in an American home for the same year.
Over the years, we had students from Sweden, Belgium, Japan, Bolivia and other
countries living with us, each bringing new perspectives on culture, language,
food and traditions to my world.
I hung out with a
fairly international crowd in college with friends from Argentina, Mexico,
France and Kenya. After falling in love with my Kenyan friend, we got married
in an international wedding with his family coming from India, Canada and Kenya
to help celebrate. I didn’t think much of it at the time; however, someone
recently said to me, “You married a Kenyan two decades ago?! That just wasn’t
done back then.” Well, we did it. And we also moved to Kenya to live and work.
It was only supposed to be for two years; we stayed for 12 years instead. My
grandmother referred to Africa as the dark continent; that should’ve warned me
of what was to come.
I hadn’t seen real
racism growing up, but I saw it firsthand in Kenya. I witnessed how people of
different skin colors treated each other on a daily basis. I noticed how people
expected less of people with darker skin color, for no reason other than a bias
that skin color was linked to intelligence. And I clearly saw how my husband
was treated differently than me in various situations. All those observations
shaped my beliefs around diversity, inclusion and belonging.
After returning to the
US, helping teams, individuals and organizations talk about diversity was my
focus. I started with age diversity, being dubbed The Generational Guru by the
Washington Post. Yet that felt limited and incomplete. So, I moved into the
wider arena of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), using executive
coaching, leadership development, and human capital consulting to drive those
conversations forward.
Many people tell me
that DEI conversations are daunting. I get it; it’s hard to look at our own
bias and have these conversations. Yet, I’ve been doing it my whole life,
personally and professionally. And my life is richer because of it.
I can help you start diversity conversations too. I’m pleased
to announce DEI360, an
organization’s starting point for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). It’s an
easy, customizable, online assessment that quickly allows organizational
leadership to see how they’re doing from the employee’s perspective. Once an
organization takes
the assessment,( our team walks through the final
report giving clear DEI data, a snapshot of the
internal DEI landscape, and actionable next steps. Have questions? Check
out our FAQ or contact
us directly.
Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email,
or find me on Twitter.
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