Leading in Color with Sarah Morgan

Dr. Kimya N. Dennis is the guest for this Leading in Color episode.

Dr. Dennis is an educator, researcher, consultant, and community advocate specializing in mental health, suicide and suicidal self-harm, law enforcement, criminal justice system, sexual health and freedom, and reproductive health and freedom. This captures contributing demographic and cultural factors, demographic and cultural identities, and legality and illegality. The general population is reached with emphasis on underserved and underrepresented individuals, communities, and cultures.

This is Part 2 of 2 featuring the conclusion of the episode Dr. Dennis. Be sure to listen to both parts to gain full insight into her advice and perspectives.

Dr. Dennis advocates for "Diversity 365," which means looking at diversity from every angle, every day -- not just when negative issues arise or during required annual trainings.

Here are the takeaways from Dr. Dennis in Episode 7:

1. Focus on consciousness and cultural awareness over correctness. This means errors will be made in what we say and do -- but a sincere apology will be given and we will move forward. Sometimes, apologies will not lead to forgiveness or reconciliation right away or ever. This is OK.
2. Look at your organization's policies and procedures to determine if they are causing harm and negative impact on marginalized groups. For example, family leave needs to expand to include modern definitions and structures. Survey your employees to determine their true needs and structure programming around this. Assess annually for progress.
3. Ignore ignorance but address harm. Instead of labeling people and their opinions as racist. Focus on their actions and the impact it has on others.

During the show, we discussed "infantilization of work". This article was from the Ravishly blog and here is the LINK.

Also, Dr. Dennis's event about Colorism is coming up in June. Here is the LINK to register

Learn more about Dr. Dennis on her website, www.kimyandennis.com. Connect with her on Facebook and LinkedIn at @kimyandennis and on Twitter @KimyaNDennisPhD.

Dr. Kimya N. Dennis is the guest for this Leading in Color episode.

Dr. Dennis is an educator, researcher, consultant, and community advocate specializing in mental health, suicide and suicidal self-harm, law enforcement, criminal justice system, sexual health and freedom, and reproductive health and freedom. This captures contributing demographic and cultural factors, demographic and cultural identities, and legality and illegality. The general population is reached with emphasis on underserved and underrepresented individuals, communities, and cultures.

This is Part 1 of 2 featuring Dr. Dennis. Episode 7 will feature the conclusion of the interview. Be sure to listen to both parts to gain full insight into her advice and perspectives.

Dr. Dennis advocates for "Diversity 365," which means looking at diversity from every angle, every day -- not just when negative issues arise or during required annual trainings. The primary takeaways from Part 1 are:

1. Change begins within. Before you begin working with others, start by working with yourself. Understand your own biases and privileges, and challenge yourself to overcome them and use your power to help others without expectation of reward or accolades. Be both knowledgeable and teachable.
2. Know when to speak and when to be quiet. Many people only want to talk about diversity in a philosophical or theoretical way. This cannot lead to lasting change or inclusion. Do not waste too much time or effort working with these individuals to change their minds. Instead, focus your work with those who are willing to engage in productive, dynamic dialogue and work on policy change.
3. Challenge falsehoods. Do not allow tokenism, false color-blindness, or assumptions about inclusion to persist in spaces you occupy. Speak up with confidence and authority against works which do not solve real problems or spread untrue information.

Dr. Dennis mentions 3 bodies of work during the interview which you may want to read more about:

• WEB DuBois's "Double Consciousness"
• Mark Granovetter's "The Strength of Weak Ties Theory"
• Robert Merton's "Typology of Prejudice & Discrimination"

Learn more about Dr. Dennis on her website, www.kimyandennis.com. Connect with her on Facebook and LinkedIn at @kimyandennis and on Twitter @KimyaNDennisPhD.

In this episode, host Sarah Morgan talks hot topics!

She covers legal updates about the Annual EEO-1 Report, the new Sick Leave Law in Michigan, and the new anti-discrimination law in NYC.

She also discusses this recent article from NPR about the risks to health from High Deductible Health Plans -- and provides tips to protect your organization and employees.

Finally, Sarah talks HR technology, her recent travels to the Ultimate Software Connections conference, the Workhuman conference, and the honor of being named one of the Top 100 Influencers in HR Tech.

Connect with the Leading in Color podcast:

• Instagram: @leadingincolorpodcast
• Twitter: @leadingincolor
• Email: [email protected]

Connect with our host, Sarah Morgan

• Instagram and Twitter: @thebuzzonhr
• Email: [email protected]

Kandia Johnson is the guest for this Leading in Color episode.

Kandia Johnson transformed her life from working as a corporate communications and learning consultant for a Fortune 500 company to founder of Kandid Conversations LLC, a communications consulting and training company.

Leveraging her 15 years of experience working with senior leaders and employees from companies such as Deloitte Consulting, Johnson & Johnson, and The U.S. Navy, Kandia started her own company to teach executives and entrepreneurs how to stand out, get noticed and become influential leaders in their fields. Through a series of leadership development workshops and one-to-one coaching, she's helped her clients land executive positions, launch global awareness campaigns, land TV segments, and speaking engagements.

Beyond being featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Black Enterprise, and more, Kandia has delivered presentations on stages throughout the United States and Africa. To date, she's been invited to speak at conferences and events for influential brands such as The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference, Harvard University Business School, Williams Sonoma, The James Beard Foundation, The WIE Symposium and African Women in Technology.

Tapping into her sweet spot for amplifying the voices of female hidden figures—women who are under-served, underestimated and underrepresented, Kandia launched 'The She Deserves More Project', a mentorship program to help women gain confidence, make connections and break barriers in life and business.

The 3 take-aways from this episode are:

1. We hold ourselves back when we don't know how to tell our career story. We fail to personalize our successes, we fail to use words that convey action, and we fail to quantify our impact. This matters when you're leading in color because you cannot get approval for programming without being able to make the business case and convey you are the best person to lead the efforts.
2. We have to get clear on what management defines as success. If our managers don't set expectations with us, we have to ask. This matters when you're leading in colors because not every environment is going to be ready or willing to cultivate positive experiences using diversity, inclusion and social consciousness as the lens. If this is important to you, you cannot stay in an environment who will not commit to it and who will not support your growth.
3. We have practice and prepare. At every stage of our career and for every moment we need to show up and be fully present for, we have practice and prepare. Kandia suggests writing things out then editing yourself to make sure your message if confident and clear. This matters when you're leading in color because cultivating positive workplaces is an intentional activity. And anything successful we do with intention has to be something we practice and prepare for.

Kandia is offering her Confidence Guide FREE to the Leading In Color podcast listeners. Go to Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts, subscribe to Leading In Color then take a screenshot of your subscribed status and email it to [email protected] and I will send you the link to download the Confidence Guide.

Also, here's LINK to the Level Up Your Career webinar that Kandia and I did with The Memo:

Thank you for listening to Episode 4 of the Leading in Color podcast. Be sure to take advantage of this freebie AND connect with Kandia on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn at @kandiajohnson and on Instagram @kandij

Connect with Leading in Color at @leadingincolorpodcast on FB and Instagram and @leadingincolor on Twitter. I'd love your feedback and questions at my email [email protected] and of course I want you to subscribe, rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

Leading in Color is intentionally creating the ideal environment for the growth and development of the presence and possession of features and qualities that demonstrate confidence, certainty, pragmatism, optimism, productivity rather than their absence everywhere and anywhere work is done thru having a variety of people from different races and cultures who are empowered, involved and feel as sense of belonging and respect with awareness and concern for improving the defects of how the society where the organization exists is organized and operations to overcome the defects in how people relate to each other ... BOOM!

To evaluate your company to evaluate the work environment you are cultivating, start with these questions:

1. What do your values look like in action? This assumes you have values. If you don't, start with identifying those.Your values should be words or phrases that express what is fundamentally important and essential to you.
2. What are the common experiences and environments in our organization? How do they align with the values we've defined?
3. What are the key policies and programs in our organization? How do they align with the values we've defined?

Connect with the Leading in Color podcast:

• Instagram: @leadingincolorpodcast
• Twitter: @leadingincolor
• Email: [email protected]

Connect with our host, Sarah Morgan

• Instagram and Twitter: @thebuzzonhr
• Email: [email protected]

This episode features an interview with Amanda Andere, the Chief Executive Officer of Funders Together to End Homelessness.

Amanda has spent over fifteen years working in the nonprofit and public sector as a leader committed to addressing racial equity, social justice, and economic opportunity through advocacy for systemic change.

Prior to joining Funders Together to End Homelessness as CEO, she served as the CEO of Wider Opportunities for Women, a national advocacy organization. Previously she served as an adjunct professor at George Mason University teaching Nonprofit Management, Executive Director of FACETS, and Vice President of Cornerstones; who have similar missions of preventing and ending homelessness and breaking the cycle of poverty.

In addition to her work as CEO at Funders Together to End Homelessness, she serves as a board member of the United Philanthropy Forum, the James Madison Political Science Alumni, and co-chair of A Way Home America, a national movement to end youth homelessness. She is also a member of the steering committee for The Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding.

Amanda shares great wisdom nuggets on how we all can be better at Leading In Color:

• The persistent power of data. Pay attention to what it is saying and take action based on the information if you're serious about leading with intentional intersectionality and inclusion
• Corporate advocacy. If you are wanting to build an advocacy program in your organization, it has to be about more than just charitable giving. Look at your organization, why it exists and who it serves. Then build programming to try to address that AND invest in creating pathways to eradicate the problem in the future. Also do not forget about your local community and be involved in advocating for the places where your employees live to make sure they have affordable housing, transportation and education.
• Build diverse teams. Be intentional and take your time. Think about the culture you have vs the one you're trying to build. Set that vision with your current team AND be honest with your candidates about where you have it together and where you're have growth opportunity.
• Be a compassionate hard-ass. Set high expectations -- but give grace to make mistakes and perform at less than 100% when life happens.

Connect with Amanda Andere:

• Website: www.funderstogether.org
• Instagram: @AmandaMisiko
• Twitter: @AmandaAndere
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-andere-68761b2

Subscribe to the Leading In Color podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Soundcloud!

Follow the Leading In Color podcast:

• Instagram: @leadingincolorpodcast
• Twitter: @leadingincolor
• Email: [email protected]

Follow our host, Sarah Morgan:

• Instagram and Twitter: @thebuzzonhr
• Email: [email protected]

Welcome to the Leading in Color podcast!

Listen as host, Sarah Morgan, tells the story of how and why she created this podcast. Also, learn more about Sarah as she shares her professional and personal journey from Recruiting Coordinator to HR Executive and Social Media sensation!

Also check out these resources mentioned in the episode:

• Keirsten Greggs: www.traprecruiter.com
• Performance I Create podcast: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/performanceicreate
• Nicaila Matthews of Side Hustle Pro: https://www.sidehustlepro.co/
• The Buzz on HR blog: www.thebuzzonhr.com

Follow the Leading in Color podcast online:

• Facebook: leadingincolorpodcast
• Twitter: leadingincolor
• Instagram: leadingincolorpodcast

Email the host with your feedback and questions: [email protected]