Episode 67: Using Your Privilege To Drive Equity & Inclusion with Culture Amp’s Aubrey Blanche

When you hear the terms, “Privilege or White Privilege”, what comes to mind for you? Do you immediately think of white people and attach the stigma of racism with it? If you answered yes, or your answer leaned towards yes...then YOU my friend, need to pause and disrupt your thinking. Because, the irony is that you, yourself, just exhibited negative unconscious biased behaviors. But, don’t beat yourself up, we ALL do this to some extent. It’s human nature. The key is to make the choice to CHANGE.

In this episode, Aubrey Blanche, Global Head of Equitable Design & Impact at Culture Amp discusses and shares how we should all be using our individual privileges to help other marginalized groups.

Especially in this current “awakened environment” of racial and economic inequities.

 

Highlights:

[02:54] Aubrey’s story

[08:36] Taking chances

[11:55] Solidifying identity as a Latina women

[14:22] First experience in the tech industry

[16:00] Addressing microaggressions

[21:08] Making difficult decisions quickly

[24:48] Supporting each other during the pandemic

[28:21] Working remotely and being seen

[32:25] Overcoming limiting beliefs

[35:19] Aubrey’s favorite success habit

 

Quotes:

“When you have something, work hard, because you've taken a seat from someone who may also deserve it, but didn't get it. And that's out of respect for those folks.” – Aubrey Blanche

“I try to connect back to my journey to find compassion, but also remember that most people are fundamentally good and have been very poorly taught.” – Aubrey Blanche

“Be compassionate to everyone, we are all doing the best we can and we don't always know what else is going on in the background.” – Aubrey Blanche

“How do we constantly think of who's going to be the worst impacted and then think about what we can do to help.” – Aubrey Blanche

“This is the greatest remote work experiment in human history.” - Aubrey Blanche

“This is a time where no one really knows what the rules are. Decide what the rules are, tell people what the rules are, and then dare them to challenge you that you're wrong.” - Aubrey Blanche

“Define the terms of the engagement for yourself. Because the fact is, the ones that are defined are going to keep you down because they're supposed to.” - Aubrey Blanche

“What you say about yourself is what you believe in, it will become true because that's where your energy is going.” - Aubrey Blanche

“You're brilliant, you're worthy, and the world needs what you're going to create.” - Aubrey Blanche

 

About Aubrey Blanche:

Aubrey Blanche is The Mathpath (Math Nerd + Empath), Global Head of Equitable Design & Impact at Culture Amp, and a startup investor and advisor. Through all her work, she seeks to question, reimagine, and redesign the systems and practices that surround us to ensure that all people can access equitable opportunities and build a better world. Her work is undergirded by her training in social scientific methods and grounded in the fundamental dignity and value of every person. Her professional expertise covers a broad range of equitable enterprise operations, from talent lifecycle programs and accessible product development to event design and communications & media.

She is the inventor of the balanced teams approach to building proportional representation and a culture of belonging in the workplace, as well as the Balanced Teams Diversity Assessment in the Atlassian Team Playbook. She works to open source these methods for all practitioners and business leaders, and releases thought leadership and tools to create positive change at here at aubreyblanche.com.

She is an advisor to a variety of groups seeking to build a more just world, including Aleria Research and Joonko. Her work has been featured in Wired, the Wall Street Journal, the Australian Financial Review, USA Today, Re/Code, First Round Review, and more. She also has previous academic affiliations with Stanford and Northwestern, and an appointment at the Equity by Design Lab at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Despite the accolades listed here, she asks that you engage with her work to judge her competence: traditional proxies of merit and/or competence help reinforce the systems that keep incredible people from the opportunities they deserve.

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adblanche/

Twitter: @adblanche

Website: https://aubreyblanche.com/

Medium: https://medium.com/@adblanche