0:00:00.800,0:00:08.000
a black executive perspective look man
they didn't get a chance to play chess
0:00:08.000,0:00:14.160
they had to play Checker Let's talk about it
t openly and honestly there was a lot of smart
0:00:14.160,0:00:20.040
kids there they black executive perspective
now my story is not unique there's thousands
0:00:20.040,0:00:27.120
of Professionals of color who have experiences
like mine a black executive perspective whether
0:00:27.120,0:00:31.160
you're aware of it or not it's a topic that
is often avoided we'll discuss race and how
0:00:31.160,0:00:39.160
it plays a factor and how we didn't even talk
about this topic cuz we were afraid a black
0:00:39.160,0:00:46.680
executive perspective today diversity equity
and inclusion de and programs are widespread
0:00:46.680,0:00:51.960
in Corporate America but there's a problem
they're often ineffective at creating better
0:00:51.960,0:00:58.280
environments for employees these programs allow
companies to check the dni box but they fail at
0:00:58.280,0:01:03.360
their most basic objective of changing changing
people's mindsets to be more inclusive why is it
0:01:03.360,0:01:09.000
so hard to implement effective Dei programs
more importantly what needs to change to
0:01:09.000,0:01:15.200
create more inclusive workplaces in today's
episode the black square is De working we
0:01:15.200,0:01:22.160
will discuss these areas as well as the history
the goal challenges the push back and possible
0:01:22.160,0:01:31.960
solutions welcome to a black executive perspective
podcast the space where we discuss all matters
0:01:31.960,0:01:38.040
related to race especially race in Corporate
America I'm your host Tony tidbit and I've
0:01:38.040,0:01:44.040
been in Corporate America for about 35 years so
I'm ready to sit down break down these barriers
0:01:44.040,0:01:51.800
and address the topic of race in the workplace in
this episode we will dive deep into the concept
0:01:51.800,0:01:59.440
of Dei and the evolving Dei departments within
companies in 2020 hundreds of companies posted
0:01:59.440,0:02:05.040
black Square on their social media feeds
to show their support for the injustices
0:02:05.040,0:02:12.480
the black community faced and made pledges to be
more inclusive although Dei departments exist are
0:02:12.480,0:02:21.000
companies truly implementing change has changed
truly emerged since 2020 Our Guest today lesie
0:02:21.000,0:02:28.120
drish vice president director of diversity Equity
inclusion at Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago
0:02:28.120,0:02:35.760
will help us examine the history of Dei why it's
needed and is it still working so let me give you
0:02:35.760,0:02:41.760
tell you a little bit about lesie as VP director
of diversity equity and inclusion for federal
0:02:41.760,0:02:48.720
Home Loan Bank of Chicago lesie implements and
monitors programs that Advance diversity inclusion
0:02:48.720,0:02:54.320
journey within the bank she is responsible
for strategically supporting leadership on
0:02:54.320,0:03:02.760
Dei focusing on Innovative engaging and Cutting
Edge initiatives that D drive Dei deeper into the
0:03:02.760,0:03:10.400
bank's organizational culture lesie has over 25
years experience developing Innovative diversity
0:03:10.400,0:03:18.600
volunteer and educational programs with proven
ability to drive performance program Improvement
0:03:18.600,0:03:25.680
quality initiatives and quantifiable results
she has been recognized for community outreach
0:03:25.680,0:03:34.240
and development of programs that engage support
organiz AAL Mission Vision and strategy in 2019
0:03:34.240,0:03:40.320
lesie was named as a Chicago Defender woman
of Excellence she is currently serves as a
0:03:40.320,0:03:47.400
board of gads Hill Center and is a mentor for the
National Association of African-Americans in Human
0:03:47.400,0:03:55.640
Resources prior to joining fhlbc lesie was the
inclusion and diversity manager for Tyson Foods
0:03:55.640,0:04:02.720
she was manager of diversity inclusion at the
YMCA of America and the director of education at
0:04:02.720,0:04:10.360
Chicago Urban League in addition she was educator
at Morgan Park High School in Chicago Illinois I
0:04:10.360,0:04:17.560
love that lesie earned her master's educational
leadership from National Lewis University a master
0:04:17.560,0:04:24.040
of public educa administration from University
of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in
0:04:24.040,0:04:32.840
education from the Paul University lesie Welcome
to a black executive perspective podcast thank you
0:04:32.840,0:04:38.760
so much Tony I appreciate it I mean you're very
accomplished so you know we're blessed to have
0:04:38.760,0:04:44.560
you and especially when it comes to this topic
because obviously this is a you know especially
0:04:44.560,0:04:50.480
over the last three years this has been a huge
thing there's a lot of things going on positively
0:04:50.480,0:04:57.560
negatively so we definitely W to you know uh get
your expert opinion what's going on I have some
0:04:57.560,0:05:03.840
questions for you our audience is obviously they
all work in Corporate America their companies are
0:05:03.840,0:05:09.520
having Dei initiatives so it'll be good to hear
from you you know how everything is going and your
0:05:09.520,0:05:15.920
thoughts in terms of taking it to the next level
and then what Solutions you see in terms of making
0:05:15.920,0:05:22.760
Dei very uh uh efficient and more importantly here
to stay but before we go to that we love to hear a
0:05:22.760,0:05:29.080
little bit of your background tell us a little bit
about you well um so I am born and raised Chicago
0:05:29.080,0:05:34.520
Illinois and so you mentioned that I taught high
school at Morgan Park High School and I'll be
0:05:34.520,0:05:41.080
honest I graduated from that school four years
prior and I walked right back in as a teacher so
0:05:41.080,0:05:48.960
I love it so I I I truly believe that in community
I believe in um serving and working with children
0:05:48.960,0:05:55.400
and providing opportunities for them I uh did
that for a number of years but then I went to
0:05:55.400,0:06:00.600
go work for the Urban League and it's really
interesting because I started at as a volunteer
0:06:00.600,0:06:05.840
for the Chicago Urban League and I became a
part of their young professionals auxiliary
0:06:05.840,0:06:12.080
and so that ke helped me hone my leadership skills
and it really got me connected into what Corporate
0:06:12.080,0:06:19.200
America was doing in Chicago specifically because
I was able to have a much better understanding of
0:06:19.200,0:06:23.840
um the black experience in Corporate America what
Young professionals were experiencing in Corporate
0:06:23.840,0:06:29.520
America and so I went after I volunteered I went
to go work for the Urban League for several years
0:06:29.520,0:06:35.760
years as their director of education so my job
was primarily to expose young people to Corporate
0:06:35.760,0:06:42.160
America and help them understand the pathway to
get from where they are or where they were into
0:06:42.160,0:06:48.720
the sea suite and so we partnered with several um
companies in the Chicago land area I was able to
0:06:48.720,0:06:53.640
work with a number of young people and they're now
working at Luke Capital they're doing all kinds
0:06:53.640,0:06:58.960
of great things um they were working for John
Rogers here in Chicago so that's been great and
0:06:58.960,0:07:05.920
from there I went over to the Y and um I really
that's when I kind of shifted away from just the
0:07:05.920,0:07:12.200
black experience but more into diversity equity
and inclusion so in that role I traveled from
0:07:12.200,0:07:19.000
Maine to Hawaii and I helped wise all across the
country um think about their Dei strategies and
0:07:19.000,0:07:25.720
what they could do to incorporate um diversity
equity and inclusion into their YMCAs so I made
0:07:25.720,0:07:30.320
that transition into Corporate America and so
now I work for a bank but if you had told my
0:07:30.320,0:07:34.960
high school self that I would be working at a bank
I would have looked at you like you had five heads
0:07:34.960,0:07:41.480
because I thought I was going to be a teacher
for life so well listen number one uh I love
0:07:41.480,0:07:48.280
that background I love you know how you know your
your journey has taking you into different things
0:07:48.280,0:07:54.640
different areas and then more importantly um how
you have helped so many people so I hear you when
0:07:54.640,0:08:00.160
you said hey you thought you would just still be
you know a Chicago teacher but more importantly
0:08:00.160,0:08:05.320
I'm glad you're not because you've really touched
a lot of lives in terms of what you've been able
0:08:05.320,0:08:11.640
to do and then I I I I and we'll talk we'll dive
into it a little bit in terms of when we when we
0:08:11.640,0:08:17.800
uh get into the uh discussion but you know for you
to to work at an organization and then be able to
0:08:17.800,0:08:23.480
get a a view of the African-American experience
and want to be able to to to understand and help
0:08:23.480,0:08:28.080
it that is awesome and that's one of the things
that we definitely want to dive into today to get
0:08:28.080,0:08:35.240
more people to to uh you know uh break through the
Clutter I should say and and be able to see some
0:08:35.240,0:08:40.560
of the things that people of color go through
but before we go to that you seem like a very
0:08:40.560,0:08:45.920
talented individual okay you you like multiple
Talent so I'm gonna this is one of this is our
0:08:45.920,0:08:54.000
Icebreaker session okay so I'm gonna ask you this
question all right what superpower you wish you
0:08:54.000,0:09:06.880
had I would suppose the superpower I would want
to have is to be able to read people's minds um
0:09:06.880,0:09:13.840
working in the Dei space A lot of times people
don't necessarily feel comfortable sharing their
0:09:13.840,0:09:19.960
true opinions because they how they are how they
think they might be perceived and so right but
0:09:19.960,0:09:24.760
really until you can understand what people are
thinking and why they're thinking that and what
0:09:24.760,0:09:31.840
experiences that they've had um you really can't
move the need and so being able to read people's
0:09:31.840,0:09:38.720
minds is definitely something I would I would
cherish I would you listen so I got to share this
0:09:38.720,0:09:44.280
with you somebody asked me that question years ago
I said the exact same thing I would love because
0:09:44.280,0:09:50.240
I'm a deep thinker and I would love to and I
like to you know relate to people and and be
0:09:50.240,0:09:54.880
very empathetic and see their points of view and
stuff and so I said I would love to read people's
0:09:54.880,0:09:59.680
mind then I thought about it it's like could
I handle what they think what they're thinking
0:09:59.680,0:10:07.880
about and I don't think I could so you know you
probably can but I don't think I could but thanks
0:10:07.880,0:10:13.600
for sharing that with you so um who are your
favorite people that you follow in business if
0:10:13.600,0:10:27.400
you have any so I really enjoy following David
Casey um to be the um Chief diversity officer
0:10:27.400,0:10:35.040
for CVS health now he's doing some other things
but he had I had the opportunity to meet him um
0:10:35.040,0:10:41.760
a few years ago and how he was talking about Dei
and especially with and as I'm sure we'll talk
0:10:41.760,0:10:49.200
about later with social media and how CBS Health
was really experiencing understanding communities
0:10:49.200,0:10:55.480
through um social media and understanding
challenges in different communities um was
0:10:55.480,0:11:01.920
really a thoughtful perspective so he's definitely
someone that I watch all the time awesome you know
0:11:01.920,0:11:07.000
what I'm going to look him up because he sounds
somebody you know um very intriguing and seems
0:11:07.000,0:11:11.480
like he's got his foot on the pulse of what's
going on from a Dei standpoint and then the
0:11:11.480,0:11:20.160
last question who had the most influence in your
life I would say my father um honestly my father
0:11:20.160,0:11:28.400
um is black well was black um but he grew up
he was born in 1930 and um he uh his parents
0:11:28.400,0:11:34.840
both passed when he was very young and so um he
raised himself from the time he was 12 years old
0:11:34.840,0:11:46.240
in Chicago and he really just exemplified what a
true um generous soul is and what and he always
0:11:46.240,0:11:53.320
taught me um it's very important to teach people
who don't know any better so he went through a lot
0:11:53.320,0:12:01.000
of experiences in his life and because of the way
I look um people have said strange things to me um
0:12:01.000,0:12:08.800
not knowing that I'm um black and and so um I have
always taken that advice that he gave me to teach
0:12:08.800,0:12:14.080
people who don't know any better and help them
um on their Journey so that's that's something
0:12:14.080,0:12:20.760
that kind of followed me into my career and that's
probably why I'm in Dei right now that is awesome
0:12:20.760,0:12:25.160
that is awesome thank you for sharing that is
great and yeah I'm pretty sure he's very proud
0:12:25.160,0:12:33.880
of you as well yeah so you ready to talk about it
I am I'm always ready to talk about Dei all right
0:12:33.880,0:12:39.200
let's talk about it let's talk about it always
what we try to do here on a black executive pers
0:12:39.200,0:12:45.080
perspective podcast obviously we talk about a lot
of topics but we W to you know first start off to
0:12:45.080,0:12:52.240
make it real simple so my first question is give
us some historical background when did Dei start
0:12:52.240,0:12:57.960
you know when did it start taking off you know
because a lot of times people think to be fair
0:12:57.960,0:13:05.400
Dei started in 2020 okay after George Floyd right
because that's when most people heard about Dei
0:13:05.400,0:13:11.600
but give us a little background sure so I would
say you know with the Civil Rights Movement um
0:13:11.600,0:13:19.240
Dei really started then because that's when a lot
of legislation was passed that really impacted
0:13:19.240,0:13:26.120
people in the workplace so we had the Equal Pay
Act of 1963 you have the title 7 uh Civil Rights
0:13:26.120,0:13:35.400
Act of 1964 you have the um Employment Act of
1967 where people um who were over 40 couldn't
0:13:35.400,0:13:41.200
get discriminated against in the workplace so
it wasn't even then even though it's a part of
0:13:41.200,0:13:46.800
the Civil Rights Movement it still was looking at
women it was still talking and taking into account
0:13:46.800,0:13:53.120
all of those other dimensions of diversity that
aren't really um thought about so from there you
0:13:53.120,0:13:58.160
know that's kind of when or a company started
saying okay well we need to start doing some
0:13:58.160,0:14:04.600
things to to put some practices into place to make
sure that we are obeying the law essentially but
0:14:04.600,0:14:10.360
then in the 80s you had kind of a shift and then
there were more women coming into the workplace
0:14:10.360,0:14:15.720
you also had a lot more um people of color coming
into the workplace so in the 80s that's when a
0:14:15.720,0:14:22.200
lot of those employee resource groups started
to take place and employee resource groups are
0:14:22.200,0:14:28.480
just generally groups of individuals that share
a common dimension of diversity where they talk
0:14:28.480,0:14:33.440
about their experience in the workplace they work
with their companies to help them think through
0:14:33.440,0:14:40.160
how they could recruit better and how they could
make things more um uh equal for people in their
0:14:40.160,0:14:48.440
workplace so those that launched in the 19 um 80s
then in the 1990s that's when companies started to
0:14:48.440,0:14:55.960
say hey wait a second um there's a huge Market out
there for different um people and we can't just
0:14:55.960,0:15:01.240
Market to white people we have to be a lot more
cognizant of you know what we're selling who we're
0:15:01.240,0:15:05.560
selling to why we're selling these products how
they're going to benefit these other communities
0:15:05.560,0:15:12.880
and so in the 90s that was that shift I would
say into really thinking about Multicultural
0:15:12.880,0:15:19.800
um Market development and then you know we have
all these things happening so like in 1993 you
0:15:19.800,0:15:25.760
have the Family Medical Leave Act happening um
and that allows people to now take unpaid leave
0:15:25.760,0:15:31.600
for child care but that happened in the 90s so
there are all these kind of legislative things
0:15:31.600,0:15:38.840
that are happening you know you have uh in 2020
um discrimination against lgbtq individuals is
0:15:38.840,0:15:45.960
introduced so it's been these are topics that
have been ongoing since right the early 60s so
0:15:45.960,0:15:56.320
if I'm hearing you correctly 63 64 civil rights
so we're talking 60 years ago 1980s hey we we
0:15:56.320,0:16:04.720
want to expand to more diverse people increase
the talent pool um so I I totally get that and
0:16:04.720,0:16:11.600
then obviously you know other laws disa for people
that are uh you know disabled we want to make sure
0:16:11.600,0:16:19.280
that we include them and then you know LTB lgbtq
we want to you know make sure that you know we're
0:16:19.280,0:16:24.080
including everybody under the tree and making sure
they all have an equal opportunity is that correct
0:16:24.080,0:16:29.520
correct okay so I'm gonna I'm going to throw a
couple of things at you and I want to get your
0:16:29.520,0:16:38.360
take on this okay so this is an an article from
CBS News money watch this was March of 2021 and
0:16:38.360,0:16:44.040
the headline says it could take a hundred years
for black employees to catch up in Corporate
0:16:44.040,0:16:50.040
America this study finds and the study was by
a corporate counseling firm called McKenzie all
0:16:50.040,0:16:57.720
right and what it said is is that and this was
2021 this is after George Floyd black Americans
0:16:57.720,0:17:08.000
represent s % of managers compared to 66% for
white people okay 15% for asian-americans and 8%
0:17:08.000,0:17:15.040
for Hispanics all right the percentage of black
Americans in senior roles senior vice president
0:17:15.040,0:17:24.360
you vice president senior vice president is like
3.2% and then when you get up to CEO it's .8% yeah
0:17:24.360,0:17:29.760
now one of the things I found interesting is when
I looked at this they even broke down some of the
0:17:29.760,0:17:35.080
different you know from the different groups
right women uh the percentage of women who are
0:17:35.080,0:17:44.000
CE CEOs and CFOs is the highest ever okay at in
2021 it was 6.9% of companies were led by female
0:17:44.000,0:17:54.160
CEOs and 15.1 had Fe female CFOs right it did
say the number of black CFOs nearly doubl from
0:17:54.160,0:18:01.280
2020 to 2021 which I don't know I couldn't find
that number but black CEO stayed stagnant right
0:18:01.280,0:18:11.680
six 682 companies in the study uh people of color
had uh 73 73% was 73 CFO positions which was an
0:18:11.680,0:18:17.400
all-time high at 11% so it seems like okay some
things are working here's where I wanted to get
0:18:17.400,0:18:23.040
to latinx and Hispanic people represent the
largest racial and ethnic minority group in
0:18:23.040,0:18:31.480
United States comprising of 18% of the total
population yet found only 20% 20 Latin and
0:18:31.480,0:18:40.560
Hispanic people served as chief executive officers
in 2021 down two from 20 I mean down two from 23
0:18:40.560,0:18:49.840
the year before while black people make up 133% of
the country there were only six black CEOs in 2021
0:18:49.840,0:18:57.320
however asian-americans who comprise of almost 6%
of the US population had the most representation
0:18:57.320,0:19:05.960
at the CEO level where they were 40 during 2021
and then 41 in 2020 so and obviously I'm probably
0:19:05.960,0:19:12.280
not telling you anything that you you you're not
aware of right but based on that you know and
0:19:12.280,0:19:18.480
just going backing up a little bit Dei it didn't
start fully in this whole uh premise the way it
0:19:18.480,0:19:26.600
is now in 1963 1964 but it's been around has been
evolving okay correct So based on these numbers do
0:19:26.600,0:19:33.320
you I mean is it you and again I don't know what
numbers were uh and probably was was probably uh
0:19:33.320,0:19:39.800
Neil back in the early 60s in terms of people of
color in in Corporate America at high levels but
0:19:39.800,0:19:44.480
just hearing those stats what's your thoughts
I'd love to hear your thoughts on that well I
0:19:44.480,0:19:54.080
mean you're not you're not saying anything um that
most people don't know so I'm not um but what but
0:19:54.080,0:20:00.640
what I will say is um you know you're right I mean
the challenge for people of color in um Corporate
0:20:00.640,0:20:08.480
America is is great and I would say there's some
really interesting research that came out I want
0:20:08.480,0:20:15.800
to say in 2020 2021 from um porn fairy and it
really talks about black and brown people of
0:20:15.800,0:20:24.920
color in um Corporate America and why they were so
behind and so what they found is that um people of
0:20:24.920,0:20:34.080
color have to prove themselves more than other
groups do in Corporate America absolutely so
0:20:34.080,0:20:41.880
what happens is a lot of times people of color
especially black people they have to take a lot
0:20:41.880,0:20:51.640
more risk on than other um people in their um
companies do in order to prove that they have
0:20:51.640,0:20:58.440
the capability of earning those titles so what we
what that research found is that fewer than 10% %
0:20:58.440,0:21:04.880
of black p&l leaders I mean 10% of p&l leaders
are black because a lot of times they're not
0:21:04.880,0:21:12.080
taking those profit and loss um jobs they have
more jobs that are in like um it or they're in
0:21:12.080,0:21:16.320
human resources or those types of things and
really when you want someone that's going to
0:21:16.320,0:21:23.600
be a CEO you want them in that p&l uh place
the other thing is um when black leaders take
0:21:23.600,0:21:28.880
on those roles they're a lot of times being put in
situations where they're not NE necessarily giving
0:21:28.880,0:21:37.160
the given the same support or resources in order
to be um successful and so the other thing is they
0:21:37.160,0:21:42.960
don't have that Network that's built in for them
necessarily that other their white counterparts
0:21:42.960,0:21:48.720
do and so that's what makes it so much more
challenging and then we can talk a lot about like
0:21:48.720,0:21:54.840
sponsorship you know who knows your name how they
know that you work you can talk a lot about bias
0:21:54.840,0:22:00.360
you can say you know I want someone that went to
the same school I did that had the same manager I
0:22:00.360,0:22:08.760
did so there are a number of factors besides just
doing these Dei programs that impact how and where
0:22:08.760,0:22:15.640
um black leaders get into those seite positions
so number one thank you actually you kind of I
0:22:15.640,0:22:19.280
love you because you you know those were some
of the questions I was going to get to and you
0:22:19.280,0:22:27.520
got right to it so I love it right I love it so
let me ask you this so if that's the case uh and
0:22:27.520,0:22:33.920
and and and and correct me if I'm wrong um I know
based on what you just got finished telling us Dei
0:22:33.920,0:22:40.280
you know officially started in the early 6s and
evolved but it kind of took off after the George
0:22:40.280,0:22:46.040
Floyd thing yeah where you saw like I what like in
my monologue where I said a lot of companies said
0:22:46.040,0:22:51.640
hey we're going to you know restructure stuff
we're going to make sure that our company is
0:22:51.640,0:23:00.480
inclusive we saw companies take out ads you know
on television uh you know you have companies you
0:23:00.480,0:23:05.800
know have signs in their Windows we're inclusive
we're this we're that we're this and that right
0:23:05.800,0:23:14.680
now over the last year or so we've seen a lot
of companies let their dni officer um go we've
0:23:14.680,0:23:21.560
seen a lot of companies cut back on Dei right the
numbers that I read earlier and then the the the
0:23:21.560,0:23:28.000
the stats that you just got finished articulating
in terms of the you know the issues why so if
0:23:28.000,0:23:37.800
that's the ca why are these companies not really
100% behind making a change because it seems like
0:23:37.800,0:23:42.680
they're saying what people want they think
people want to hear but when the numbers come
0:23:42.680,0:23:49.640
out we don't we see if we see any progress It's
marginal and a lot of times we see a step a step
0:23:49.640,0:23:59.000
back I have to do we have enough time for you
to answer that because you're now talking about
0:23:59.000,0:24:10.880
my job so yeah um so no I mean I will say I
will say um 2020 has been um was just a just
0:24:10.880,0:24:16.840
a reckoning there there are certain things that I
have learned just in my experience about whether
0:24:16.840,0:24:25.360
or not companies are truly invested in Dei so um
and so yeah people can take out some ads they can
0:24:25.360,0:24:31.240
say hey we're going to do this we're you know they
can hold hands and sing Kumbaya and you know say
0:24:31.240,0:24:36.400
oh this is terrible you know I mean and and and
that's that's fine because that's what's expected
0:24:36.400,0:24:43.960
of them in the moment but that doesn't necessarily
mean that that is what is taking priority for them
0:24:43.960,0:24:48.960
in those organizations so really when you're
looking at and this is what I counsel you know
0:24:48.960,0:24:53.000
I have a lot of people that reach out and they
say hey Leslie I'm interested in getting into
0:24:53.000,0:24:59.040
the Dei space and I'm like okay you have to be
very thoughtful about where you go um if you want
0:24:59.040,0:25:04.480
to be in the Dei space And so there's certain
things that you have to look for when you are
0:25:04.480,0:25:13.000
um seeing if a company is really committed to
Dei one you want to see if the leadership has
0:25:13.000,0:25:19.560
the wherewithal to talk about where they are
publicly and they are transparent with their
0:25:19.560,0:25:25.080
information and with their data because if they're
not telling you what their company looks like and
0:25:25.080,0:25:30.280
who's in their company and what they're trying to
do and that's not coming from the CEO then they'll
0:25:30.280,0:25:39.480
let you know that they're not that invested two a
lot of organizations kind of embed Dei into their
0:25:39.480,0:25:47.800
HR department and so you have to look at where the
Dei person falls so you want to find out like who
0:25:47.800,0:25:54.240
the Dei person is reporting to are they reporting
directly to the CEO are they reporting to the chro
0:25:54.240,0:26:00.400
are they reporting to someone who reports to the
chro so those are all things that are very telling
0:26:00.400,0:26:07.360
about how committed a company is to Dei um in
my organization one of the reasons I joined was
0:26:07.360,0:26:13.680
because I had a conversation with my CEO at the
time and he was very clear about where he stood
0:26:13.680,0:26:18.480
with Dei and he gave me some specific examples
the other thing that really intrigued me about
0:26:18.480,0:26:23.560
my particular bank is that we have a separate
office of diversity equity and inclusion and
0:26:23.560,0:26:31.280
my I report into the chief diversity officer who
reports into the CDO but my entire job is not HR
0:26:31.280,0:26:36.720
it's a separate from HR but then I also get
involved in things like we do a lot of work
0:26:36.720,0:26:41.440
with our members we're a cooperative bank so we do
things for members so I do a lot of Education of
0:26:41.440,0:26:48.360
our members but we also do a lot of work around
Supplier Diversity so if a company is truly
0:26:48.360,0:26:55.920
committed to Dei it's not just an HR involvement
but it's across the company and then lastly you
0:26:55.920,0:27:03.040
want to look at what resources um those companies
are putting into Dei are they putting in money to
0:27:03.040,0:27:09.920
you know put those ads out or are they putting in
money to um put people into leadership development
0:27:09.920,0:27:16.320
programs are they supporting pipeline programs
are they supporting training programs for their
0:27:16.320,0:27:21.760
employees and so you want to take a broad look
at what is that com what's important for that
0:27:21.760,0:27:26.920
company and I will say a lot of companies they
don't you know it's it's smoking mirrors you
0:27:26.920,0:27:32.520
know right so when I saw you know during 2020 you
know all of a sudden everybody was was jumping on
0:27:32.520,0:27:37.400
this bandwagon but you really have to go a
lot deeper into companies to see where they
0:27:37.400,0:27:44.240
are around Dei got it got it this you know number
one thank you for that you know one of the things
0:27:44.240,0:27:51.200
I struggle with you know and and maybe I drank
the Kool-Aid in 2020 um thinking that we finally
0:27:51.200,0:27:57.320
was gonna see a reckoning um and everybody was
saying the same thing but I want to back up to
0:27:57.320,0:28:05.360
what you said a minute ago about a company being
100% committed because what I've seen at a lot of
0:28:05.360,0:28:11.520
company they're not they yes they'll hire they'll
hire a chief diversity officer but not everybody
0:28:11.520,0:28:18.080
within the leadership uh uh uh uh Suite is on
the same page corre right and when you don't
0:28:18.080,0:28:24.280
have everybody on the same page then eventually
it falls by the wayside and then you know the
0:28:24.280,0:28:32.440
Dei person or that group is is frustrated yeah
because they're trying to make change that's why
0:28:32.440,0:28:40.520
they're there but they can't get the Buy in all
right now I want to Pivot to this most company
0:28:40.520,0:28:48.240
not most all companies care about one thing
Revenue okay they care about the bottom line
0:28:48.240,0:28:52.720
and I've seen you know stuff and we're g to talk
about it I've seen stuff that says hey having a
0:28:52.720,0:29:00.480
more diverse organization having people who brings
different perspectives different thoughts can help
0:29:00.480,0:29:08.120
Drive business outcomes better if it was just
a linear organization can you because to me I
0:29:08.120,0:29:15.600
think and again you tell me but I always thought
that would be the key if you could show a company
0:29:15.600,0:29:21.680
that they're going to drive more Revenue by being
more inclusive they should jump on board you know
0:29:21.680,0:29:29.280
both feed on so what's your thoughts on that I
mean in theory yes but the the the the challenge
0:29:29.280,0:29:36.520
with being um inclusive is that it's hard it
is um it takes a lot of time it takes a lot
0:29:36.520,0:29:44.200
of conflict resolution it takes a lot of empathy
and um companies in my experience time is money
0:29:44.200,0:29:50.520
and so they um are looking to Dev develop and do
things very quickly so they can drive you know
0:29:50.520,0:29:58.440
Drive sales and right but when you're really
being an inclusive organization you have to do
0:29:58.440,0:30:05.760
a lot more work to get to that spot where people
feel comfortable sharing their ideas and sharing
0:30:05.760,0:30:10.920
their thoughts and sharing those perspectives
so a lot of times you know companies will say
0:30:10.920,0:30:15.320
okay we're going to bring some people in and
we're going to hire all these people but then
0:30:15.320,0:30:20.560
they're not doing the work to get people to stay
and they're not getting they're not doing the work
0:30:20.560,0:30:26.240
to educate people on how different cultures or
different communities communicate how they view
0:30:26.240,0:30:32.480
the world how perspectives kind of see things
and so because everyone's kind of looking for
0:30:32.480,0:30:39.880
that quick fix and inclusion is not a quick fix it
just isn't and it comes with a lot of time effort
0:30:39.880,0:30:49.000
and empathy that a lot of companies they're not
necessarily willing to to give So based on that
0:30:49.000,0:30:55.040
you know for my audience and for any person that
works in Corporate America and for anybody who
0:30:55.040,0:31:02.520
has a Dei organization how is it being measured
How would how would the average person who works
0:31:02.520,0:31:09.680
who's an entry level a mid manager know that
their Dei program is working um really it's
0:31:09.680,0:31:16.720
about um the attrition rates um who's who's
staying and who's um going it's also looking
0:31:16.720,0:31:24.160
at who's being promoted and um who's not being
promoted so those are very key tangible types
0:31:24.160,0:31:31.080
of things that tell you that they're doing work um
at my company we do a lot of work around Supplier
0:31:31.080,0:31:38.120
Diversity um so we measure how we are on boarding
venders how we're supporting diverse businesses
0:31:38.120,0:31:44.720
so for example what we did um we have a very
thoughtful Supplier Diversity Program and in
0:31:44.720,0:31:51.240
Chicago during the pandemic ironically we moved
offices and so we built a brand new office and
0:31:51.240,0:31:58.360
what my company said they they said okay we're
GNA have 50% of the vendors that are associated
0:31:58.360,0:32:03.280
with our move and that construction project
are going to be diverse vendors and so they
0:32:03.280,0:32:09.720
were thoughtful they did a lot of research they
did a lot of um relationship building and so as
0:32:09.720,0:32:17.080
a result of that 81% of our vendors that were
associated with our um office move were diverse
0:32:17.080,0:32:23.800
vendors so it's really about looking at where
your organization is and what it is that you're
0:32:23.800,0:32:28.600
kind of going to work at and how you're going
to improve those things because that's another
0:32:28.600,0:32:33.760
thing that a lot of Dei um programs do they kind
of boil the ocean they say okay we want to do this
0:32:33.760,0:32:38.160
we want to do that we want to do everything and
and you can't and and you have to be thoughtful
0:32:38.160,0:32:42.520
and you have to look at Dei as a business and
you have to say okay these are some goals this
0:32:42.520,0:32:47.400
is what I want to have this is where we are this
is where I'm trying to be and then actively work
0:32:47.400,0:32:52.960
and create initiatives that are going to get you
there that is outstanding and and and I just want
0:32:52.960,0:32:56.000
to back up a little bit because I want to make
sure everybody's on the same page with what you
0:32:56.000,0:33:04.120
said right so first your company is 100% committed
to Dei now let's be clear a lot of companies say
0:33:04.120,0:33:12.480
that but here's the to my question the employees
can see that you're 100% committed because you
0:33:12.480,0:33:18.720
said we're g 50% of our vendors are going to be
people of col people can see that so they can
0:33:18.720,0:33:25.240
see that you're actually doing what you're said
you're going to do which I would imagine when you
0:33:25.240,0:33:31.160
talked about that one of the measure measuring
sticks was attrition I would imagine when people
0:33:31.160,0:33:36.720
see that the company is actually 100% committed
and then they can see some of the results they're
0:33:36.720,0:33:43.880
probably staying at your organization as well is
that correct correct yes exactly exactly we know
0:33:43.880,0:33:51.040
that a lot of companies have Dei organ uh Dei
departments we know they still struggle to be
0:33:51.040,0:33:57.320
able to to be effective because most of them
are not 100% committed most of them to your
0:33:57.320,0:34:02.080
point of looking at the short putt so you know
hey we gota you know we gotta drive Revenue now
0:34:02.080,0:34:08.320
they're not looking at the whole 18 whole whole
course right the question I have is then why is
0:34:08.320,0:34:18.560
Dei under attack because out in the media sphere
right you have everybody calling their woke or
0:34:18.560,0:34:25.360
you know they uh I'm GNA lose my job or you know
there you know uh uh um these diverse we don't
0:34:25.360,0:34:32.120
want diversity and incl usion you know people are
having uh political campaigns not talking about
0:34:32.120,0:34:36.800
you know we're going to save you from foreign
enemies or we're going to make the economy better
0:34:36.800,0:34:43.160
or you know we're gonna build out infrastructure
it's woke it's we don't want diversity inclusion
0:34:43.160,0:34:51.400
so if it ain't working the way it's supposed
to but why are people attacking it you
0:34:51.400,0:34:56.880
know so I don't know if we
have enough time to go into
0:34:59.520,0:35:11.400
I mean you know people don't like it when their
environment is changing and they like things
0:35:11.400,0:35:19.240
to stay the way they are and our country is is
Shifting and is changing and um and people are
0:35:19.240,0:35:27.800
nervous so we KN you know I mean statistics say
that you know by 2050 it's exact majority minority
0:35:27.800,0:35:34.520
count you know blah you know all these things
so so for so for people that this is Shifting
0:35:34.520,0:35:41.240
for that is very um it's a challenge for them
because they don't know how to do that and so
0:35:41.240,0:35:47.160
and that's part of what's making and this is just
my opinion making our country just so polarized
0:35:47.160,0:35:55.000
is the fact that people aren't willing to give
up what they think they have and um oh can you
0:35:55.000,0:36:00.000
just back hold it for one second so you I just
want to you said people are not willing to give
0:36:00.000,0:36:07.320
up what they think they have what did you mean
by that I mean that there's a book and I can't
0:36:07.320,0:36:13.200
remember who wrote it but it's called the sum of
all fears and basically what that book talks about
0:36:13.200,0:36:18.680
are all of these proposals that could have gone
through government so they're talking about like
0:36:18.680,0:36:25.160
the unions they're talking about different Housing
Programs different things that weren't necessarily
0:36:25.160,0:36:33.360
racially based but because of the context in which
it was framed for people by certain people that
0:36:33.360,0:36:39.160
they were um talking about how they were going
to lose something if this legislation went went
0:36:39.160,0:36:46.000
through and so as a result of that you know we
have people that have been um influenced by the
0:36:46.000,0:36:52.000
media influenced by our government influenced by a
lot of different people that aren't truly educated
0:36:52.000,0:36:57.800
on what are those things that could potentially
benefit people to make things a little bit more
0:36:57.800,0:37:06.320
Equitable across the Spectrum and so I think that
um because our country it's it's so racially based
0:37:06.320,0:37:14.640
um people are so it's such a a a difficult topic
and finally um people you know especially black
0:37:14.640,0:37:20.800
people are are saying you know what this has been
going on for years and they can give very specific
0:37:20.800,0:37:26.000
tangible examples but people are just saying well
no that's not true I mean in Florida they're just
0:37:26.000,0:37:33.880
saying this slavery um benefited black people I
mean so I mean people are just kind of uh spearing
0:37:33.880,0:37:38.480
you know this kind of rhetoric around because
they're trying to make people think that they're
0:37:38.480,0:37:45.080
going to lose something if they aren't given you
know if things shift or if things change and I
0:37:45.080,0:37:52.760
think that has a lot to do and so fear-mongering
corre Zero Sum game and the strategy divide and
0:37:52.760,0:37:59.000
conquer absolutely right if we can separate them
and they fight amongst themselves we can stay in
0:37:59.000,0:38:05.520
power right right you know obviously we have a
lot of um you know white listeners to a black
0:38:05.520,0:38:12.880
executive perspective podcast and what you just
got from understanding the majority of of of that
0:38:12.880,0:38:19.360
fear the majority of the Zero Sum game I'm G to
lose out is coming from the white population what
0:38:19.360,0:38:27.400
would you say to our audience that are white
um and calm their fears that University Equity
0:38:27.400,0:38:33.200
inclusion within their organization is a good
thing and then more importantly is not to replace
0:38:33.200,0:38:42.400
them so I would love to hear your thoughts on
that yeah I mean I think that what people have to
0:38:42.400,0:38:50.120
really recognize is that as Americans and really
just for people in general in the world people
0:38:50.120,0:38:57.400
want the same thing they want to feel happy they
want their children to be successful they want to
0:38:57.400,0:39:06.120
be able to um live and work most people want to
work you know all they want everybody wants the
0:39:06.120,0:39:14.240
same things and so I think what you have to do is
people have different experiences and perspectives
0:39:14.240,0:39:21.600
and so it's really about taking that time to
listen to understand where people are coming from
0:39:21.600,0:39:28.680
and what it is that they want for themselves and
really try to find a a way way to blend the values
0:39:28.680,0:39:34.280
and the things that they want together so I think
that that's something that's extremely important
0:39:34.280,0:39:42.120
and what we found like at my bank especially and
I think this has worked pretty well is um white
0:39:42.120,0:39:48.520
people assume that they're not diverse because
a lot of times you know I'll go into a room and
0:39:48.520,0:39:55.480
they'll say I'm not diverse and I'm like uh
everybody diversity means difference it's not
0:39:55.480,0:40:00.240
you know it's not I'm black so I'm not you know
that's not what diversity is so so basically what
0:40:00.240,0:40:06.360
you're saying is they're they're thinking it from
a color standpoint corre Bas got you color or age
0:40:06.360,0:40:11.560
or you know whatever you throw that dimension in
there but but they're looking at it you know I am
0:40:11.560,0:40:17.800
not diverse and so what I always try to explain
to people is that no person is the same and that
0:40:17.800,0:40:24.760
everybody has different perspectives and different
ways of doing things and to your point earlier
0:40:24.760,0:40:30.320
that you talked about if you're willing to do that
work then you can make more money for your company
0:40:30.320,0:40:37.800
and then more opportunities will follow and so
what we've done at my at my bank is um in 2020
0:40:37.800,0:40:44.240
and I'm still doing it now is we've just created
um places for conversation so I started right
0:40:44.240,0:40:51.240
in 2020 and we were very in my opinion pretty
courageous because we did three panel discussions
0:40:51.240,0:40:56.400
um if we called them getting real about race
so the first one we had black people sharing
0:40:56.400,0:41:03.480
their feelings after George Floyd then after some
convincing um I had found four white people and
0:41:03.480,0:41:08.000
I said I want you to share what you have learned
about race and what you were taught about race and
0:41:08.000,0:41:14.280
they shared their experiences and then we did a
program for Baby Boomers and Millennials and what
0:41:14.280,0:41:19.240
they were taught about race and how that kind of
influenced their perspective and then after that
0:41:19.240,0:41:24.720
I did a lot of self small group conversations to
react to what they heard during those panels but
0:41:24.720,0:41:31.880
what we've managed to do at my company is kind
of let people tell their own diversity or their
0:41:31.880,0:41:38.160
own inclusion story and so from that people are
getting to know each other from very different
0:41:38.160,0:41:45.440
perspectives and so as a result so once I can
connect with you emotionally then it's much easier
0:41:45.440,0:41:52.680
for me to have an understanding of where you're
coming from and then that's why we can drive we're
0:41:52.680,0:41:57.840
we're having a lot of success at my company I
would say is because we're we're facilitating
0:41:57.840,0:42:05.920
these conversations where people feel safe enough
to share with each other I love it leslee I love
0:42:05.920,0:42:10.920
it I love it I love it and that's why we started
this podcast because at the end of the day for
0:42:10.920,0:42:18.080
whatever reason we don't talk about race we avoid
it like the plague and the reason we avoid it it
0:42:18.080,0:42:23.920
doesn't bring people together it further pushes
them apart but if you can get people together and
0:42:23.920,0:42:31.240
put get them in a safe space and let them talk
and let them ask questions without them being
0:42:31.240,0:42:37.600
judged or anything like that it's amazing that we
start coming together and more importantly we see
0:42:37.600,0:42:44.320
the other person's perspective right no matter
what color so that's awesome one of the things
0:42:44.320,0:42:49.520
you know and I know I'm just thinking of things
that my audience will probably want to dive into
0:42:49.520,0:42:57.640
how did as as an individual and I I've you know
I had a friend of mine tell me that um you know
0:42:57.640,0:43:03.560
his friend was going for a job and he had talked
and you had talked earlier about networking okay
0:43:03.560,0:43:10.960
and typically people hire who they already know
all right so he was going for J white guy right
0:43:10.960,0:43:16.440
uh guy said yep I like you give me a couple days
I think I'm gon bring you in right and then when
0:43:16.440,0:43:22.760
he followed up with him uh the hiring manager
said uh unfortunately man that job is filled
0:43:22.760,0:43:29.720
we had to give it to a diverse candidate right
so then this yeah see how your head goes down
0:43:29.720,0:43:37.720
and then so now this guy walks away saying that
was my job all right but they had to give it to
0:43:37.720,0:43:44.200
a diverse candidate which basically in his mind
this person wasn't qualified they only hired
0:43:44.200,0:43:49.680
them because they're black or woman or whatever
the case may be so so speak to that a little bit
0:43:49.680,0:43:55.880
because that's one of the things going back to
your some of all fears type thing right or what
0:43:55.880,0:44:01.400
you think you have right so I would love to hear
your thoughts on that because that's something
0:44:01.400,0:44:07.200
that we're seeing a lot and a lot of people I chat
with and they're frustrated because the the person
0:44:07.200,0:44:13.320
comes into the company with two hands tied behind
their back because now they're they're denoted
0:44:13.320,0:44:18.240
they're noted as a diverse not not the the the
companies not saying but the people around them
0:44:18.240,0:44:24.720
saying you only here because you're a diverse uh
hire yeah and I mean a lot of that just comes from
0:44:24.720,0:44:31.680
um education um you know everyone will always
say well we couldn't we couldn't find anybody
0:44:31.680,0:44:41.040
and um and but I you know I I know thousands of
people that have degrees and that are experienced
0:44:41.040,0:44:46.560
and that have um wonderful characteristics and
I and I I could call one you know right now or
0:44:46.560,0:44:51.640
20 right now if you needed me to but the problem
is we're not looking and and it's a a lot of it
0:44:51.640,0:44:58.400
is just the perpetuation to your point again of
like just media and how um people always talk
0:44:58.400,0:45:05.720
about these things and so rather than saying so
sometimes people are trying to make others like
0:45:05.720,0:45:11.560
them feel better and so they'll things like oh it
went to the diverse candidate so instead of saying
0:45:11.560,0:45:20.200
oh we gave it to this woman who um is from MIT
has you know this degree she she has this type of
0:45:20.200,0:45:26.000
background correct and she brings this and she's a
perfect fit for the job right so instead of I mean
0:45:26.000,0:45:33.680
so we really have to change how we are talking
about what is required for these jobs and so we're
0:45:33.680,0:45:39.480
you have to kind of shift that conversation into
like what is the experience what is it the skills
0:45:39.480,0:45:45.600
that these people are possessing and not about the
diversity and that that's the biggest challenge
0:45:45.600,0:45:51.160
but not there isn't enough education around hiring
managers because you know if we all can put our
0:45:51.160,0:45:57.920
HR hats on and say okay you know HR I'm I know
because I'm in nhr that this is how we we talk
0:45:57.920,0:46:05.960
about things but we're not educating those hiring
managers that are making those hiring and that's
0:46:05.960,0:46:14.080
really where that kind of uh is is the hiccup
there's no question and I always said you know
0:46:14.080,0:46:21.120
I I always came come back to this if you really
want to diversify your organization you will
0:46:21.120,0:46:28.120
because if you don't any excuse will do right okay
so that that's a atic you know one of the one of
0:46:28.120,0:46:35.200
the areas that I've heard uh you know my audience
probably heard when they're trying you and that's
0:46:35.200,0:46:40.240
why I want to jump into it because you spoke to
it well it's hard to find somebody we don't know
0:46:40.240,0:46:45.160
nobody and this is my opinion and and look I've
been in Corporate America for over 35 years I've
0:46:45.160,0:46:51.200
seen a lot okay I've been a hiring manager at the
end of the day to your point when you just want to
0:46:51.200,0:46:56.560
feel the job and you and you you say hey lesie I
know Lesley let's get Lesley in here here but if
0:46:56.560,0:47:02.840
you don't have a network of individuals that's
outside of the people that you know then you
0:47:02.840,0:47:08.240
say it's hard and then not only that I want this
where I want to dive into this because when you
0:47:08.240,0:47:15.000
we're talking about senior leadership I'm talking
you know SVP I'm talking seite right at the end
0:47:15.000,0:47:23.200
of the day it's always hard to find a person of
color a black person to be you know C or CFO and
0:47:23.200,0:47:31.320
and I and I get a sense and that's why I want
to hear your thoughts is the uh the process of
0:47:31.320,0:47:36.880
that of finding that individual in other words if
somebody's white and we're just looking at their
0:47:36.880,0:47:41.560
background and we're like oh who do you know and
we we vet them a little bit but if they're black
0:47:41.560,0:47:48.600
they have to be unique they have to be like an
astronaut they have to be the one one of one%
0:47:48.600,0:47:55.880
to get the job versus everybody else didn't have
to be vetted that way they're regular individuals
0:47:55.880,0:48:00.160
right and they're just and they got the and look
they probably got it because they deserve it I'm
0:48:00.160,0:48:06.040
not knocking it but when it comes to vetting
highlevel black individuals it's a it's a it's
0:48:06.040,0:48:13.920
a different vetting game let me hear your thoughts
on that yeah I mean I mean you spoke to it um it's
0:48:13.920,0:48:22.040
it's who you know and um the the challenge is
you have to work with those leaders to help them
0:48:22.040,0:48:28.080
expand their networks and so there are several
things that you can do to get people to expand
0:48:28.080,0:48:34.160
their networks if people are willing to do that
and that is part of the challenge you have to
0:48:34.160,0:48:41.560
get people willing to do that and that comes from
again conversation engagement and empathy but one
0:48:41.560,0:48:50.560
of the things like we do at our bank is so we have
ergs but and I I had a I'm we're starting a pride
0:48:50.560,0:48:58.080
ERG at the moment so okay um and My Philosophy
is every ERG has an executive sponsor and I work
0:48:58.080,0:49:02.920
with those executive sponsors and I say okay
this is what your role is and I give them their
0:49:02.920,0:49:07.840
education I say here are some articles here are
some podcasts here are some things if you are
0:49:07.840,0:49:13.600
going to be working with this ERG I need really
need you to understand this community but we want
0:49:13.600,0:49:22.760
I have a rule that if you identify with that ERG
for my executive sponsors so I can't have my black
0:49:22.760,0:49:30.520
um Executives representing our African-American
ERG are I have to have someone who's white um so
0:49:30.520,0:49:36.800
they can understand what some of those challenges
are and what people are saying on the ground to
0:49:36.800,0:49:43.600
help grow their networks and so you have to put
people into situations where if they're not going
0:49:43.600,0:49:49.760
to do it on their own you have to create those
opportunities for for you to do it for them and
0:49:49.760,0:49:57.600
so it's important to make sure that um those
SE Suite those SVP leaders have some kind of
0:49:57.600,0:50:04.560
access to different employees across all different
backgrounds so they can really start to understand
0:50:04.560,0:50:10.920
that everyone is at the company because we hired
them into the company because they brought some
0:50:10.920,0:50:18.960
value to the company and so we have to give them
the opportunity to share how they are contributing
0:50:18.960,0:50:25.160
and how they're adding value and do it in a
way that's not being judged by something that
0:50:25.160,0:50:30.920
they said or something that they did but really
um giving our senior leaders that exposure to
0:50:30.920,0:50:36.720
this is how these communities communicate this is
how they work this is how things happen in those
0:50:36.720,0:50:43.040
communities that's awesome are you guys do you
get any push back from within the organization
0:50:43.040,0:50:49.680
it seems like you guys you got a lot of good stuff
going on so I'm you know i' never seen nobody 100%
0:50:49.680,0:50:54.200
of anybody of anything be so what do you what
do you how do you deal with the push back that
0:50:54.200,0:51:00.760
happens in the organization you know I mean really
what we're trying to do so thankfully I work for
0:51:00.760,0:51:06.920
an organization that's based in community um
and so our mission is really to help communities
0:51:06.920,0:51:11.560
Thrive and so we give Capital to Community Banks
Credit Unions those types of things so they can
0:51:11.560,0:51:17.720
make home loans and they can make small business
loans in their communities and so really um what
0:51:17.720,0:51:24.560
we do whenever I get some pushback it's really
about you know do you understand what community
0:51:24.560,0:51:31.440
means and what it means in these particular areas
and so like I don't know last year I got a letter
0:51:31.440,0:51:39.480
a very long email from someone that was um very
interested in why we decided to call out juneth
0:51:39.480,0:51:46.800
um and celebrate it as a part of the company's
kind of celebratory things but we didn't do
0:51:46.800,0:51:52.600
Fourth of July and you know and the the person
was very you know upset because we didn't call
0:51:52.600,0:51:59.000
out Fourth of July and I said we've been calling
out Fourth of July for you know years but um and
0:51:59.000,0:52:04.840
we've talked about but we this is the first time
that juneth is a holiday in our country and a lot
0:52:04.840,0:52:11.600
of people don't understand what that means and so
my job is to educate you about different things
0:52:11.600,0:52:17.240
that impact different individuals that aren't
like you and so that's kind of how I keep all
0:52:17.240,0:52:24.280
of that going so wow I mean listen you know
unfortunately you're not gonna get everybody
0:52:24.280,0:52:29.160
but I love the way you yeah it's just not going to
happen but still you guys are 100% committed you
0:52:29.160,0:52:38.000
know earlier we talked about intersectionality
right and so you know you have you know we all
0:52:38.000,0:52:44.360
are not just singular individuals right you have
African-Americans that's gay you have you know
0:52:44.360,0:52:53.280
LBG you have a whole Litany of different people
but also who intersect into different things so
0:52:53.280,0:53:01.680
tell me a little bit in terms of how de the the
influence for how it's needed for Dei I mean the
0:53:01.680,0:53:07.560
importance I should say I mean intersectionality
um I mean you just said it best we we are not just
0:53:07.560,0:53:14.920
one thing you know I am a woman and I experience
things as a woman I am biracial I experiencing
0:53:14.920,0:53:24.800
things being um I'm genx and so my view of the
world keep going down the roll and but but see
0:53:24.800,0:53:29.120
and what's really interesting for me you know
especially me being biracial you know I get a
0:53:29.120,0:53:32.720
lot of people are like well what's it like to be
mixed I'm like I don't know you know what's it
0:53:32.720,0:53:40.000
like to be BL you know I don't know and so and I
can't answer you know because even my experience
0:53:40.000,0:53:47.640
as a biracial person um is very different from my
brother's experience as a biracial person you know
0:53:47.640,0:53:52.200
my brother looks different from me my brother
is a man and so how I can navigate through the
0:53:52.200,0:53:58.720
world is very different how he has to navigate
through the world and when you think about that
0:53:58.720,0:54:05.400
intersectionality um there are lots of multiple
lenses that people View and experience the world
0:54:05.400,0:54:11.480
and so you can't lump people into just one
bucket and so that's really what diversity
0:54:11.480,0:54:17.440
equity and that key word is inclusion inclusion
really talking about it's like making people
0:54:17.440,0:54:22.680
understand things from a variety of experiences
and perspectives not just putting people into a
0:54:22.680,0:54:28.480
bucket and that's what's really important that is
awesome and I love that answer because it is so
0:54:28.480,0:54:33.920
important and at the end of the day if we can all
come together and more importantly stop worrying
0:54:33.920,0:54:40.440
about you know what about me right and really
you know say hey let's what can we do together
0:54:40.440,0:54:48.080
you know our our our our our companies our country
would be going in a lot of different uh PL better
0:54:48.080,0:54:54.520
places absolutely you know a couple of weeks about
a month or two ago the Supreme Court came down and
0:54:54.520,0:55:02.880
said that you can't use race for admissions
um to for for college admissions do you think
0:55:02.880,0:55:08.520
that's gonna have any effect in terms of corporate
America from a Dei standpoint I mean I think it
0:55:08.520,0:55:14.200
already has you know I mean you had the GOP you
know they had the was it the State's Attorneys
0:55:14.200,0:55:21.640
or attorney generals sending letters um putting
people on notice and exactly had um you had the
0:55:21.640,0:55:27.080
Democrats um putting other people on notice you
know that you can't yes and so I think that you
0:55:27.080,0:55:35.920
know again it's really about you know who you are
as a company and as an organization and what it is
0:55:35.920,0:55:43.400
that your company truly values and so I think
that you know if you do um things like based
0:55:43.400,0:55:51.280
on race that makes people nervous because they're
looking at okay am I gonna be sued and so what you
0:55:51.280,0:55:58.720
have to think about is what are what am I doing
for all of my employees and what experiences am
0:55:58.720,0:56:04.360
I giving to all of my employees and what do they
need and what conversations do they have to have
0:56:04.360,0:56:12.560
because not everybody walks into a space at the
same level with the same Viewpoint and so maybe
0:56:12.560,0:56:20.280
providing employees with things that they hadn't
considered prior is the way to do that without
0:56:20.280,0:56:25.480
necessarily calling out race specifically but you
can call out different experiences you can call
0:56:25.480,0:56:33.680
out different ideas and perspectives based on um
what is happening in the world so so Bas based on
0:56:33.680,0:56:40.280
that and I hear you how do so if I'm hearing that
and you know things like they don't want to be
0:56:40.280,0:56:45.800
sued so when a company says that hey I want and go
back to what you said earlier about hey 50% of our
0:56:45.800,0:56:53.880
vendors are going to be you know diverse right
so how do you now um are are able to increase
0:56:53.880,0:56:59.760
your diversity but not you know say race or come
up with percentages in terms of what you want to
0:56:59.760,0:57:06.240
do from a from a A diversity standpoint I mean
I I think you you want to always keep in mind
0:57:06.240,0:57:12.120
your numbers and you you want to always kind of
look at like what's happening and but I do think
0:57:12.120,0:57:18.000
you know even when we were very targeted around
finding our vendors um those diverse vendors to
0:57:18.000,0:57:24.920
work on that project we didn't hire those diverse
vendors because they were black they were diverse
0:57:24.920,0:57:32.600
we hired those vendors because we intentionally we
looked for people that could give us the services
0:57:32.600,0:57:40.560
and products that we needed and they had the best
service that was available and so we went out to
0:57:40.560,0:57:46.200
find and so we didn't say okay well we're not
going to take any bids from any white company
0:57:46.200,0:57:51.520
we we didn't do that you know we took bids from
everybody but then we made decisions based on our
0:57:51.520,0:57:56.080
price points what they're what they were offering
and that's how those DEC decisions were made but
0:57:56.080,0:58:03.080
it was because we were being very thoughtful in
making sure that we had a wide array of people
0:58:03.080,0:58:10.000
that were responding and we went outside of our
networks um to find different vendors that could
0:58:10.000,0:58:15.280
compete for those bids and for those projects
that's how we were able to do it so we weren't
0:58:15.280,0:58:20.320
doing it just to say Hey you know we got to put
some black people in to build our chairs or you
0:58:20.320,0:58:24.840
know whatever we we didn't do it that way we
did it um we went through our normal process
0:58:24.840,0:58:30.520
process but then we expanded our Network to make
sure that we were finding the best vendors that
0:58:30.520,0:58:37.840
could meet our needs awesome awesome you know I
got two final questions for you it seems like you
0:58:37.840,0:58:45.400
know your bank you know number one they hired the
the right person right you you have the passion
0:58:45.400,0:58:52.400
and you you're 100% behind it you're making sure
you're trying to include everyone outside of you
0:58:52.400,0:58:58.040
know your organization what other organization
you have seen that's doing a really good job
0:58:58.040,0:59:07.960
from a diversity Equity inclusion standpoint so
I would say I mean and I am biased um the YMCA
0:59:07.960,0:59:15.680
um okay they do some great set that up before you
left I mean they do but see one of the things that
0:59:15.680,0:59:22.200
the Y does is they they take their communities
through like um there's a there's a inventory
0:59:22.200,0:59:26.840
it's called the Intercultural development in
inventory that kind of just kind of bases your
0:59:26.840,0:59:31.240
cultural awareness so they take their leaders
through that they have a lot of conversations
0:59:31.240,0:59:37.640
around race so they're very bold um I would
also say you know I always speak to um Nike
0:59:37.640,0:59:44.400
I mean honestly I mean I think that just with
how they stood behind Colin Kaepernick during
0:59:44.400,0:59:49.600
that whole I I don't I'm not a I don't follow
football yeah yeah yeah no no no I know when he
0:59:49.600,0:59:55.440
took the knee and stuff like that yeah but they
you know they said this is Who We Are are and
0:59:55.440,1:00:02.080
this is what we are about and they did not waver
from that and so I think that you know you have
1:00:02.080,1:00:11.120
to take a stand on who you are and so and for me
Nike kind of represents they have always been not
1:00:11.120,1:00:16.000
always but you know I mean in the last you know 20
years they have been very inclusive they've been
1:00:16.000,1:00:22.280
very thoughtful about how they could you know
work with different um abilities um I love they
1:00:22.280,1:00:29.520
have new shoe designs for people that you know
have you know uh Developmental and uh they're
1:00:29.520,1:00:35.440
physically um challenged and those of things and
so I mean but they're always being they're at the
1:00:35.440,1:00:41.920
Forefront of how they can be more inclusive
I would also say that hayatt um International
1:00:41.920,1:00:48.080
they do an exceptional job um Tyron stud Meer he
does some fantastic work with hayatt in terms of
1:00:48.080,1:00:52.120
thinking about their employees and thinking
about how they can grow that Pipeline and
1:00:52.120,1:00:57.920
they're very intentional about who's coming into
into the company and how they're being successful
1:00:57.920,1:01:02.760
so those are two I would watch for sure that's
awesome thank you for that feedback and then the
1:01:02.760,1:01:07.320
final thought is what do you want to leave to our
listeners today what's your final thought for our
1:01:07.320,1:01:13.920
listeners I mean my final thought is inclusion
matters it it's it's just it's important and I
1:01:13.920,1:01:20.800
will say that you know our country at the moment
is very divisive um it's very polarized but you
1:01:20.800,1:01:27.760
know knowing who you are and knowing what it's
about and how you want to serve all people and
1:01:27.760,1:01:34.840
all customers is really important and you can only
do that by bringing a variety of people together
1:01:34.840,1:01:41.640
and being intentional about being inclusive I love
it be intentional about being inclusive I love it
1:01:41.640,1:01:49.680
I love it how can a black executive perspective
podcast help you lesli you know um I appreciate
1:01:49.680,1:01:56.400
this conversation and what is what I am definitely
going to do is share this with my Executives and
1:01:56.400,1:02:02.240
I'm going to share it with um a lot of people that
are asking questions about how we can do this work
1:02:02.240,1:02:09.320
better and so um I do think that bringing in very
relevant topics and bringing in speakers and one
1:02:09.320,1:02:14.080
of the things I would love to hear more about
is the polarization that's happening and so if
1:02:14.080,1:02:19.200
you have someone coming up to talk about that
especially with these elections that are coming
1:02:19.200,1:02:26.320
that would that would be a fantastic thing for
me to learn from well guess what we do and I'm
1:02:26.320,1:02:29.920
going to circle back with you after and I'll let
you know as soon as we book the time because we
1:02:29.920,1:02:33.960
already chatted with a couple individuals we just
got to scheduled it so we'll definitely let you
1:02:33.960,1:02:40.960
on know on that you know I want to thank you for
your passion your intellect you know you you you
1:02:40.960,1:02:48.160
you bring a level of not just expertise but I'll
use your word very intentional um and at the end
1:02:48.160,1:02:54.360
of the day to make things you know there's an
old saying nothing grows in a comfort zone and
1:02:54.360,1:03:02.000
you know most people and we're all human beings
we want to be comfortable however you grow when
1:03:02.000,1:03:07.520
you're uncomfortable correct right and that's
where we need to get a lot of these organizations
1:03:07.520,1:03:13.880
to it's okay to be uncomfortable and not try to
play for the short putt but be uncomfortable so
1:03:13.880,1:03:20.880
then you can win you know the the 18 hole game
versus the first two holes so you helped us with
1:03:20.880,1:03:26.720
that today you gave us a lot to think uh things
to think about so my tidbit for the day is this
1:03:26.720,1:03:34.840
and is by Allan Joyce we have a very diverse
environment and a very inclusive culture and
1:03:34.840,1:03:41.880
those characteristics got us through the tough
times diversity generates better strategy better
1:03:41.880,1:03:50.400
risk management better debates debates and better
outcomes and that's by Allan enjoice so hopefully
1:03:50.400,1:03:57.160
you enjoy today's uh session is DUI working love
as I said love to to hear your feedback give us
1:03:57.160,1:04:05.600
feedback and for my guest Leslie I'm Tony tidbit
we're out thank you for tuning in to this episode
1:04:05.600,1:04:12.840
of Tony tidbit a black executive perspective
and for joining in today's conversation with
1:04:12.840,1:04:20.000
every story We Share every conversation we Foster
and every barrier we address we can ignite the
1:04:20.000,1:04:26.520
Sparks that bring about lasting change and this
carries us one step closer to transforming the
1:04:26.520,1:04:32.240
face of corporate America if today's episode
resonated with you consider subscribing and
1:04:32.240,1:04:39.800
leaving us a rating or review on Apple podcast
Spotify or wherever you get your podcast share
1:04:39.800,1:04:45.040
this episode with your circle and with your
support we can reach more people and tell more
1:04:45.040,1:04:48.520
stories