Sn. 4, #2 Kuma Roberts: Diversity beyond Tokenism

Joining us in conversation today is Kuma Roberts, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Arrowhead Consulting. Tune in to learn the difference between ‘DEI’ and ‘D and I’, and why the focus has shifted from the latter to the former. You’ll hear why everyone has something to contribute to the conversation around diversity, and how it doesn’t begin and end with skin color. Kuma is more concerned about policy than changing hearts and minds, and believes that when the culture of an organization changes, hearts and minds will follow. Next, we discuss fears organizations experience around communicating their values around diversity, and why it is necessary to overcome this in order to become successful. Kuma unpacks the business case for diversity and inclusion and reveals that much of her wisdom in this arena stems from her own years of experience. We discuss employee perception, inclusive language, pronouns, and email signatures, before exploring the role of top leadership buy-in on a personal and company level. Kuma explains what tokenism is, how to avoid it, and why prioritizing diversity can’t be understood as ‘helping’, but goes far deeper than that. Join us today!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices