Allyship in Action

Stephen Graves is a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI), Workplace Culture, and Health Equity Consultant, Facilitator and Strategist. He has over a decade of experience, partnering with organizations of all sizes across sectors to add value and return on investment through his work and leadership in DEI, Health Equity, Talent Management, and Organizational Development. Together, we discuss: How he found his calling for DEI through early childhood experiences and the church Why connecting DEI leaders is critical now more than ever to address burnout How to create open spaces for dialogue and use insights to drive systemic change Stephen is a Senior Consultant with All In Consulting. Learn more at https://www.allinconsulting.co. Resources cited on the episode: The Nap Ministry (@thenapministry) on Instagram and the book Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey.

Beverly Jurenko served as the Director of Diversity & Inclusion for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, and worked in Europe, Latin America, and Russia in energy and finance for Amoco and Enron. She joins us to share how to: Demonstrate the value of DEI and get support from top management Manage the naysayers against DEI Measure DEI at an individual level Follow Beverly at https://inside-edge-group.com/ and Julie at https://nextpivotpoint.com/ 

Nicole Hughey has been leading DEI for 16 years. As the DEI leader at SiriusXM, she joins us to share: Why the future of DEI is about embracing intersectionality How to broaden diversity to include other perspectives without watering down DEI What an inclusive DEI event looks like using your competitive advantages as an organization Connect with Nicole at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hughey-061639b/ and learn more about SiriusXM at https://careers.siriusxm.com/diversityequityinclusion 

Brett Heising is a highly acclaimed speaker who educates and inspires people around the world about living life with a physical disability. He has mastered the art of talking about the sensitive topic of “disability” in a fun, open, and honest way. We discuss: Tangible, real-world advice designed to help his clients understand the difference between something being “ADA compliant” and truly accessible Why people with disabilities are underemployed and how to design workplaces to be inclusive of people with disabilities How allyship is about paying attention to opportunities to be helpful  Meet Brett at www.brettheising.com.

Chris Jones is the CEO and Co-founder of Spectra Diversity, the creator of the only DEI assessment which measures the organization and the individual in a single survey.  Together, we discuss: What data to measure for a good baseline How to dig through the data to tell a story by asking “so what?” What the future holds for DEI As Chris says, measuring DEI improves perceptions of DEI. Follow Chris at https://www.spectradiversity.com/. 

Celeste Warren is Vice President of the Global Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence at Merck.  Celeste has over 30 years of experience in the fields of Human Resources Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Change Management. Celeste is the author of the book How to be a Diversity & Inclusion Ambassador: Everyone’s Role in Helping All Feel Accepted, Engaged, and Valued. We talk about: How awareness of DEI has improved, yet leadership representation continues to lag The headwinds affecting DEI leaders and how to overcome them Why everyone (especially individual contributors) can impact change Connect with Celeste at https://crwdiversity.com/. 

Esther Armah is an international award-winning journalist, a playwright, an international speaker, and an author. Esther is CEO of The Armah Institute of Emotional Justice (The AIEJ), a global institute working across Accra, New York, and London, and is the author of the book: EMOTIONAL JUSTICE: a roadmap for racial healing. We talk about: How white centering harms DEI work today The four languages of whiteness, and how to replace them with the four love languages of emotional justice  Why were are the dismantlers we have been waiting for Connect with Esther at https://www.theaiej.com/.

DEI work has surged in recent years, yet organizations are bracing for uncertainty in the markets they serve. With this uncertainty comes DEI budget cuts. Here’s why that’s a bad idea and how to push back. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work has surged in recent years, yet is showing signs of softening as organizations brace for uncertainty in the markets they serve. With this uncertainty, the pressure to reduce costs often results in DEI budget cuts or the elimination of the budget together. Seen more as a “nice to have” than a “must-have,” organizations are signaling a deprioritization of DEI at the time it is needed the most. Read more and access the data at https://nextpivotpoint.com/dei-budget-cuts-heres-why-thats-a-bad-idea/   Connect with Julie at nextpivotpoint.com

Julie unpacks learnings from season 10 and shares 10 ideas for 2023 DEI work based on her latest article in Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/10-ideas-to-drive-your-dei-initiatives-in-2023/442070 Find Julie at www.nextpivotpoint.com

Michelle Gyimah is the Director of Equality Pays, a gender and ethnicity equality consultancy dedicated to closing workplace pay gaps. She shares: Why all industries have pay gaps How to collect career experience stories to help address equity gaps Strategies to improve your pay gap that address real root causes Connect with Michelle at https://www.equalitypays.co/ and her podcast https://bettermoneyconversations.libsyn.com/. Connect with Julie at www.nextpivotpoint.com.