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Allyship in Action
Allyship in Action episodes
- 189: Deepa Purushothaman - Why Focusing on Women of Color WIll Accelerate Your Diversity Efforts
Deepa is a former senior executive and a corporate inclusion visionary. She challenges and redefines the status quo of leadership, success, and power by centering on the needs and experiences of Women of Color. Deepa's book, "The First, The Few, The Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America", was published in March 2022 to international acclaim. She shares:
- The unique experiences of women of color and the "jobs outside of the job"
- How to be a better ally for women of color through individual and systemic change
- How to create space to better engage women of color and debunk the "myth of meritocracy"
Connect with Deepa at https://www.deepapuru.com and Julie at Nextpivotpoint.com
34 min - 188: Luis Malbas - The Importance of Reflecting as an Ally
Luis Malbas is on a mission to change the world through digital media, community, and education. With a background in technology, marketing, and media, he has been working in Learning and Development for nearly twenty years. He founded The Training, Learning, and Development Community in 2016, working to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity in L&D. He joins us to share:
- Ideas to ensure your learning programs are inclusive
- Personal reflections for allies to learn from
- Why where you put your money matters as an ally
Connect with Luis at www.thetldc.com and with Julie at Nextpivotpoint.com
32 min - 187: FIRST - Chris Moore and Janell Catlin on How to Create Equity in STEM Education
Chris Moore is the CEO of FIRST, a global nonprofit community that empowers students to become science and technology leaders. Janell Catlin is the Senior Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at FIRST and has nearly 20 years of experience as a global STEM education researcher. They join us to share:
- Why equity comes before diversity and inclusion
- How to be an ally, not a savior for underrepresented youth
- What organizations are doing to diversify talent earlier in their pipelines
Learn more at https://www.firstinspires.org/ and about Julie at Nextpivotpoint.com
34 min - 186: Rob Arndt - Why Veterans Need to be a Part of Your Diversity Strategy
Rob Arndt is the CEO & Founder of BufferSprings, a veteran-owned training & consulting firm that builds customized military veteran recruitment, engagement, and retention programs for smart companies. He joins us to share:
- The vital difference between military friendly vs. military effective with a proven 5-step process MT BEN
- The benefits of diversifying with more veterans
- What biases do veterans face and how to overcome them as an organization
Connect with Rob at Buffersprings.com and Julie at Nextpivotpoint.com
37 min - 185: Kathryn Valentine - How to Negotiate Effectively
Kathryn is the Founder of Worthmore Strategies, a consulting firm focused on achieving gender parity in the workplace by empowering women to ask for what they need to thrive in their careers. She joins us to share:
- How to manage gender bias in negotiation
- Why negotiation is beyond compensation
- Proven academic research to support effective negotiation
Connect with Kathryn at worthmorenegotiations.com and Julie at Nextpivotpoint.com
32 min - 184: Jackie Ferguson - Inclusive Language Do's & Don'ts
Jackie Ferguson is co-founder and Head of Content and Programming for The Diversity Movement, an organization that creates stronger business outcomes through strengthening culture and belonging. Jackie is a certified diversity executive, national speaker, author of the book, The Inclusive Language Handbook, and the host of the top-rated diversity podcast, "Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox."
Together, we discuss:
- What words to say and not say to signal you want to be an ally
- Why DEI is important in an economic downturn and how it affects the C-suite
- How to embed DEI into your organization as a leader
Follow Jackie at the thediversitymovement.com and Julie at Nextpivotpoint.com
33 min - 183: Farzana Nayani - Employee Resource Groups Best Practices
Farzana Nayani is a recognized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion specialist, business and strategy coach, and international keynote speaker. She joins us to share:
- How to successfully start and manage ERGs
- Types of ERGs and how to measure success
- Why it is important to expand ERGs externally
Connect with Farzana at https://www.farzananayani.com/ and Julie at Nextpivotpoint.com
27 min - 182: Ezanne Swanepoel - How to Facilitate Deeper Connections at Work
Ezanne Swanepoel is the leading empowerment and relationship expert, helping people strip the blockages and filters that prevent them from unlocking their path to prosperity, fulfillment, and contribution; while making a meaningful impact in life through and with other people. She published the book Connected Rainmaker – Lead with Giving and speaks 6 languages. Growing up in Africa taught her how to champion diversity and inclusion. She shares ideas on:
- Leading from a place of giving
- Putting the mask down and being vulnerable
- Establishing an ego-free zone
- How to be a global citizen
Follow Ezanne at connectedrainmaker.com and Julie at Nextpivotpoint.com
34 min - 181: Dora Lutz - The Aspirational Business Model
Did you know that companies with inclusive workplace cultures consistently outperform the market, have higher gross margins and gross revenues, and command higher stock prices? Join Dora Lutz and Julie Kratz in their live LinkedIn Audio program to discuss some practical tips to build a sustainable ESG model and the intersection with DEI.
Connect with Dora at: https://www.aspirationalbusiness.com/ and Julie at www.nextpivotpoint.com .
30 min - 180: Inspiration with Julie Kratz
Inspiring others to be allies is the fun part of the journey. This season the Diversity Pivot Podcast is focused on real-life application of allyship in the workplace. Join Julie as she unpacks a key strategy from her new book Allyship in Action: 10 Practices to Live Inclusively.
Connect with Julie at www.nextpivotpoint.com.
8 min
About Allyship in Action
From the publisher's feed
I left Corporate America because the workplace culture sucked.
That realization was my personal pivot point, and it's the entire driving force behind my podcast, Allyship in Action.
Inclusive workplace culture doesn't happen by accident. It is built through intentional, consistent choices. In every episode of Allyship in Action, my goal is simple. My goal is to cut through the noise, skip the performative shiny stuff, and deliver real, practical tools that turn good intentions into sustainable workplace culture change.
Here is the core summary of what Allyship in Action is all about, and how all leaders can be better allies.
From Performative Statements to Everyday Practice
We've all seen standard corporate declarations like posting a statement on social media or making a grand pledge. While public support isn't inherently bad, true allyship begins when the cameras are off. Allyship isn't a badge you wear or a title you give yourself. Allyship is a verb. It requires continuous learning, unlearning, and showing up even when things get messy or uncomfortable.
In our conversations with workplace culture experts, we repeatedly unpack how real allies move from passive empathy to proactive intervention. That means noticing who gets interrupted in meetings, recognizing whose ideas are credited, and ensuring that opportunities are distributed equitably across the entire team.
Rewiring Workplace Culture for True Inclusion
A healthy workplace culture isn't created by ping-pong tables or free snacks. Inclusive workplace cultures are built on psychological safety, fairness, and trust. For genuine inclusion to take root, organizations must audit the subtle systems that drive daily behavior. How are your meetings structured? How are performance reviews conducted? Who holds the informal power, and how is feedback delivered?
On the podcast, we showcase practical tactics—like rotating an Inclusion Booster role during weekly staff meetings to monitor airtime and ensure introverted or underrepresented voices are heard. When you design everyday workflows with inclusion in mind, you stop relying on heroic individual acts and start embedding equity into the DNA of your organization.
Protecting the Pipeline and How Inclusion Drives Talent Retention
There is both a deep human case and a rock-solid business case for DEI. In today's shifting marketplace, talent retention is one of the single biggest operational challenges leaders face. High performers, especially women, racially diverse team members, neurodivergent colleagues, and Gen Z workers, simply will not stay where they have to mask their true selves or fight uphill against systemic microaggressions.
When employees feel seen, heard, and valued for their unique lived experiences, engagement skyrockets, innovation thrives, and turnover drops. Protecting your talent pipeline isn't about complex retention gimmicks; it's about fostering an environment where people know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they belong.
Engaging People with Power
One of our biggest research insights is that inclusion work stalls when it remains isolated in ERGs or HR departments. Without people in positions of power actively engaged as allies, systemic progress hits a ceiling. Powerful leaders often stay on the sidelines out of a fear of making a mistake or saying the wrong thing.
Allyship in Action serves as a compassionate, pushback-proof invitation for leaders to step up. Allyship isn't about having all the answers or acting like a superhero. It's about having the humility to say, "I don't know, but I'm here to listen, learn, and leverage my influence to help."
Allyship is a Continuous Journey
Allyship is progress over perfection. It's a practice. We are all works in progress. If we want better workplaces, we have to stay curious, challenge our own blind spots, and commit to taking small, consistent micro-actions every single day.
When we do allyship well, we don't just change our teams, we also redefine what it means to lead for all.