How does a community leader implement diversity and inclusion in the workplace? What effect can local, national and global organizations have on the community’s toughest challenges?
Four panelists representing the education sector, business community and Columbus’ Latino population tried to answer these questions at “Lead by Design: Inclusion Revealed” Thursday morning at Mill Race Center in downtown Columbus. More than 100 people attended the panel discussion.
The event was the second in a series centered around defining diversity and inclusion, understanding the economic benefits of diversity and sharing best practices.
The event was organized by the IUPUC Center for Business and Economic Development and the IUPUC Office for Women and was moderated by Nicole Pence Becker, Pence Media Group owner.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
“We know there’s a tie in for all of us between the economic development of our region and our ability to attract different types of people,” said Melissa Fairbanks, IUPUC Center for Business and Economic Development director.
“When we’re making decisions and we have a room full of people with different ideas, that just lifts all of us up; we all get better. All of the processes, the quality of what we’re saying and doing improves because we get input from different types of people,” she said.
The first discussion in the three-part series defined diversity and inclusion, but in a survey, those who attended said they wanted to take a deeper dive into how to actually implement these themes. That was the focus for Thursday’s event.
Panelist Kevin Jones, an IUPUC association professor of management, said diversity is everybody in the room who has something that makes them, them. Inclusion is an action step.
“Inclusion says ‘I’m going to step out and be a part of something that may be familiar or may not be familiar and how do I respond to the not familiar?’ “ Jones said.
Panelist Ian Kohen, director of corporate responsibility at Cummins Inc., said diversity is inviting someone to a dance; inclusion is asking that person to dance.
Each panelist shared ways in which their organizations are working toward diversity and inclusion and tips for how others could approach it.
Increasing awareness
Panelist Kathy Oren, executive director of the Community Education Coalition, said the coalition’s role in a big sense is to help increase awareness of why the community should care about inclusion and equity. She said the coalition tries to do this by sharing data with community stakeholders.
“It’s important for folks to know that back in 2014-15, the graduation rates for Hispanic students was just 72%,” Oren said, referencing data collected by the United Way of Bartholomew County. “We’ve done a lot of work in that space over the last seven, eight, nine years and the graduation rate for Hispanic students last year was about 86%, so we are closing the equity gap, we believe in the work we’re doing and making a difference.”
However, Oren said the African American graduation rate in 2014-15 was 75%, and in 2017-18, it was still 75% with only a little fluctuation in between. Oren said that’s a call to action.
Panelist Whitney Amuchastegui, executive director of Su Casa Columbus, encouraged people who want to figure out where to start when it comes to welcoming diversity and inclusion into their workplace to let go of preconceptions.
“So much of our culture is built on rewarding people for being smart about something and knowing something. That’s great,” Amuchastegui said. “But when you’re talking about diversity, you’re talking about a person’s experience. You can’t really know what the person has grown up with or what their background is. It’s important to step back and say, ‘I’m an idiot. Educate me about what you’re feeling and how you are.’”
Jones and Kohen said this involves building a level of trust between yourself and the other individual so you can ask questions.
“Building trust is key,” Kohen said. “A lot of non-white cultures won’t open up until they trust you and that’s where you can truly learn by being vulnerable and being humble, including them in what you do and who you’re with is really important.”
Jones suggested having lunch with someone you don’t know and listening to the other person as they tell you about themselves. From there, initial discomfort turns into long-term enrichment.
Table talk
Different from the first event, the second installment featured about 30 minutes allotted for table discussion. Attendees could share their own experiences with each other and brainstorm ways to make their workplaces more diverse and inclusive to all people.
Lesley Bradley, coordinator of the IUPUC Office for Women, said the goal of Thursday’s event was to get people talking. She said she felt like it was very important for guests to talk to other people in the community and hear what they’re doing and what challenges they’ve faced.
Bradley partnered with Fairbanks to create the Lead by Design series to engage people in the conversation of why it’s important to have diverse leadership and inclusion.
“This was an opportunity to get us all together and do what Columbus loves,” Fairbanks said. “We love to collaborate because we know we don’t need to reinvent the wheel; we need to work together to make it better.”
Oren said there’s no need to start from scratch in a community that is one of the most collaborative in the community.
“I really suggest that you find out what’s going on, collaborate with other organizations and employers, learn what other folks are doing,” she said. “In our work, it’s not about creating new programs, it’s about how do we expand and replicate best practices.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Meet the panelists” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
The Lead by Design: Inclusion Revealed panel included:
- Whitney Amuchastegui, executive director at Su Casa Columbus
- Kevin Jones, associate professor of management at IUPUC
- Ian Kohen, director of corporate responsibility at Cummins Inc.
- Kathy Oren, executive director at Community Education Coalition
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”What’s next?” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Melissa Fairbanks, executive director of the Center for Business and Economic Development at IUPUC, which helped organize the event along with the IUPUC Center for Women, said there will be another Learn By Design event in the future. No date has been set for a future session yet.
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About the series” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Lead by Design is a three-part discussion series about diversity in the community with a specific focus on how diversity can fuel economic development.
The event was organized by the IUPUC Center for Business and Economic Development and the IUPUC Office for Women.
To learn more, visit iupuc.edu/events/lead-by-design/index.html.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
