Brave Conversations with LCW

“I don’t see color” is sometimes viewed as a non-discriminatory, “politically correct” approach to interactions with people of color. But in reality, there’s a difference between understanding a person’s inherent value and being mindful of the challenges and perspectives each unique identity brings to the conversation.

The phrase “but you don’t look autistic” presupposes autism as an “other,” ostracizing autistic people from the conversation and discounting the community’s diverse lived experiences. So how do we respond to anti-autistic microaggressions, and what can we do to foster a sense of belonging through inclusive language?

Since 1992, May has been recognized as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month in the United States. So how can we honor the lived experiences of this diverse community and show up as authentic allies coming out of a pandemic that increased anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination?

What does it mean to be a “diversity hire?” Is it just a marketing ploy, or are organizations truly looking to diversify their team’s thought leadership? And what effects do these expectations have on the employee?

April 7 was World Health Day, and May is Mental Health Month. But why talk about health and wellness in the workplace? What can organizations do to promote wellness and help diverse teams thrive?

If you don’t participate in your workplace culture the expected way, you might hear, “You’re not being a team player.” But what are the qualities of a team player, and why are some viewed as more acceptable than others?

Regardless of birthplace or current residence, the phrase “Where are you really from?” can be belittling of an individual’s intersectional identity. How do you respond when you’re positioned as an “outsider” in the conversation?

It’s been three years since we saw organizations make a wave of promises and commitments to their Black employees following the racial reckoning of 2020. So what’s changed? Have these commitments converted to action? What do we do when it feels like performative policy is replacing positive transformation? We want to know – are organizations’ commitments to Black employees woke, or are they really broke?

Inspired by the 2023 theme for International Women's Day—Embracing Equity—we're taking a look inward to highlight the lived experiences of our diverse team.

The pandemic led to a challenging 24+ months for everyone but especially for people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. With the recent rise in anti-AAPI hate crimes in the U.S. and the COVID turmoil that impacted India and other regions, there’s been an increased interest in allyship and resources to support this community. But has it been enough? What can these events teach us about being better allies?

Following the industry’s boom during the pandemic, the tech sector faces extensive layoffs and a looming recession. Growing employee unease makes intentionally inclusive engagement the number one priority, but what does DEI look like in tech?

We all know that what happens in our world outside of work doesn’t stop at the office door. How do you approach discussing global events with a multicultural team, and how do these conversations affect corporate outcomes?

While a person’s faith or non-faith is a deeply personal experience, it is also part of the authentic, intersectional identity they bring to the workplace. Yet, many organizations do not consider this important part of workers’ identities outside the Christian faith. In practicing cultural competency, it is crucial that organizations move beyond religious tolerance and toward inclusion­­—especially for non-Christian faiths and non-faiths—to ensure equitable policies for their diverse communities.

Following 2020’s racial reckoning, companies across the U.S. engaged in their own brave conversations, some for the first time. While we know that many of these conversations centered around a U.S.-centric lens, the conversations that resulted are global conversations that have transcended borders.

But how do conversations on race differ across borders and cultures? How do you approach these conversations when considering different cultural identities within one organization? What is needed to move these conversations forward? And what can you personally do in your own organization to create space for these conversations?

Did you know that July is BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month? BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month aims to increase visibility of the ways historically disenfranchised, marginalized, or oppressed racial and ethnic groups face unique mental health challenges.

Across the country, “Critical Race Theory” has been weaponized as a justification for limiting identity-based conversations in schools and workplaces. To date, at least seven states have passed legislation limiting these types of conversations, while citing or banning Critical Race Theory in the process and at least seventeen more states have similar legislation in the works, proving this conversation is not going away.

Juneteenth is now a federal holiday and is being recognized more than ever across America. Yet, not everyone knows why we recognize this holiday, what happened on this day, and, most importantly, why it matters.

What are gender pronouns and why do they matter in the LGBTQ+ community? What do you do when you misgender someone in the workplace? What’s it like to be misgendered?

While the pandemic has led to the widespread acceptance of remote work and drawn increased attention to digital accessibility, in many cases, workers with a disability have not benefited from these advancements like their peers. In fact, a 2019 Rutgers study showed that among people who continued working during the pandemic, workers with disabilities were less likely than those without disabilities to be working from home and experienced heightened levels of joblessness.

Mentorship. You know the term. You're familiar with the concept. But what does it mean to truly foster a meaningful mentorship in the workplace?

The great resignation… the great reshuffle… the great realignment… whatever you call it, this period of flux, characterized by high rates of workers leaving jobs for better or more flexible opportunities, doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and no organization is immune.

In this episode of the Culture Moments podcast, host Larry Baker has a Brave Conversation about the Great Resignation’s impacts on businesses and the BIPOC community. Larry is joined by guests Michael Johnson (Managing Director, HR Capital Group) and Kenneth Peck (SVP of Operations, Valor Intelligent Processing). Together, they explore what this moment means for businesses, how BIPOC workers might be affected, and what organizations can do to promote a sense of belonging amongst their entire workforce.

Find the full show notes and transcript here: hyyps://languageandculture.com/culture-moments-podcast-great-resignation

Guest and Host Info:

In this special edition of our Brave Conversations series, host Larry Baker has a discussion with LCW colleagues José Guardado (Principal Consultant), Melissa Neu (Buisness Development Consultant), and Rebecca Parrilla (Director of Content & Research) on a shared experience many people can relate to: parenting during the pandemic.

This unique episode highlights features Language & Culture Worldwide team voices, as they reflect on the past two years together and explore: the challenges of parenting and caregiving during the pandemic, how this experience changed their values, what privileges they might have had that helped them get through it all, and what the pandemic has taught us about work culture moving forward from here.

In this episode of the Culture Moments podcast, LCW Consultant and host Larry Baker has a brave conversation about the challenges the Latinx community faced during the pandemic and the obstacles this community continues to face in the workplace today. Guests Daisy Auger-Dominguez (Chief People Officer, VICE Media) and Carlos Herrera (Inclusive Diversity Lead Consultant, Allstate) explore timely and crucial topics including how the pandemic most affected the Latinx community, why some companies find it difficult to support the Latinx community after Hispanic Heritage month, and what it means to go beyond performative allyship.

Find the full show notes and transcript here:https://languageandculture.com/culture-moments-podcast-what-about-the-latinx-community

Guest and Host Info:

In this episode of the Culture Moments podcast, host Larry Baker has a brave conversation about what a post-pandemic “return to normal” might look like for the LGBTQ+ community, how organizational leaders can support their LGBTQ+ staff members, and what authentic change looks like in practice. Indigo Avisov (Sr. Diversity & Inclusion Business Partner, Uber) and Dr. Joel A. Brown (Chief Visionary Officer, Pneumos) share their insights and perspectives on the pandemic, pride month, and what it means to challenge organizations to make meaningful and lasting change.

Today, we continue our Around the World in 20 Years journey with Patricia Glasel, Global Training Director at TransPerfect to discuss her partnership with LCW, and how global cross-cultural management and DEI have shifted in her experience working in Europe. 

We continue our Around the World in 20 Years journey with Akberet Boykin-Farr, VP of Diversity and Social Responsibility at Emerson out of St. Louis, Missouri. At Emerson, we worked with Akberet on the development and rollout of the company’s unconscious bias training globally, which was the beginning of their D&I training. We talk a little bit about the broader and more robust D&I initiatives brought about by that training, and how leadership is taking more of an initiative to promote inclusion on their teams. But what is particularly valuable about this conversation is Akberet’s key advice to practitioners on avoiding perfectionism.

Lukeisha Paul of GroupM joins Around the World to talk about how the organization and LCW have partnered together over the past year and a half – especially in light of the events of 2020. Lukeisha also shares some great advice for new DEI practitioners in the field.

A corporate change-maker with a track record of transforming businesses and cultures, Carta's Mita Mallick is a passionate storyteller who believes in the power of diversity to spur creative strategic thinking to ultimately transform brands.  In this episode we dig into the details a bit about how the Cultural Immersions, a program that went beyond unconscious bias and into the heart and soul of the experience of underrepresented communities, was created. Mita also touches a bit on the topic of inclusive representation and inclusive design along with her future-forward insights on how we can all become our own Chief Diversity Officers – in our own way.

Today, we’re continuing our Around the World in 20 Years journey with Stephen Cornejo Garcia, Director of Inclusive Diversity and Organizational Effectiveness at Allstate. Stephen executes the enterprise strategy around diversity and inclusion and oversees the organizational effectiveness solutions designed to impact the people side of change and transformation. In this conversation, we discuss the Changemaker programs we’ve released across the enterprise and also the need for continuous self-reflection and examination in this work.

We continue our Around the World in 20 Years journey with Carol Watson, the Chief Inclusion Officer at global communications agency BCW. Previously, worked at Carol  Diversity Best Practices and Working Mother Media, where she was at the time a Senior Director of Global Advisory and Consulting. There she was responsible for advising and consulting 200+ mid- to large-sized organizational leaders at all levels on how to best leverage proven and innovative diversity initiatives and sustainable culture change strategies. Carol also co-founded the marketing and media industry initiative Inclusive100 with She Runs It, which brings together the advertising, media and marketing ecosystem to benchmark workforce, workplace and inclusive culture progress and share best practices with 30+ marketing organizations participating quarterly.

Carol Watson has a deep understanding of the business approach to embedding inclusion and the metrics-driven practices of building and nurturing a truly inclusive organization. We talk quite a bit about this in our conversation, how DEI is both an art and science and how in this innovative DEI landscape, having a baseline understanding of the art and science is still critical. 

We're delighted to speak to Geetha Rajagopal, a longtime LCW partner and friend. As the co-founder of Phebus HR Advisory in India Geetha works with organizations across the globe, helping them with projects involving office structuring and diversity & inclusion. In this episode, Geetha shares how she entered the D&I and intercultural competence field as an LCW-trained facilitator during her time at Hewitt (now Aon), and her views on what practitioners must do to move the D&I field forward - and fully integrate it into business functions and cultures. 

We're kicking off Culture Moments by taking you around the world to meet the practitioners and experts that have been a part of our 20-year intercultural DEI journey. We're excited to bring you their stories and insights - especially after a year that has seen so much crisis and change globally.