What's The Difference?

Andie Kramer is a partner at an international law firm. Alongside her demanding legal career, she has become a nationally known advocate for women's advancement. Because mentorship opportunities for young executive and professional women are often limited, she co-founded the Women's Leadership and Mentoring Alliance (WLMA) and has developed numerous women-specific leadership training programs.

Andie is the recipient of a long list of accolades and awards for both achievements in her legal career and her advocacy of women. Among her accolades is being named on National Law Review's 50 most influential women lawyers in America for her "demonstrated power to change the legal landscape, shape public affairs, launch industries, and do big things."

• How making the transition from a tiny law firm to a large international firm opened Andie's eyes to the realities of gender inequity
• How the men at Andie's firm would give themselves glowing praise in their self-evaluations but the women would credit the entire team in theirs
• Why Andie is releasing the second edition of her book focusing more on the increased prevalence of explicit bias since the election of Donald Trump
• Why there are certain communication techniques women are hesitant to use, and how using a sense of humor to navigate situations can be a powerful tool
• How implicit gender bias typically shows up in the workplace, and why women must walk a careful tightrope between "nice, kind and sweet" and "competent and confident"
• How women often have to adapt to situations to be able to navigate through the workplace, and how to do so in an authentic, true-to-yourself way
• What suggestions and advice Andie would offer to women experiencing gender bias in the workplace
• Why men must understand that the workplace isn't a perfect meritocracy, and why men have a responsibility to help solve these issues
• Why men shouldn't just be a part of the conversation but should be starting the conversation when they identify problems

• Breaking Through Bias 2nd Edition by Andie Kramer and Alton Harris: https://amzn.to/3b7vui5
• Website: www.andieandal.com
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/andiekramer/
• Twitter: @AndieandAl

Born and raised in Ukraine, professional diversiculturalist Dr. Fiona Citkin came to the US as a Fulbright Scholar studying languages and cultures at Kent State University, OH.

Fiona's first book was on language/translation (Terminology and Translation, Lviv, Vischa Shkola, 1988, in Russian) and it brought her recognition in European academia.

For the book "Transformational Diversity: Why and How Intercultural Competencies Can Help Organizations to Survive and Thrive" (SHRM Publishing, 2011), Fiona has been recognized as a Top 2012 Champion of Diversity by diversitybusiness.com, a think-tank. This book was a seminal stepping stone for further exploration of the diverse American culture and the real-world ways to instill inclusion.

Fiona's new book, "How They Made It in America", started with a desire to explore how diverse talented individuals make it big in America. She focused on prominent women immigrants as the book subjects—just because she knew from her own experiences that women face frequent tribulations on their way to success. The topic appeared so rich that it soon became clear she'll need to write a book series to at least solidly scratch it.

Since April 2013, Fiona's monthly Huffington Post column explores the issues of multicultural women and what it takes to make it in America: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fiona-citkin-phd/. It was Arianna Huffington (an immigrant from Greece) who invited Fiona to blog there, build the future readership, and see how the public responds to the issues covered. And Arianna's insights made her a perfect role model for Fiona.

With experience as Director of Berlitz, FGI, and a personal consulting portfolio with major corporations, Fiona accumulated skills in public speaking, marketing, coaching, training, magazine and TV interviews, entrepreneurship, and of course, intercultural communication and languages.

Fiona speaks three languages: English, Russian, and Ukrainian. After living and working in Europe (Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, Austria, Great Britain, and Switzerland) she now resides in Warren, NJ, USA, and can be reached at [email protected].

• How Fiona first came to the United States under a Fulbright scholarship 25 years ago, and how her unique perspective as a female immigrant has informed her work
• How Fiona transitioned from teaching in Ukraine to becoming a consultant in the United States, and how her career took a "downgrade" when she immigrated
• How women immigrants often have to start over regardless of their professional background in their nations of origin
• How immigrant men and women share common challenges like language barriers, and how women experience additional challenges like sexual harassment and the glass ceiling
• Fiona shares her advice for practitioners looking to create a more welcoming, inclusive and equitable workplace for immigrant employees
• What important topics and lessons Fiona discussed in her book, and how human resources professionals can help strengthen a diverse, inclusive and equitable environment
• Why offering new skills to immigrant employees is only the first step, and why creating a safe and welcoming environment is the other critical part of the equation
• Why having an exit strategy is vital, and why understanding the immigrant experience during these difficult times is critical
• Fiona shares her perspective on the growing sense of nationalism and hostility toward immigrants, both in the United States and globally
• What wisdom Fiona would share for new immigrants before they enter the workplace in their new home country

• How They Made It in America by Fiona Citkin: https://amzn.to/2YiCHGN
• The Bridge: Women Worldwide YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnjxZ7nqAi83I-EHOqdVlw
• Website: http://fionacitkin.com/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-citkin-b7416310/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/FionaCitkinAuthor/
• Twitter: @FionaCitkin

Joe Gerstandt is a speaker, author, and advisor bringing greater clarity, action, and impact to organizational diversity and inclusion efforts.

Joe has worked with Fortune 100 corporations, small non-profits, government entities, and everything in between. He speaks at numerous conferences and summits and is a featured contributor for the Workforce Diversity Network Expert Forum. His insights have been published in Diversity Best Practices, Diversity Executive, HR Executive, numerous other print and on-line journals, and he co-authored the book Social Gravity: Harnessing the Natural Laws of Relationships.

Joe has also served on the Intersectional Culture and Diversity Advisory (ICD) Council for the social networking platform, Twitter, and currently the board of directors for the Tri-Faith Initiative, which brings together in permanent residency a synagogue, church, mosque, and interfaith center on one 38-acre campus in the middle of America's heartland.

Joe grew up on a family farm in NW Iowa, served four years in the United States Marine Corps, including participation in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, attended Iowa State University and then spent 6 years working in management and business development for technology and communication companies. He then made a career change and went to work for a grassroots non-profit organization, and this is where he found himself drawn to issues related to diversity and inclusion and then became actively involved in that work.

Today, Joe believes that we can ill afford to continue applying a 20th century approach to an increasingly critical set of 21st century issues. A strong advocate for resetting the diversity and inclusion conversation, Joe sees diversity and inclusion as poorly understood and often misunderstood.

• How Joe came to work in diversity, equity and inclusion through working in the nonprofit sector
• What factors Joe believes have contributed to our slowed progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and why leaders often see confuse this work with compliance issues
• Why Joe isn't a fan of best practices since organizations and their needs vary so greatly from each other
• Why organizations often forget that inclusion is separate from diversity and often don't understand why inclusion matters
• What major challenges organizations are facing today, and why the global pandemic is having a major impact on diversity and inclusion
• Why our society is more polarized than ever, and why organizations must work for clarity on the behavioral component of the issue
• Why diversity, equity, and inclusion within organizations isn't inherently partisan or political and why organizations must set a standard of expected behaviors
• What Joe hopes we will be doing differently in this work ten years from now, and why organizations who are doing the work now are laying the foundation for a strong future
• What advice Joe would offer to new practitioners in this space, and why getting clear on why the work is important to you matters
• Why you should define and work toward the unique contribution you can make within the realm of diversity, equity and inclusion

• Website: www.joegerstandt.com
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/joegerstandt/
• Twitter: @joegerstandt

With fifteen years of HR leadership experience, Anthony Paradiso has become very passionate about Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace. He is the owner and founder of AllThingzAP, where their primary mission is for all to always be your authentic self.

Anthony is a Human Resources Business Partner with Industrial U.I. Services and enjoys being on a host of boards and committees, such as the Diversity & Inclusion Director for the Garden State Council – SHRM (GSC-SHRM) and the VP of D&I with the North Jersey – Rockland Chapter SHRM. Additionally, he is on the Board of Advisors with the American Conference of Diversity and a Bergen County Human Relations Commissioner.

Anthony has written a number of published articles for SHRM, WorkHuman, Workology, Rezoomo, Achievers, etc. and has been quoted in HR Magazine, Namely, & Bonusly. He has given a number of presentations and lectures about D&I, inclusion, being your authentic self, unconscious bias, employee relations and facilitated workshops surrounding diversity & inclusion that include the privilege walk.

His education includes a BA from Binghamton University, MS in Human Relations & Business, and HR Certified. Serving as a Speaker, Influencer, Blogger, and Educator, Anthony is proud to have influenced the industry regarding unbiased and inclusive work environments.

• How Anthony discovered his passion for diversity, equity and inclusion work, and how coming out as a gay man fuels his passion for helping others
• Why, for the last 20 years, too many companies have focused on diversity without giving enough attention to inclusion for existing employees
• How sharing our stories are the necessary starting point for inclusion and equity, and why it is important to pay attention to leading indicators within organizations
• Anthony shares a story of a "privilege walk" activity and how a participant's story made a powerful impact on the group
• Why sharing our unique stories helps connect us with the people we work with and can help us form strong, productive relationships based on commonality and empathy
• Why it is important to conduct a privilege walk activity correctly with the help of an experienced practitioner to avoid reinforcing participants' bias
• How Anthony sharing his own coming-out story helps develop trust between himself and his audience
• Why all of our stories are valuable and worth telling, and why being a great orator isn't necessary for sharing your story
• What advice Anthony has for HR practitioners with regards to developing their skills in diversity, equity and inclusion work
• Why mental health stories are important to share, and why mental health is becoming a growing part of diversity, equity and inclusion

• Website: www.allthingzap.com
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aparadiso/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/allthingzap/
• Twitter: @allthingzap
• Instagram: @allthingzap

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 companies often treat diversity, equity and inclusion work differently than they do any other aspect of the organization, and why comparisons between the ways companies approach DEI work with the way they treat other major decisions can be valuable to help highlight the disparity
• Sara compares a CEO announcing sudden changes they want to see in their company's DEI to a CEO announcing relocating the business to Brussels
• Sara compares a CEO dodging bold action suggested by a DEI practitioner within the company by consulting a non-practitioner first to a CEO consulting a DEI practitioner about the company's marketing
• Sara provides another example of an organization forming a committee of volunteers to make DEI decisions, compared to forming a committee to revamp the organization's finances
• Sara compares a company who says DEI work is important but then allows employees to do whatever they want with no coordination, with allowing everyone in the organization to choose their own company retreat location individually
• Sara compares a CEO sending a Diversity 101 video from YouTube to their DEI practitioner as if it's new and exciting information with sending a patient care 101 video to the chief medical officer
• Sara compares an experienced practitioner telling a new leader about the efforts they've been making and the leader sending them a link to an organization doing elementary work and wanting to do the same, compared to a school principal sending a 7th grade teacher the kindergarten lesson plans and asking them to do that same work with the 7th graders
• Sara compares people suddenly interested in DEI work going to the company's practitioner and asking why they aren't doing anything with a teacher of another subject telling the math teachers what to teach when they have no idea what the math teachers have been teaching all along
• Sara compares a company assigning DEI work to the HR department three levels down with a company assigning their marketing work to the operations team three levels down
• Sara compares a CEO sending out public messages after the murder of George Floyd without consulting their DEI practitioners but instead consulting their black friend, with a governor sending out a message about the pandemic without consulting their health department but instead consulting a a podiatrist
• Why taking this work seriously by including DEI practitioners and their expertise is the only way our companies will create solutions

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

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.

• How companies and organizations of all kinds spoke out with clear, decisive messaging after the murder of George Floyd, and why following those messages with action is vital
• Why the first step to taking action is to decide your approach of whether you want to take a transactional strategy or a transformational strategy
• Why you should only promise what you truly plan to deliver, and why you should conduct an equity audit to identify gaps that exist within your organization
• Why you need to shift from an equality-based approach to an equity-based approach, and why the two are fundamentally different
• Why an effective equity strategy must go beyond the obvious, and how a cadre of culturally competent equity coaches throughout the organization can be powerful
• How a Safe Space program can be invaluable for employees who have experienced identity-based trauma
• How springboard positions can help prepare and elevate employees from marginalized communities into higher positions within the organization
• Why an organization must focus on developing leaders first and then holding them accountable for creating an equitable workplace
• Why focusing on leading indicators rather than lagging indicators can help you steer your organization toward a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace
• Why it is important to only put people who are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in charge of your organization's efforts

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

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 people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds are reluctant to start or join the difficult conversations about race
• How "IVI" (intent, vulnerability, inoculation) can help you overcome your fear in talking about race
• Why signaling your intent to join the conversation can help prepare you and others for the discussion
• Why signaling positive intent is healthy and helps give others perspective on your hopes for the conversation
• Why entering conversations about race requires courage, and why people may be afraid to enter these conversations
• Why we are socialized and conditioned to remain silent about race, and not to talk about difference in a broad sense
• Why leaders, in particular, can build trust with their teams by expressing their own vulnerability
• How inoculation, preempting resistance and acknowledging discomfort from the people you're speaking with, can help you address potential reactions
• Why these important conversations are the foundation on which our organizations can begin to take action

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

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.

• Sara discusses the impact of a recent post listing the names of Black individuals who were killed or experienced racism during everyday activities like walking home
• How Sara's pain, frustration, and anger after George Floyd was murdered caused her to feel a rawness that her family's loved ones didn't understand the pain they were experiencing
• How Sara's unique perspective as a white woman married to a black man with a mixed-race family has shown her two distinct worlds, with privilege and advantage when she is alone and a world of racism when she is with her family
• Sara shares her own list of the places and situations in which she has experienced bias and racial discrimination with her family
• How Sara's own son was stopped and questioned by police simply for walking, on an almost weekly basis
• Why the fact that it isn't every walk makes systemic racism all the more insidious and traumatic and make it easy for outsiders to dismiss and victims to second-guess themselves
• Why there are distinct parallels between systemic racism and familial dysfunction, and why gaslighting plays a major role in both
• Sara shares the definition of gaslighting from Wikipedia and explains why it applies both to disfunction within families and racial disfunction in society
• Why recognizing racism and acknowledging that it happens is the key to fighting back against the collective gaslighting

• "It's Not All Walks", source unknown: https://whatsthedifferencepodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/image001.png
• Website: www.deepseeconsulting.com
• Twitter: @deepseesara

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 there are so many differing, personal opinions over what the words "Black Lives Matter" actually mean
• How our stages of cultural competence development determine how we view the message of Black Lives Matter
• Why some people view the statement as "Black Lives Matter More" while others hear "Black Lives Matter Equally"
• How people stuck in the second stage of development often retort with the response "Blue Lives Matter"
• Why some people view Black Lives Matter as a win/lose scenario, a viewpoint reinforced by centuries of systems of power and oppression
• How to download a free checklist to help you better communicate with your employees, external stakeholders, and the community during painful, traumatic events
• How 15% of the population exists within the polarizing second stage of development, while nearly 70% are in the third stage and still controlled by our unconscious biases
• Why people in the third stage of development minimize differences, replying to "Black Lives Matter" with "All Lives Matter" or "Black Lives Matter Equally"
• Why the second and third stages of cultural competence aren't just ineffective but serve to perpetuate systemic inequities
• How the fourth stage of development allows us to move from an equality-based approach to a more effective equity-based approach

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

Tali Lavarry is the founder of Yum Yum Morale, a DEI Consultancy that focuses on the retention and advancement of diverse hires. Organizations large and small look to her, to bridge the gap between their leadership team and marginalized hires.

She is known for her ability to be diplomatic, approachable, educational, and understanding. Through her own personal stories, she boldly moves corporate power brokers from resistant to receptive. Candid conversations and vulnerability are her superpowers. Her talks, workshops, trainings, and retreats never fail to open minds and soften hearts.

Tali is the author of Confessions from Your Token Black Colleague, a former collaborator with Haas Berkeley's Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership; and a member of Washington State University's Foster School of Business Alumni.

• How Tali's experiences as a "token Black" informs her work in diversity and inclusion and became the backbone of her book "Confessions from Your Token Black Colleague"
• How a series of microaggressions at her workplace caused Tali to reach an internal breaking point in her career
• Why "white solidarity" is a real problem for People of Color in the workplace, making it even harder to push back against racial bias
• Where stereotypes such as "the angry Black woman" come from and why they live within our unconscious minds
• Tali discusses the process of writing her book and how it is structured, and what lead her to write it
• How Tali has experienced internal realizations that she deserves better than some of the experiences she has had in the workplace
• Why Tali found herself having to fight against conditioned responses and internal corrections when writing her book
• Why Tali teaches white male CEOs the importance of taking a stand and speaking out against racism
• Why the pressure shouldn't be on Black employees, but on the business leaders who can affect change within the organization
• Where you will be able to find Tali's book once it releases in August 2020

• Website: https://yumyummorale.com/
• Website: https://yourtokenblackcolleague.com/
• Email: [email protected]