Workplace Diversity

Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:

Don't forget to subscribe to the show, so that you don't miss a single episode; and please leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate it.

Follow our show on Facebook and check out our Website for more details and to engage with our podcast community. You can also follow Dr. Lang on LinkedIn.

Download Three Vital Practices to avoid a potential lawsuit for free by clicking this link: www.WorkplaceRestorativePracticesInc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaye-lang-1735761b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaye.lang.779/

KEY WORDS:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Nancy Riestenberg is a member of the Minnesota Restorative Practices Community. She's also the author of "Circle in the Square: Building Community and Repairing Harm in School". She has worked for a long time in violence prevention, asset promotion, and restorative practices in school. For fun, Nancy likes sitting in circles with others.

In this episode Dr. Gaye Lang and Nancy Riestenberg discuss:

• Intention in being restorative
• Where restoration starts
• Creating conditions where people can express
• Keeping your hand on the plow

Key Takeaways:

• It takes intention to be restorative since it is easier to not be restorative.
• People need to first be aware of their own biases, their own understandings of the world. They need to have a curiosity for people that are different from them.
• Think about how we can create conditions for them to be able to feel as though people can express themselves.
• Keep your hand on the plow, don't stop fighting for ground when it comes to creating spaces of equity within your community.

"People are unique and so it's very important for people to be able to continually learn and practice and explore and make mistakes and be fallible and learn some more." - Nancy Riestenberg

Check out Nancy's book, "Circle in the Square: Building Community and Repairing Harm in School" by clicking here: https://www.amazon.com/Circle-Square-Building-Community-Repairing/dp/0972188673

Connect with Nancy Riestenberg:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-riestenberg-b13a4a24/

Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:

Don't forget to subscribe to the show, so that you don't miss a single episode; and please leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate it.

Follow our show on Facebook and check out our Website for more details and to engage with our podcast community. You can also follow Dr. Lang on LinkedIn.

Download Three Vital Practices to avoid a potential lawsuit for free by clicking this link: www.WorkplaceRestorativePracticesInc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaye-lang-1735761b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaye.lang.779/

KEY WORDS:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Abdul Malik Muhammad: Equity in the Workplace and in the World

For nearly three decades, Dr. Abdul Malik Muhammad has been serving both youth and adults as an educator, transformational leader, entrepreneur, and author. Always working with the underserved in the urban and rural areas, he has focused on the development of boys to men, has been active in social justice and building progressive organizations. His previous leadership journeys have included being a principal, campus president of a career college, corporate director of education, and regional vice president of a national mental health care organization. He is currently the founder and CEO of Akoben LLC., and Transforming Lives INC. Through his work, he is continuing to diligently transform lives, one community at a time. He is the author of The Restorative Journey Book 1, the theory and application of restorative practices and contributing author of the recently released, Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities. He has a B.A. in International Affairs from Franklin and Marshall College, and M.A. in Educational Leadership from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, and an EbD in Educational Leadership from the University of Delaware. He lives in Delaware with his wife, children, and three dogs.

In this episode Dr. Gaye Lang and Abdul Malik Muhammad discuss:

• Leadership resembling whom it serves
• Making a stand no matter what
• Creating safe spaces and being brave
• The law of the farm

Key Takeaways:

• We should look like the people that we are serving, in all the different equity, identity domains - we should look like the people that we are serving. Leadership should resemble the staff of which it serves.
• Have a role, make a stand. You may not be able to do a lot, but whatever you can, do offer. When you do make it, know that it's now your turn to make sure others like you make it as well.
• Think about how you can create safe spaces for people within your area of influence and also how you can show up as brave to people who look to you.
• Sometimes you're in the season of the planting, other times you're in the season of the harvesting. We benefit from the labors of others and others benefit too from ours.

"Creating equitable spaces wherever we find ourselves is the primary mission of our generation… Every generation has a mission and it either fulfills it or betrays it." - Abdul Malik Muhammad

Connect with Abdul Malik Muhammad:

Website: https://akobenllc.org/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malik-muhammad-0ab4b77b/

Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:

Don't forget to subscribe to the show, so that you don't miss a single episode; and please leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate it.

Follow our show on Facebook and check out our Website for more details and to engage with our podcast community. You can also follow Dr. Lang on LinkedIn.

Download Three Vital Practices to avoid a potential lawsuit for free by clicking this link: www.WorkplaceRestorativePracticesInc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaye-lang-1735761b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaye.lang.779/

KEY WORDS:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Jennifer McCready-Resnick is a school counselor in Texas. This is her 28th year in education, she's a graduate of Trinity University, B.A and M.A in Teaching and University of North Texas M.E.D. in Counselling. In her current job, she helps implement restorative practices in the fall of 2018 as a relational approach to build school culture and address student behavior with the focus on belonging over exclusion, social engagement over control, and meaningful accountability over punishment. In the circle, students experience a structured intentional space that promotes connection, understanding, dialogue, respect, equality, empathy and emotional literacy, problem-solving, responsibility, self-regulation, self-awareness, and shared leadership. 2021-2022 marked her fourth year of restorative practices implementation. Outside of school, Jennifer enjoys reading, pilates, yoga, biking, and traveling.

In this episode Dr. Gaye Lang and Jennifer McCready-Resnick discuss:

• Restorative rather than punitive
• Creating spaces of equity in schools
• Letting counselors counsel
• The key to creating equity

Key Takeaways:

• Respond to issues in a restorative manner, making punitive action a secondary option.
• As the school grows and new facilities and technology are introduced, we need to make sure that people who are in the older facilities have just as much access to it as everyone else.
• It's a counselor's job to counsel the students but often, they're being given clerical work. We must advocate for counselors to be able to do their job.
• Listening is the key ability that we need in order to create spaces of equity within our communities.

"There's nothing more powerful than sitting in a circle with the group of staff and students... everyone feels equal... everyone gets to speak, the speaker gets to speak without interruption and everyone else has permission to listen…" - Jennifer McCready-Resnick

Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:

Don't forget to subscribe to the show, so that you don't miss a single episode; and please leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate it.

Follow our show on Facebook and check out our Website for more details and to engage with our podcast community. You can also follow Dr. Lang on LinkedIn.

Download Three Vital Practices to avoid a potential lawsuit for free by clicking this link: www.WorkplaceRestorativePracticesInc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaye-lang-1735761b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaye.lang.779/

KEY WORDS:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Jeffrey Clemmons Episode 8 Season 3 Equity in the workplace and in the world

Jeffrey Clemmons is a senior studying Political Science at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin where he serves in a number of roles on campus including President of the campus NAACP chapter. Off-campus, he is the chair of Austin's College Student Commission. He plans to continue his work in public service as a staffer for Congressman Lloyd Doggett in Washington, DC in 2022.

In this episode Dr. Gaye Lang and Jeffrey Clemmons discuss:

• Education as the pathway to citizenship
• Breaking through walls
• Turning inequity into empowerment
• Being thankful and being bold

Key Takeaways:

• Inequity in education is a legacy of the desire of people with power from the past to maintain slavery. Education is a pathway to citizenship and various opportunities and everyone must be given access to it.
• Being the first person of color in anything means that you have to break down or break through some walls.
• Facing inequity and coming out strong and more knowledgeable about life and reality is an advantage that mostly only people of color can have. In that sense, people are able to turn inequity into empowerment.
• Always be prepared to say "thank you" to people and be bold. Know that you're never out of place and that you are where you're supposed to be. Find that confidence within yourself.

"That's part of restoring the inequities that we face every single day is that we have to be able to hold the door open and also save a plate for people who don't get to sit at the table." - Jeffrey Clemmons

Connect with Jeffrey Clemmons:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-clemmons-917579193/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jefflmclemmons

Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:

Don't forget to subscribe to the show, so that you don't miss a single episode; and please leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate it.

Follow our show on Facebook and check out our Website for more details and to engage with our podcast community. You can also follow Dr. Lang on LinkedIn.

Download Three Vital Practices to avoid a potential lawsuit for free by clicking this link: www.WorkplaceRestorativePracticesInc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaye-lang-1735761b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaye.lang.779/

KEY WORDS:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Butterfly Luv Hugs is the founder of Flutter Your Potential Creative Transformation Academy. She is an educational leader, an award winning teacher, transformational speaker and career coach who excels at creating and facilitating successful life skills and employability programs in a variety of educational environments. A real butterfly by nature, her life's calling is to ignite the hearts and souls of young people of color all around the world by teaching them how to creatively flutter their full potential. She is very passionate about inspiring the next generation of LGBTQ young leaders of color to courageously step into their divine purpose by harnessing the power of belief to create and live the life of their dreams. Butterfly has two beautiful daughters and is the grandmother of seven wonderful grandchildren. She enjoys all things nature: meditating at the beach, rainy days, beautiful sunsets, stargazing, reading, listening to music, dancing, fun art projects, and crafting delectable culinary delights.

In this episode Dr. Gaye Lang and Butterfly Luv Hugs discuss:

• Appointing qualified educators
• Establish an environment of support
• Removing biases and creating spaces
• Meditating to bring confidence and understanding

Key Takeaways:

• Equity in school can be achieved by appointing a qualified educator. Schools shouldn't give up on any student, and must support the ones that are especially having a hard time.
• Establish that we are all not here to change one another, but everyone's here to respect, accept, love and support each other for who they are and help each other be successful.
• Remove biases, create spaces where anybody would feel like they belong - that they would not be treated differently.
• Meditate and be still and know that the universe has your back. That knowing will bring confidence and understanding of these things you've learned that you now must teach others.

"Providing that safe space is important right now for young people, especially for young people of color… where they would be respected, loved, supported." - Butterfly Luv Hugs

Connect with Butterfly Luv Hugs:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/butterfly-luv-hugz/

Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:

Don't forget to subscribe to the show, so that you don't miss a single episode; and please leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate it.

Follow our show on Facebook and check out our Website for more details and to engage with our podcast community. You can also follow Dr. Lang on LinkedIn.

Download Three Vital Practices to avoid a potential lawsuit for free by clicking this link: www.WorkplaceRestorativePracticesInc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaye-lang-1735761b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaye.lang.779/

KEY WORDS:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Nataline Hall has a Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley and has worked with diverse populations in the field for 15 years. She has worked with youth and adults in a variety of settings. Some of her most significant experiences include: working with youth aging out of foster care, adults diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, and managing international volunteer programs in Costa Rica and Peru. Nataline values macro social work and collaborating with community stakeholders to insure those in need are represented and served appropriately. She is a member of her local community resource and coordination group, holds the national leadership identification committee position for the national association of social workers, coastal bin branch and is a mental health first-aid instructor.

In this episode Dr. Gaye Lang and Nataline Hall discuss:

• Listening to understand
• Validating people's experiences
• Making support accessible
• A sense of belongingness

Key Takeaways:

• We need to listen intently and try to understand the needs of people. Don't just listen to respond, and don't assume what people need - you can only provide equity if you know where people are coming from.
• Letting others know that their experiences are real and that they are heard is a huge step towards making people feel safe.
• It's not enough to just have support available, you also have to make it accessible. Make sure that the people you want to impact know that help is available for them.
• Create a space that provides a sense of belongingness. People need people who accepts them, validates their experiences, and helps them to be a better person.

"Hurt people hurt people, and healed people help people." - Nataline Hall

Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:

Don't forget to subscribe to the show, so that you don't miss a single episode; and please leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate it.

Follow our show on Facebook and check out our Website for more details and to engage with our podcast community. You can also follow Dr. Lang on LinkedIn.

Download Three Vital Practices to avoid a potential lawsuit for free by clicking this link: www.WorkplaceRestorativePracticesInc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaye-lang-1735761b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaye.lang.779/

KEY WORDS:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Queen Grant is a Shreveport Native and has 19 years of higher education experience. She currently resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she is the Director of Communications and Outreach for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. Queena has managed several successful missions teams at post-secondary institutions across Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. She has brought great energy and commitment to establish innovative strategies and successful programs for engaging prospective new and continuing students in the college experience. She has a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Louisiana and Monroe in Pre-law, a Master's Degree in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix. Currently, she's ABD towards her Doctorate Degree in Education from Northcentral University. Queena's commitment to serving the community is longstanding. She has been a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., for 24 years and is also a member of the Association of Career and Technology Education and the Louisiana Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

In this episode Dr. Gaye Lang and Queena Grant discuss:

• The effect of seeing other people like yourself
• Targeting specific groups to promote equity
• How to secure a diverse selection of people
• Being intentional and keeping people accountable

Key Takeaways:

• When people don't see others that look like them in high places, people aren't encouraged to aspire.
• Be specific with your actions, intentionally target groups that are not given a lot of opportunity, focus on them and give them the tools they need to succeed.
• When looking for the right candidates, do the work yourself. Don't leave it all to job sites or headhunters to do it because you might not get diverse selection.
• Keep the higher ups accountable. When they say they're going to do something - remind them to follow-up on their word.

"Be very deliberate and intentional about the population that you want to target and the profile of the person that you want to target, have smart goals. Hold your organizations accountable." - Queena Grant

Connect with Queena Grant:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/queena-grant-418a2a9/

Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:

Don't forget to subscribe to the show, so that you don't miss a single episode; and please leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate it.

Follow our show on Facebook and check out our Website for more details and to engage with our podcast community. You can also follow Dr. Lang on LinkedIn.

Download Three Vital Practices to avoid a potential lawsuit for free by clicking this link: www.WorkplaceRestorativePracticesInc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaye-lang-1735761b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaye.lang.779/

KEY WORDS:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Dr. Darlene Brown is an independent consultant with 35 years of experience in education. She has worked at the elementary, secondary, and higher education levels. Additionally, she has served in leadership roles at Institute of Research. Dr. Brown is the Founding Director of the New Beginnings Charter School Network and a Founding Member of Edward Hynes Charter School Board of Directors in New Orleans. All this work is done in the midst of Hurricane Katrina.

She is a chapter author in the recently published book, "Called to Sankofa: Leading In, Through and Beyond Disaster―A Narrative Account of African Americans Leading Education in Post-Katrina New Orleans". More recently, Dr. Brown served as a member in a diversity and inclusion council and the chair of the employee research group, focused on increasing opportunities for employees from diverse ratio and ethnic backgrounds at a large international research organization.

In this episode Dr. Gaye Lang and Dr. Darlene Brown discuss:

• Equity is the foundation
• Application rather than "awareness"
• Prioritizing equity in the workplace
• Transparency, honest, and self-reflection

Key Takeaways:

• Equity is the foundation - it will make someone feel they belong, that they are whole and that they are supported.
• People have got to step up and stand firm in not only promoting equity practices, but actually practicing equity.
• Our concern shouldn't be on providing the same things for everybody, but on making sure that each one has what they need in order to have an equal opportunity for success.
• Be honest about how far do you have to go in terms of applying equity in the workplace. Look at the data, numbers don't lie - they'll reveal the reality of equity in your organization, whether it exists or doesn't at the moment.

"Equity in the workplace is the thing that will allow diversity and inclusion to come to fruition… unfortunately sometimes we focus on the diversity piece which is we can visibly see that we have diverse cultures and races and beliefs and genders there…but equity practices say that we have opportunities that are for everyone in the workplace. " - Dr. Darlene Brown

Connect with Dr. Darlene Brown:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darlene.brown.5030

Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:

Don't forget to subscribe to the show, so that you don't miss a single episode; and please leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate it.

Follow our show on Facebook and check out our Website for more details and to engage with our podcast community. You can also follow Dr. Lang on LinkedIn.

Download Three Vital Practices to avoid a potential lawsuit for free by clicking this link: www.WorkplaceRestorativePracticesInc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaye-lang-1735761b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaye.lang.779/

KEY WORDS:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

William A. Sommers of Austin, Texas continues to be a learner, former teacher and principal, author, leadership coach and consultant. Bill has come out of retirement multiple times to put theory into practice as apprenticeable.

Bill has been a consultant for leadership coaching, cognitive coaching, adaptive schools, leveraging polarities, brain research, poverty, habits of mind, conflict management and classroom management strategies. He was also on the Board of Trustees of the National Staff Development Council, now known as Learning Forward, for five years and was president for one year. In addition to serving graduate faculties in several universities, Dr. Sommers has been a program director for an adolescent chemical dependency treatment center and on the advisory board of a halfway house for 20 years.

Bill has authored and co-authored over 10 books, his latest are "Creating Talent Density: Accelerating Adult Learning", "Responding to Resistance: Thirty Strategies to Manage Conflict in Your School", "Nine Professional Conversations to Change Our Schools: A Dashboard of Options".

Bill and his colleague, Skip Olson, launched the website www.LearningOmnivores.com which includes educational posts, new rules, and book reviews. Bill is a practitioner who integrates theory into helping leaders get better. Dr. Sommers continues to coach school and business leaders using The Stakeholder-centered Coaching developed by Marshall Goldsmith.

In this episode Dr. Gaye Lang and William A. Sommers discuss:

• Using the platinum rule to build equity
• Leading by example
• Supporting the underdogs
• When the "best practice" doesn't work

Key Takeaways:

• Each person has different needs. Treat them not as how you want to be treated but as how they want to be treated. Think about what they would need to be the best leader that they need.
• The leader must first practice and embody equity, checking each policy and organizational action to see if any are against their desire to be equitable. Then the staff must be held accountable in the same way.
• Recognize and appreciate the underdogs, reward the people that were able to beat the odds. Think about what can be done to make sure that the underdogs get what they need in order to succeed. In the same way, be mindful of which voices are yet unheard, bring them in the conversation.
• The "best practice" doesn't work for everybody so a teacher has to make time and make an effort to understand what will help each student learn. Don't leave anybody behind.

"Model what you believe. Communicate through words, deeds, actions. Build relationships. Creativity: don't tell anybody there's only one way to do something. Have emotional agility. " - William A. Sommers

Connect with William A. Sommers:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillSommers8

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-sommers-a971b3169/

Website: https://learningomnivores.com

Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:

Don't forget to subscribe to the show, so that you don't miss a single episode; and please leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate it.

Follow our show on Facebook and check out our Website for more details and to engage with our podcast community. You can also follow Dr. Lang on LinkedIn.

Download Three Vital Practices to avoid a potential lawsuit for free by clicking this link: www.WorkplaceRestorativePracticesInc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaye-lang-1735761b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaye.lang.779/

KEY WORDS:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.