What's The Difference?

Sara Taylor earned a master's degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years.

Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, "Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World," that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that.

• Why increasing diversity, equity, inclusion and cultural competence in the workplace adds rather than detracts from the organization
• How teaching people to improve their cultural competence gives them new tools to approach challenges and situations
• Why these new tools only serve to add to a person's existing filters but don't take away from them, and why fear is often the root of pushback
• Why increasing cultural competency doesn't mean catering to groups whose purpose is to polarize, such as ISIS or the Ku Klux Klan
• How organizations focused on polarization are trapped in the second stage of cultural competence, and how the best response to their ideology is to find commonality
• Why diversity, equity and inclusion work means rejecting polarization and doesn't mean accepting every group

• Website: www.deepseeconsulting.com
• Twitter: @deepseesara

As President and Founder of the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA) – an educational non-profit organization that makes the business case for developing cultural intelligence in the workplace – Gerry has spent decades educating and advocating for the business benefits of cultural diversity and inclusion in the foodservice & hospitality industry. An engagingly energetic Speaker who practices straight talk, he travels across the US and internationally, bringing authentic perspective on building Cultural Intelligence that raises the topline, improves the bottom-line, and builds brands cultural authenticity. Gerry was named to Nations Restaurant News 2018 Power List of the 50 Most Influential People in Foodservice, the definitive list of industry leaders who are not only setting trends today, but also shaping them for tomorrow.

• How Gerry's career path ultimately led to his current role as President and Founder of the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA)
• How attending a Women's Foodservice Forum conference sparked Gerry's idea for a multicultural foodservice organization
• Why the foodservice industry tends to be highly diverse at lower levels but becomes much less diverse at the top
• Why the foodservice industry is uniquely positioned to create opportunities for people who would otherwise have few options to grow a career
• Why cultural competence is a vital skill for anyone working in foodservice and hospitality management
• Why Gerry's work in the area of unconscious bias creates a platform for business leaders to further improve their cultural competence and creates top-down change in organizations
• What common trends and challenges Gerry recognizes in diversity, equity and inclusion work across the foodservice and hospitality industry
• Why the hyper partisan political tone and the constant charged rhetoric in our political atmosphere is having an outsized effect on ethnic minority groups in foodservice
• How MFHA has partnered with the National Restaurant Association to broaden the reach of their message and content
• Gerry shares an example of how the Denny's restaurant chain has become an industry leader in diversity, equity and inclusion

• Website: https://mfha.net/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/MFHA.net/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gerrymfha/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/mfha/

"It's my mission to close the diversity gap between the Executive Suite and the C-Suite by ending career plateaus and off-ramps that derail the careers of minority women and men. There's a tiny space between making a difference and accepting the status quo – I work within that gap." – Margaret Spence

A transformational keynote speaker, author, coach, business strategist, and visionary, Margaret has 30 years of experience inspiring organizations to value talent. Engaging employees in a shared vision, creating inclusive initiatives, and fostering collaboration across silos are central tenets of her work.

Determined to create a glide path for diversity and inclusion in executive leadership, Margaret launched The Employee to CEO Project, a global initiative aimed at increasing the representation of women, with specific emphasis on minority women, in C-Suite leadership roles. Her latest book, Leadership Self-Transformation: 52 Career-Defining Questions Every High-Achieving Women Must Answer, challenges women to clarify their vision, find the power, and the limitless courage to build the career they want.

Margaret's journey to the executive suite was nontraditional. She began her career managing workplace injuries and, consequently, observed injured employees being discarded from the workforce. From a catapulting question written on a napkin in 1999, her company, C. Douglas & Associates, currently manages a claims loss portfolio valued at over $95 million for its multinational client base.

Voted Top 20 Speaker seven consecutive years at SHRM Society for Human Resource Management Annual and Diversity conferences. A six-year member of SHRM's Special Expertise Panel. She is the five-term Conference Co-chair of the Return to Work section of the WCI Workers' Compensation Education Conference. In 2017 she received the InTouch Excellence Award "Women Leading the Way" in Workers' Compensation.

• How Margaret's journey to Diversity and Inclusion work began by working in workers' compensation and helping employees with disability remain in the workforce
• Why Margaret recognized a need to help women achieve C-suite roles after seeing a dramatic lack of women in executive teams
• What common organizational patterns and myths Margaret sees that are often holding women back from reaching the C-suite
• Why organizations focus too much on who is and isn't ready to move ahead into a leadership role and don't focus enough on developing people to get them ready
• Why more work needs to be done to promote management development programs in addition to leadership programs
• What steps and strategies Margaret recommends to organizations interested in helping women advance, and why co-mentoring is key
• Why "checking the Women box" isn't enough, and why companies need to consider the opportunities women in marginalized racial groups have for advancement
• Why the question "what do you want, and why don't you have it now?" is a powerful and career-defining question to ask

• Website: www.margaretspence.com
• Website: https://employeetoceoproject.com/
• Leadership Self-Transformation by Margaret Spence: https://amzn.to/2DfAcKi
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/margaretspence/
• Twitter: @margaretspence

Eric Kussin is an 18-year pro sports executive who has worked at the NBA league office, the Chicago Sky & Bulls, Phoenix Suns, New Jersey Devils, & Florida Panthers. Eric was fortunate enough to find a higher calling after an intense mental health battle. A little over a year ago, he formed a global alliance of athletes and celebrities, along with expert practitioners: The Global Mental Health Alliance. Its members know that life affects all of us, no matter our background or status, and that mental health exists on a continuum, as opposed to sufferers vs. non-sufferers.

Together, they are using platforms and consistent messaging to change the narrative around the world, educate the masses, implement much-needed programs on the ground, and make it comfortable for everyone to ask for help when they need it. Their #SameHere Movement is a campaign that's woven throughout their communication. It's a sign language gesture that can be used universally in the context of the mental health world to mean: same here, I too struggle with some of life's inevitable challenges. We're in this together.

Eric travels around the country and the world, presenting to audiences everywhere from athletes at Michigan to USC, to First Responders in Vancouver, to the Clippers & the Cavaliers, to CNBC to NYU Langone Hospital.

Eric holds a Bachelor's degree from Cornell's Dyson School of Business, Marketing & Management, and "keeps his foot in sports, consulting for a number of professional sports teams and leagues."

• How Eric came to his role in promoting mental health awareness and education after his own two-and-a-half year mental health crisis
• Eric shares his powerful personal struggle with mental health issues and the remarkable amount of medications and treatments he tried with little success
• How Eric realized that mental health is an issue that affects everyone, and why this profound realization and a desire to share his story became the foundation of his work
• What mental health misconceptions Eric has seen in his work, and why trauma is a universal experience
• Why the commonly repeated statistic that "one in five people are mentally ill" is overly emphasized
• Why "stop the stigma" campaigns can create an unhelpful divide between "mentally ill" and "mentally healthy" people
• How and why Eric came up with the concepts behind his organization, including the slogan and logo "We Are All A Little Crazy"
• What steps HR and diversity & inclusion practitioners can take to create a supportive workplace, and why an organization's culture needs to change on a foundational level
• Why business leaders' willingness to share their own vulnerability and experiences is an important key to creating a positive workplace atmosphere
• What steps and practices Eric teaches employers to help them better support their employees' mental healt

• Website: https://weareallalittlecrazy.org/
• Instagram: @weareallalittlecrazy
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/WeAreAllALittleCrazy/

Dr. Lynette Louise, aka The Brain Broad, has a doctorate in bioscience, holds two board certifications in Neurofeedback (BCIA, NTCB) and is working on her Ph.D. (and is now ABD) in Psychology, with a specialty in Psychophysiology at Saybrook University.

Lynette is an international mental health and parenting expert, specializing in autism. She is a speaker, author, performer, popular podcast host, neurofeedback & autism expert, and creator/host/therapist for the international reality series FIX IT IN FIVE with LYNETTE LOUISE aka THE BRAIN BROAD, now showing on The Autism Channel. She is also the single mother of eight now grown children; six were adopted and four were on the autism spectrum. Only one of her sons retains his label and remains dependent.

In 2003 Lynette Louise became the only professional from the Autism Treatment Center of America to be certified in two modalities: Option Process Mentor Counselor and Child Facilitator. Though she is experienced in many behavioral modalities training from The Autism Treatment Center shaped her approach the most. Lynette has been practicing the Option Process since 1997 and working with autism since 1983, when she first began adopting children. Having helped hundreds of adults and children with a combination of playroom, dialogue, and family dynamics counseling, in 2004 Lynette began using Neurofeedback as an additional therapeutic modality for healing the brain. Formerly of The Brain Injury Therapy Clinic in Westlake where she worked closely with Dr. Burke chief scientist for EEG Spectrum, Lynette has successfully helped clients with Bipolar Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Tourettes, Seizure Disorders ADHD, Depression, Addiction, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Lynette Louise is also a speaker for RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) and does important talks on topics such as sexual abuse, domestic violence, and the effects of abuse on mental health. Her popular college topic, Getting Beyond Your Sexual History and Raising Your Relationship IQ – A Look at Tend and Befriend, teaches about the brain's natural defense in abuse situations, the common mistake of victim-blaming and the relationship between the two. She then offers tools and simple tips for changing the story and staying safe.

• Why Lynette was motivated to begin working with and specializing in autism after she adopted children who were on the autism spectrum
• Why beginning her work with autism in the 1980s when few experts were even talking about autism offered new experiences and challenges to Lynette
• What autism is, why it exists as a spectrum instead of a clear yes-or-no, and what common symptoms and traits exist in people on the autism spectrum
• Why catering to common myths about autism can create and strengthen the challenges a person on the autism spectrum may experience in the workplace
• How Lynette's "four-to-one" strategy works, and how it can help with accessibility and comfort in the workplace for people on the autism spectrum
• What perseveration is and why it specifically matters for people on the autism spectrum in the workplace when it comes to the tasks they are asked to complete
• Why there are multiple factors that can make eye contact and communication difficult for people on the autism spectrum
• Why it is vitally important to view people on the autism spectrum individually rather than as a group

• Website: www.lynettelouise.com
• Website: www.brainbody.net
• MIRACLES ARE MADE: A Real-Life Guide to Autism by Dr. Lynette Louise: https://amzn.to/2ORzR7Q
• Twitter: @lynettelouise
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thebrainbroad/
• Instagram: @the_brain_broad
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lynette-louise-the-brain-broad-4aa8291/

For over three decades, Sara Taylor has been helping organizations and the individuals within them to be more effective and inclusive through her engaging diversity and inclusion trainings, comprehensive leadership development programs and innovative cultural competence frameworks.

Since 2002, as the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting, she has worked with HR managers, chief diversity officers, and high-level executives at 3M Company, AARP, Cleveland Foundation, Coca-Cola, Marriott International, General Mills, United Way Worldwide National Credit Union Administration, Ingersol-Rand, Seagate Technologies, Thompson Reuters Thrivent Financial, and many others.

She is the author of a new book, Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World, that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that.

• Why little-t "traumas" have physical and mental effects on our us that are similar to big-T "Traumas"
• Sara relates the story of a comparatively minor trauma she experienced as a child growing up on a farm, and the lasting fear it created that she experiences to this day
• How our sympathetic nervous systems draw energy from other biological systems to activate the "fight or flight" response
• How repeated first- and second-hand exposures to racial trauma can create lasting health and economic struggles for the people affected
• How epigenetic modifications of gene sequences in our DNA can create trauma responses not just in those who experience them, but in their children and grandchildren as well
• Sara shares real-world examples of traumas creating an intergenerational response that affected the children of people experiencing those traumas
• Sara provides details of a fascinating experiment of how mice began relating a certain smell to traumas that happened to their parents and grandparents
• Why our response to trauma is intended to help us avoid and escape danger, and how that relates to experiencing trauma in the workplace

• Website: www.deepseeconsulting.com
• Twitter: @deepseesara

Phyllis Braxton-Frierson is the CEO and Founder of PINK Consulting, LLC and The PINK Brand. She has been in the DEI field for nearly 20 years. Phyllis is a native of Moss Point, Mississippi and has resided in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the last 24 years. She is the daughter of Viola, mother to Ivy Zaire and wife to Marcus Frierson III.

PINK Consulting provides trauma-informed counseling, intercultural assessment, training and development, personal and professional coaching, keynote and motivational speaking to individuals and organizations nationwide.

Prior to starting PINK Consulting LLC 13 years ago, Phyllis worked for several organizations and educational institutions. She was an adjunct professor teaching graduate-level courses in diversity; received her master's degree at the University of Minnesota, and earned her bachelor's degree from Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Ga. Phyllis served as Co-Director and team leader for Minnesota S.E.E.D. (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity).

• The hard work that went into getting to where Phyllis is today
• Why dealing with trauma is so foundational to functioning in work and life
• The different kinds of trauma and the nuances that separate them
• The biological mechanisms associated with trauma and how it looks in the workplace
• Why companies often recruit for diversity but are really onboarding for assimilation
• Making the workplace emotionally safe for victims of vicarious trauma
• Historical trauma and how it passes through our tissues and DNA

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PhyllisAkaShowtime
• Website: https://pinkconsultingllc.com/
• Phone: (763)-301-5119

Mita Mallick is a corporate change maker who believes businesses have a responsibility to make social impact.

As the Head of Diversity & Inclusion and Cross-Cultural Marketing at Unilever, Mita's efforts to build an inclusive culture are being celebrated. Under her leadership, Unilever is gender-balanced at the manager level and above. Unilever was named the #1 Company for Working Mothers by Working Mother Media in 2018. She also co-created the first of its kind Cultural Immersions series to increase the cultural competency of marketers training over 4,000 marketers to date.

Mita has also had an extensive career in the beauty and consumer products goods space. Mita is a passionate storyteller who believes in the power of diversity to transform businesses and brands. She was one of the chief lieutenants in launching The Vaseline Healing Project in the U.S., signing award-winning actress & activist Viola Davis as the brand's ambassador.

Mita was named a Working Mother of the Year by She Runs It (formerly Advertising Women of New York) and a Valiente Award Finalist at SXSW for her inspiring work in 2019. She received the Inaugural Diversity Innovator Award from the National Association for Female Executives in 2018 and was on the "50 People Under 40 Shaking Up Beauty" Youthquake List by Women's Wear Daily 2017.

Mita has a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from Duke University.

• How working at Unilever – and her family background – helped Mita discover her purpose
• What Mita's background in marketing has done to contribute to her work with diversity, equity, and inclusion
• The qualities and knowledge marketing professionals need to be leaders in the modern workplace
• The importance of examining intent and impact from a marketing perspective
• Understanding backgrounds and how cultural competencies affect marketing
• What Unilever's brand campaigns have done to draw attention to diversity and inclusion
• How Unilever is fighting stigmas around a variety of issues and helping their employees
• Mita's advice for practitioners just starting out in diversity, equity, and inclusion

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.unilever.com/

"As a white male, I lived privilege without noticing it — I never had to. But adopting my daughter and traveling to her home country to do so opened my eyes to the reality of the world and began my diversity journey. That was 30 some years ago. By strange turns of fate, I now run one of the largest diversity, equity, and inclusion conferences in the world. My journey of self-discovery became my occupation, but discovery of my privilege has never stopped."

What you'll learn about in this episode:

• The impact that adopting his daughter from Honduras had on Steven's worldview
• Steven's perspectives on privilege and how his experiences inform them
• The development and mission of the Forum on Workplace Inclusion
• The process by which the Forum curates content for its conference
• What corporations need to be doing to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Why multinational companies need to be acknowledging all of their cultures – not just the American one
• How organizations can help employees cope with the tragedies facing the world nearly every week
• What we need to be doing to bend the arc of the moral universe toward real justice

Additional resources:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://forumworkplaceinclusion.org/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJH2AMvV76o50ik3yEIr9tg

For over three decades, Sara Taylor has been helping organizations and the individuals within them to be more effective and inclusive through her engaging diversity and inclusion trainings, comprehensive leadership development programs and innovative cultural competence frameworks.

Since 2002, as the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting, she has worked with HR managers, chief diversity officers, and high-level executives at 3M Company, AARP, Cleveland Foundation, Coca-Cola, Marriott International, General Mills, United Way Worldwide National Credit Union Administration, Ingersol-Rand, Seagate Technologies, Thompson Reuters Thrivent Financial, and many others.

She is the author of a new book, Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World, that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that.

What you'll learn about in this episode:

• The difference between an "up" and a "down"
• Why ups don't have to interact with downs, but downs have to interact with ups
• How easy it is to be blind to one's "upness" and others' "downness"
• The systems that support inequities between ups and downs
• Why three ups meeting is a board meeting, but three downs meeting is pre-revolutionary activity
• How being up can make people stupid and how ups try to remedy this
• The fact that we're all have situations of both upness and downess

Additional resources:

• Website: www.deepseeconsulting.com
• Twitter: @deepseesara