Special Edition: MAKERS: Keep Going - What Companies Can Do to Create Opportunities for Women, People of Color and LGBTQ

I want to give a special thanks to the Maker's conference sponsors PNG Price, Waterhouse Coopers an official wellness sponsor Lulu Lemon. Now. We launched the Seneca Women Podcast Network about a year ago with founding partner PNGNG and I Heart Radio with the goal of amplifying the voices of women around the world. You probably know that podcasting is a fast growing industry, with over fifty cent of podcast

audience being women. But what you may not know is that only twenty of top podcasts are hosted by women. We want to change that, so we are launching dozens of women focused and women led podcasts. So if you have a show where you want to collaborate on a show, reach out to us at info at Seneca Women dot com Now, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our guest host for the Keep Going series, Amina Brown. Amina is a spoken word poet, author and host of the

podcast Her with Amina Brown on the Seneca Women Podcast Network. Amina, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks Kim. I'm so honored to be the guest host of this special series and collaboration with Makers, and I'm so glad you're tuning in with us because these conversations have been inspiring and challenging in the best way. Today, we're listening to an excerpt from an incredible conversation between two Shonda Brown Duckett, President and CEO of t I A A and Janna Rich,

founder and CEO of Rich Talent Group. They'll be talking about how we can create more diverse workplaces. This conversation took place at the recent Makers conference, and I know you're going to get something out of this conversation because when I first listened to it, I felt so charged up to continue doing the work of what it means for the places we work to be diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

Following the conversation, I'll be joined by Libra Clemens. Libra serves as chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion officer at Tulio the Cloud Communications, a customer engagement platform. Libra and I are going to talk about what we're hearing in this conversation, and she will give us some practical suggestions that we can bring back to the spaces where we work. Here's

Janna and to Shonda Tee, what would you say? You've got a lot of companies who are genuinely committed to increasing the opportunities for women, people of color, lgbt Q folks, but they may not all know how to push that needle. How any words of wisdom for how we create more space for great women, people of color and LGBTQ people. Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, we have to decide, and you and I have had this conversation, Um, we have to decide that talent is created equally, opportunity is not.

We have to decide that the way in which we may have sourced talent, or the areas of credentializing that we hold onto in terms of our past that did not include women, black, women, people of color, l g b t Q, that was out and proud and unapologetic, then we have to say, what else do we need to add into this formula so that we can make sure that we are identifying great talent. And so I think deciding a step one. I think step too, which is the accountability of senior leaders, is who are your

core lieutenants. Who are the people that you are hiring, and do they share that same conviction, that same mindset, and that same level of action. Because if you do that, when you look around your table and you say does

my table represent the culture that I embody? And if the answer is yes, the word that will be in your company and your organization, which is just like in financial services, the power of compounding, and what we have to do is have that compounding mindset that says, if we get one, then we get to then we get three. And by the way, compounding is additive. We're not taking the seat from someone, We're creating the space for everyone

to be seen to have opportunity. So decide who are you hiring in those real key positions that can hire the people. This is not a diversity hr solely exercise. These are the people that's your CFO, the person snose, your CEO, the person who's running the p m L. It's their accountability and then lastly, I would say it is about being committed inconsistent, just like in running a big,

powerful business, it's about the overtime performance. We have to make sure that diversity and inclusion and all of these beautiful words are not the flavor of the month. It's not an initiative. It becomes core to your how and when we do that, we will change the phase, we will change the outcomes, and we will change the level of talent that enters the halls of Corporate America or quite frankly, any industry and sector that does not have

the representation that you just outline, Jana. And what would you say to women and especially women of color who are facing barriers to their advancement, the types of microaggressions that they have faced in the workplace, any words of wisdom or inspiration for them? Oh? Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, I think we have to know that we are worthy and deserving of everything and be unapologetic about it.

And so when you are having those microaggressions or some of those um slight remarks, you know where they're almost questioning your existence, as if your gender or your complexion was the only reason why you got the jobs and they were lazy because they didn't do the research. So

you don't even need to own that narrative. But I would say it's important to know that you are worthy and deserving because quite frankly, the biggest hurdle that we have to overcome many times, especially as black women, is the mental gymnastics that we do in our head when we see and feel these microaggressions and and just feel like we can't get ahead. Secondly, know that your voice is necessary and required and do not dim your light. And in order to do that, and this is why

I love this conference. The power of the sister it that's where we have to connect. We have to say, you know what, I might be the only Black woman in a senior role in the company, but there's my white sister, or my Asian sister, or my l G B t Q sister that we have to come together and say, hey, I need you, I need you. And so I think we have to create that space for that vulnerability, that space for us to really share what's on our minds and in our spirit so that we

can navigate these waters um collectively and together. And then lastly, lastly I would say is be unapologetic of the impact and the power that you have to make sure that that next black girl, or that next woman or person of color does not have to have the exact same

road that you just traveled. We have to make it a little easier for the next person, and that is why we cannot give up even when we were dealing with the storms that we all face and will continue to face until we see a lot more representation of the sisterhood at every level of corporate America or just business in general. What a great conversation between two Shanda Brown Duckett and Janna rich Now, I'm delighted to welcome

Libra Clements, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Tulio. Libra, it has touched me that this section of the conversation we're listening to that we got to hear to Shonda say these words specifically two women of color in the workplace, and the two phrases that stuck out to me right there is when she reminded us you are worthy and do not dim your light. Exactly if we weren't recording, I would bang on things just hearing that. I mean, did you feel this way too? I did I did.

It hit me to my core because it's something that you have to remind yourself on a regular basis when you wake up every day, because you wake up, you go to work, whatever the organization, whatever the company is, and there was something chipping at you, chipping away at you on a regular basis. So you have to continue to fill yourself up and continue to think and just remind yourself that you are worthy, that you cannot demn

your light. It's hard, it's a process. And I think about me like fifteen years ago in the workplace, and every little thing used to just break me down. I would be like in tears at home, in a fetal position. And as I got older, you know, you start to figure out and you surround yourself by people and other

things too. You know, make sure that you know that you are worthy, make sure that you are connected to folks who are constantly filling your cup and that there you know, and they're reminding you not to demn your your light at all. But it is it's it's certainly a process that they gets a practice. It is a practice to remind yourself because the world is not set

up for you, especially black women. I love the fact that you call that black women, let's just call it, you know, and as a black woman, every day you wake up and you're wondering what is my day going to be like because you just don't know what you're going to encounter, intentional or not. You know, I'm not saying everyone's out to get you, but you have to face those obstacles on a regular basis. And so I loved it. I think that was like, it just hit

to the core. Yeah, I I feel similar to you in this and just thinking about specifically what it has meant for me to come up with that practice. I love that you said that word, Libra, that it's a practice of walking into these spaces and remembering your worthy, remembering not to dim your light. I want to bring up another quote that to Shaunda brought up here and

ask for your reflections on it. To Shaunda said, talent is equal, opportunity is not exactly what can we do in our workspaces to bring up opportunity so that opportunity can of course, in our best, most ideal situation, that opportunity is up there with talent. We know that we have folks who are black folks, people of color, are BIPOP folks, are l G B t Q plus folks, are disabled community folks. Right, we know the talents here, right, how do we bring how do we bring that opportunity

up there to to be equal to that. Well two things. One is, and this is my strategy all the time, you need those types of people in senior roles because they are setting the tone and the agenda for the rest of the organization. And part of the problems that have with a lot of diversity programs like oh, we're gonna hire all these people at the more the earlier career level where there's not a lot of access and

power and so forth. So if you get them, and to Sanda said this, you know, if you get your CFO, your c O and all those people, but you hire them and those key roles that are decision making, they can start to shift that to start to think about equality because then that that that like senior level, you know, that c suite level, that starts to shift a bit and you start to about the opportunities because you hope they are creating opportunities for other people. So I say

shoot high. The second thing is um and this is a I've been in the diversity space for a very very long time, and the word equity is something that you're seeing in the d e I space. Used to be diversity, inclusion and belonging. Now it's like all about equity because acknowledge that the talent is equal, the opportunities are not. And within equity, what does that mean You're hiring processes there have to disrupt them to ensure there's equity around that. The same thing with how you're being

evaluatedt promotions and all of that. And if you ask anybody what they want in a workplace is they want equal treatment. They want equal access, equal opportunities to actually make the same amount of money as everyone else, opportunities to advance their careers or not, opportunities to actually go on leave and come back. And so what I think companies have to do is ensure that within their people processes they are doing what they can to disrupt all

those biases to create equity. But I love that line because part of the problem is you have this mindset that the talent isn't equal. That you know, oh, and it tries me crazy when people say lowering the bar amina. I literally want to jump out my skin when I think about the fact that the bar has been lowered by the people that work there, the mediocre folks that cons that constitute a company is mediocre. How are you

kidding me? With the loot? Drives me crazy when people say lower the bar for talent as if the talent is not equal. That is a falsehood hood all around. So what do we do to actually shift those dynamics?

Shift that mindset. That's why hiring very very senior people who are black, Latin x Asian, LGBT, people with distability, veterans, background, whatever it is, from the North, from the South, from whatever, just to come in and create a different dynamic so that they can start to shift how we're starting to see an organization. So I love that quote. I actually want to write that down and like put it on like my sticky notes all over my computer because that

is something I have to remind myself whatever. Besides worthy, I swear she should just have quotes and we should make T shirts. Okay to sob to quote T shirt. I'm in there. Yeah, I need these quotes on a

mug right now, on a mug of something. I want to ask you this Libra from your experience having worked in the d I space for as long as you have just I want to speak to this as far as people that may be listening to us here that are new into this conversation in their workplaces and in spaces that are just beginning this process of really thinking about what does it look like to do the work

of diversity, equity inclusion. I think sometimes we get caught in the idea that just sitting around the table and talking about this or having a conversation or you know, air quotes learning from each other is the work, and that is not the work. The work requires other action steps to actually see these companies make progress for folks who are at sort of the conversation the possible Kumbaya moment.

What would you say, are some beginning things to do that are actually going to take action to really make things more equitable for folks. Yeah. Well, the first thing is that they ever there are a lot of people they were like, oh my god, I did this anti racist training. It was so fantastic, it was super informative. And then what I think, that's diversity. So there are steps.

One thing is that you have to understand that any of these um these trainings or this you know, inclusion training or like inclusive leadership, whatever it is, their behavior are associated with those and those behaviors have to be aligned with how you are evaluating every single person. And if those behaviors are not front and center to all the work that you are doing, you actually are just listening to people talk about anti racism but you're not

actually doing it. It's kind of this say versus do. There's a huge gap, right, and so the way to get people to really think about this is to tie these behaviors that whatever the inclusion model, whatever the anti race or whatever training that you took, there were behaviors associated with how you behave and conduct yourself in the workplace. Those have to be consistent with how you're evaluating them and evaluating, meaning if you don't do them, there are repercussions,

Like it's there has an impact on your compensation. You don't get promoted. You don't just say, oh, well, so and so did a great job. He's kind of a jerk and he treated such and such and he didn't do this to advanced diversity. But oh it's okay, let's promote this person. We can't do that, and so that is the problem I'm having with a lot of these. We sat around, we hugged each other, I cried, you know, I've read you know, I read you know how to be an anti racist? And then I moved about my day.

But it's not tied to like what this means to be a leader. Oh, by the way, this is what our expectation is, is like, this is what it means to be a prominent leader in this company, and we expect this. And if you don't do it, then you, you know, either don't get that bonus or a portion of that bonus, or you don't get promoted. Whatever it is, there has to be consequences. The second part of it is, and it's a this is more like your people processing.

There's policies and processes that have all types of bias, as we talked about earlier, and so we have to do an overview and analysis of these policies to ensure that there they are as equitable as possible. That's the work. That is the work, and that's a lot hot of work, especially if you're talking about these companies that are already established, that are so big you can't even there's nothing you can do. You just kind of inch around you inch towards it, but it's a whole process. So it is.

It takes a lot of work, a lot of tolerance, but it's also a lot of experience understanding the process. Libra, thank you for giving us this wisdom, giving us some things to think about, and giving us some things to do. That's what we hope, folks listening, that you are able to get some action steps to take in your own workplaces. Libra, thank you for joining us, thank you for having me,

and thank you for facilitating this discussion. Really appreciate it, Libra. Yes, yes, yes, I'm so glad Libra was able to join us and share her wisdom and her experience with us. I want you to ask yourself three questions as we reflect on what Libra shared with us here. Question one, how can you ensure that diversity is reflected and who gets hired for the top roles in your workplace? Question too, how can you make sure that diversity in your workplace also

means equitable pay and equitable promotion processes? And what are the consequences for those in leadership who do not practice diversity, equity and inclusion? And Question three, how can you do the work of overhauling and updating policies to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion actually takes place. As Libra reminded us, it takes work to do these things, a lot of work, but it is work that is worth it. So let's do it, and let's do it together. Thanks for joining us.

What an incredible conversation. I hope you found it as valuable as I did, so tune in next Wednesday for another amazing makers conversation about how we can all contribute to making progress in the workplace. You're listening to Seneca's Conversations on Power and Purpose, brought to you by the Seneca Women podcast Network and I Heart Radio with support from founding partner PNG. Listen to Seneca's Conversations on power and Purpose on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. For more information on Seneca Women, follow us on social media or visit our website at Seneca Women dot com.