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Allyship in Action
Allyship in Action episodes
- 170: Chela Gage - The Ultimate DEI Road Map
Chela Gage is Head of Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Pratt & Whitney. This season the Diversity Pivot Podcast is focused on real-life application of allyship in the workplace. As a partner and consultant to the business and talent organizations, Chela is responsible for developing and creating the strategic long-term plan and initiatives to advance DEI. She shares with us:
- The My Why for DEI exercise to engage all employees in diversity and inclusion
- Her firm's action plan to drive true transformation
- Her "frozen middle" engagement strategy for middle manager engagement in DEI
Connect with Chela at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelagage/ and with Julie at nextpivotpoint.com.
41 min - 169: Mita Mallick - Brown Table Talk
Mita Mallick is a corporate change-maker with a track record of transforming businesses. She gives innovative ideas a voice and serves customers and communities with purpose. She is currently the Head of Inclusion, Equity and Impact at Carta. Mita is a LinkedIn Top Voice and co-host of the recently launched The Brown Table Talk Podcast. This season the Diversity Pivot Podcast is focused on real-life application of allyship in the workplace. Mita joins us to discuss:
- How she has helped create a more inclusive workplace culture
- The harmful Pet to Threat stereotype that affects women of color in the workplace
- Why she believes we are at a tipping point for DEI
Check out her podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brown-table-talk and connect with Julie at nextpivotpoint.com.
33 min - 168: Angel Henry - Dents in the Glass Ceiling
Angel Henry creates ceiling breakers. This season the Diversity Pivot Podcast is focused on real-life application of allyship in the workplace. Angel has 20-years of tech muscle, is a sought-after trainer, speaker, adjunct instructor, inclusive workplace advisor, and author of the book Dents in the Glass Ceiling. She shares with us how:
- AGILE can be used as a framework for DEI
- The unique lived experience of women of color in the workplace
- To be an active ally for people different from you
Connect with Angel at www.angelhenry.com and with Julie at Nextpivotpoint.com.
32 min - 167: Jeff Akin - Peter Parker Principle of Privilege
Jeff Akin is a senior executive focused on DEI as well as the host of the Starfleet Leadership Academy podcast, an award-winning leadership development podcast told through the lens of Star Trek. This season the Diversity Pivot Podcast is focused on real-life application of allyship in the workplace. Jeff joins us to discuss how:
- To create an inclusive workplace culture for Intellectual developmental disabilities
- To overcome resistance to DEI in the workplace
- Star Trek can teach us about DEI
Connect with Jeff at www.jeffakin.com and with Julie at nextpivotpoint.com.
34 min - 166: Nicolet Gatewood - Representation Matters
Nicolet Gatewood is the Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Haddad & Partners. This season the Diversity Pivot Podcast is focused on real-life application of allyship in the workplace. As the first in this position, Nicolet designed efforts to further integrate the agency's global team by fostering an inclusive workplace environment, helping to propel change in the industry. She joins us to share:
- Why silence is never the right answer as an ally
- How to facilitate consistent, intentional safe places for unlearning and relearning
- How the media is intentionally diversifying representation of all dimensions of diversity
Connect with Nicolet at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolet-gatewood/.For more info on BLAC, I'd like to refer your listeners to https://www.blacinternship.com/. For more info on H&P's diversity efforts: https://www.haddadandpartners.com/diversity/. Summer Studio, the graphic design program for HS students, has a page with some testimonials from our students: https://www.haddadandpartners.com/summer-studio/. Connect with Julie at nextpivotpoint.com.
45 min - 165: William A Adams - Don't Lower the Bar - Cast a Wider Net
William A. Adams is an award-winning D&I innovator, engineering trailblazer, and philanthropist. This season the Diversity Pivot Podcast is focused on real-life application of allyship in the workplace. William successfully led diversity efforts at Microsoft and comes to us to discuss how to:
- Embrace personal crisis as an opportunity to pivot into meaningful work
- Develop a successful internship program to advance diverse talent
- Make DEI sticky with a 5 and 10 year vision
Connect with Wiliam at www.william-a-adams.com and with Julie at nextpivotpoint.com.
32 min - 164: Instant Gratification is Holding your Diversity Efforts Back
Diversity and inclusion is a long game. It's not a check the box. It's not a one-and-done. It's not a sprint. It really is a marathon, meaning the work never ends. Diversity and inclusion efforts will go long beyond our lifetimes and our children's lifetimes for generations to come.
With that said, there does need to be a starting point. And it's never too late to start. Once you're on the journey it's about staying on the journey and encouraging others to join.
Amidst the surge in diversity, equity, and inclusion work, with the added challenge of talent retention in a hybrid work environment and long-overdue social and racial justice movements, organizations are wrestling with what the correct starting point is for them. The temptation to increase recruiting and hiring efforts for diverse talent is real.
We unpack three key strategies in this week's bonus episode.
10 min - 163: Bonus Episode - New Book Announcement
Julie is back for a special episode to share a preview of her new book on how to be an ally at home. She talks through the 10 strategies of allyship at home, with tools to practice.
10 min - 162: Bonus Episode - Preview of Season 9
Julie shares three important criteria for DEI to work for organizations: intentionality, consistency, and senior leadership engagement.
She also shares some exciting news for Season 9!
13 min - 161: Greg Milosevich - No Organization is as Far Along as They Think They Are
Greg Milosevich is a CEO of life sciences and group leader at Danaher company. His 25+ leadership career spans various functional areas and teams. On the Diversity Pivot Podcast, we're having tough conversations about privilege, inclusion, and leadership journeys. Greg shares the importance of white male CEOs leaning into the DEI conversation:
- Why grace and ease is a part of the DEI journey
- How to create a forum for all voices to be heard (and include allies)
- What it will take to engage the magic middle (middle manager) in DEI
- Showing DEI is a competitive advantage to getting top talent and how employees will vote with their feet if they do not see real diversity and inclusion
Find Greg on Linkedin and meet Julie at NextPivotPoint.com.
31 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.