Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox

Today we ask uncomfortable questions around all types of diversity and initiate courageous conversations that allow us to break down barriers and find aspects of connectivity as people. It’s our first episode in our “Ask a” series, where we ask some uncomfortable questions about race, gender, sexual orientation, lifestyle, and more. And today we have “Ask a Black Guy (Donald Thompson, CEO of Walk West) and Ask a White Guy (Grant Williard, CEO of JouleBug)”. And this episode will make you laugh, will make you think, and you might even squirm in your seat a little bit too.

Diversity Beyond the Checkbox is presented by The Diversity Movement. For more information including the online course, head over to TheDiversityMovement.com. Podcast production by Earfluence.

Most of the time when we talk about diversity, we think race, gender, and sexual orientation. But diversity goes way beyond the obvious. There’s diversity of thinking, diversity of backgrounds, diversity of current situation, diversity of ability or disability. I brought John Samuel on the show today to talk about diversity and inclusion on some of those things that aren’t quite so obvious. John is an amazing individual, president of LCI Tech, immigrant from India...who happens to be blind.

Diversity Beyond the Checkbox is hosted by Donald Thompson, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant and CEO of Walk West in Raleigh North Carolina. For more information including the online course, head over to TheDiversityMovement.com. Podcast production by Earfluence.

On the show today, we have two young professionals from NC State University who are focused on Diversity and Inclusion for the staff, its students, and for the students’ prospective employers. You'll hear how employers can attract - and KEEP - the best talent, the concept of "Fight, Flight, or Flow" when faced with an aggression, and how to get started with a diversity and inclusion program.

Diversity Beyond the Checkbox is hosted by Donald Thompson, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant and CEO of Walk West in Raleigh North Carolina. For more information including the online course, head over to TheDiversityMovement.com. Podcast production by Earfluence.

Carlos Alva, whose family immigrated from Peru when he was young, is now a Technology Consultant at Deloitte. Today he comes on to talk about what diversity means to him and what he’s seen in his short but impressive career, why he started the group Peruvians in Tech, the biggest challenges he has faced, and why employers should be focusing on diversity.

Diversity Beyond the Checkbox is hosted by Donald Thompson, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant and CEO of Walk West in Raleigh North Carolina. For more information including the online course, head over to TheDiversityMovement.com. Podcast production by Earfluence.

Manpreet Dhillon is a diversity and inclusion advocate and founder of Veza Strategy.  In the show today, Manpreet provides a vast knowledge of the D&I space including her thoughts on how leaders in organizations should start a D&I program, what she’s learned from consulting for the UN, and what books and articles we should all be reading if we want to learn more on diversity, which include:

-        The Diversity and Inclusion Report from Deloitte Insights

-        Delivering through Diversity from McKinsey

-        The Culture Map by Erin Meyer

-        The Harvard Implicit Association Test

Diversity Beyond the Checkbox is hosted by Donald Thompson, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant and CEO of Walk West in Raleigh North Carolina. For more information including the online course, head over to TheDiversityMovement.com. Podcast production by Earfluence.

In the first episode of the Diversity Beyond the Checkbox Podcast, Dee McDougal, SVP of Diversity and Inclusion at Pacific Western Bank, talks to host Donald Thompson about Black Wall Street, the unconscious biases we all have, micro-behaviors and micro-aggressions, how marketing shapes the way we think about minorities, and why "Can I pick your brain?" is a horrible way to network.

Diversity Beyond the Checkbox is hosted by Donald Thompson, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant and CEO of Walk West in Raleigh North Carolina. For more information including the online course, head over to TheDiversityMovement.com. Podcast production by Earfluence.