Different People

Being coached doesn't always lead to big insights or changes, but it does reveal what is most important to us. Listen in to this candid coaching conversation in which lisa explores Rehman's experience of the invisible work all diversity and inclusion practitionners do as part of their support to others.

In the category of now-for-something-completely-different, Rehman coaches lisa on what relatability and allyship look like—and mean—when you're a white woman working in the area of diversity, inclusion and equity. 

In our last episode of 2020, Rehman and lisa take on Christmas as a form of systemic racism. We know this is a strong perspective to take, but hear us out. We'd love your feedback.

What is whiteness? In this episode, Rehman and lisa examine whiteness not as a skin colour, but as a concept, a standard, a norm and a structure—and how it shapes the world we live in, whether at work, in our traditions or in how we relate to one another.

Feedback: sometimes it helps you grow, other times it hurts. When you are working to change organizational culture, and participants in your workshop write comments in anonymous evaluations that hint at systemic racism or are thinly veiled personal attacks, it can trigger feelings of upset and distress. Join Rehman and lisa in a vulnerable, heart-felt conversation on the emotional impact of stepping into Diversity, Equity and Inclusion organizational change work.

What will it take to make our organizations inclusive? And how to launch change initiatives that go beyond a checklist of tactics that appear to institute change (hiring targets, unconscious bias training, pledges signed by CEOs), to instead invite people, particularly leaders, into the uncomfortable internal work of changing their beliefs, mindsets and behaviours? In this episode, Rehman and lisa delve into the biggest barrier to organizational culture change: the common and pervasive belief that what needs changing is outside of us.

Leadership... organizational culture... engagement at work: These are the themes we will explore through a Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging lens as we step into season two. In this kick-off, Rehman and lisa look at the role of leaders, and what it will take to change systems and cultures at work where bias is entrenched—and how we might go about doing that. Specifically: how do we go from bandage solutions (like posting black squares in social media or signing off on a new hiring policy) to revealing and shifting the privilege that keeps systemic racism in place at the office, the factory and the zoom call.

The final episode of Season One: what we learned, what we missed and where we hope to go in season two. In particular, we touch on why we, and others who talk about Diversity and Inclusion, don't give in to requests to focus on the positive as we see it as a diversion from continuing to focus on what needs to change. 

GUEST INTERVIEW: Amira Elghawaby is a Canadian human rights advocate, widely published writer and TEDx speaker. In this episode, Rehman and lisa explore Amira's experience of wearing a hijab as an act of feminism as well as an act of worship, and hear her speak about her father's questioning of why she would create reasons for people to discriminate against her by choosing to wear one.

GUEST INTERVIEW: In this episode, Rehman and lisa are thrilled to welcome the Director of Engagement and Inclusion at CBC, Nick Davis. Hear us explore how bias and racism is inherent in schools, the workplace and in our communities—and listen in as Nicky and lisa touch on the dynamic between Black men and white women. 

Anger and defensiveness often characterize conversations about race and difference. Listen in as Rehman and lisa talk about the frustrations of leaders who are People of Colour when they are used as examples of how racism can't be all that bad, given how successful they are.

Feeling vulnerable and afraid of speaking up when it comes to racism, oppression, injustice and inequality is common. This episode looks at how we can create the space for white people to work through their anxiety of saying/not saying and doing/not doing the "right thing" so we can move from fear to understanding, connection and action.

Following weeks of protests and demands for justice for Black, Brown and Indigenous People around the world, Rehman and lisa talk about white supremacy, white privilege and white fragility, and how to create space to have these difficult but necessary conversations.

GUEST INTERVIEW: Rehman and lisa in conversation with Michele Byrne, a Diversity and Inclusion practitioner based in Toronto. We explore the impact of white supremacy in our culture, and its impact on the everyday lives of People of Colour. This podcast was recorded after Ahmed Aubrey was shot and killed while out on a run, but before George Floyd was suffocated to death by a white police officer, and Breonna Taylor was shot and killed, also by police, while asleep in her own home.

In this episode, Rehman and lisa explore the desire to have empathy and understanding about differences, yet fear the wrong thing will come out of our mouths and we will offend. We also talk about how systems (like the western holiday calendar based on Christian cultural traditions) are so entrenched that we fail to see how they make outsiders of people with different cultural and religious values.

This episode explores what it means to be a professional, when much of what passes for professional behaviour and attire is often "white" or informed primarily by western culture. We also talk about how our experiences of either being an immigrant (Rehman), or the child of immigrants (lisa) influenced the education and careers we chose, and how these choices were heavily influenced by our parents.

In this very first episode, hosts Rehman and lisa introduce themselves and the podcast, and talk about how each of them first learned they themselves were different: Rehman as a person of color, immigrant and a Muslim living in Winnipeg, Canada, and lisa as the child of German immigrants growing up in a small French-speaking town in Québec, also in Canada.