Laura Kriska is an internationally recognized expert, with over 30 years of experience in cross-cultural relationships and providing that to help organizations bridge gaps in diverse workplaces. Early in her career, she worked for a large Japanese corporation, where she got first-hand experience in what it was like to be an outsider of what she calls a company’s “home team”. From that experience, and throughout her career, she developed strategies to help create inclusion and has written all about the “us versus them'' dynamic in her book, The Business of We. To learn more, connect with Laura, and order her book, you can find her on LinkedIn or at her website, https://www.laurakriska.com/.

Lori Costew is the Chief Diversity Officer and Director of People Strategy at Ford Motor Company. In her role, she oversees corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion and all of the efforts within the company to cultivate a sense of belonging and to advance the company’s mission and business objectives, and ensures that Ford strategy supports all of the corporate goals and the transformation efforts within the organization. In our conversation, we talk about the importance of DEI for such a large enterprise and some of the strategies Lori has used, particularly in the area of leadership and listening. To connect with Lori and learn more, you can find her on LinkedIn.

Leyla Okhai is the founder and director of Diverse Minds UK LTD, which aims to create a positively productive workplace for all through training, coaching and consultancy, by focusing on wellbeing and mental health. Leyla is also the host of the Diverse Minds podcast, a weekly show about race equality, mental health, and inclusion for a modern world. In our conversation, we discuss the eurocentric approach to mental health, particularly in the workplace. And we also talk about some of the shifts she is seeing and that she recommends to employers in order to recognize the needs of a diverse workforce.

Paula Phillips is a school board member for Milwaukee Public Schools and currently with the YWCA Southeast Wisconsin. Her mission is to actively build a society in which all of us are seen, heard, and cared for. Throughout her career, she has served in many different leadership roles across different industries, from academia to large corporations and the nonprofit space. With the experiences she has had across different sectors, she has built expertise in sharing and teaching the skills of diversity, equity, and inclusion in each of her roles. In my conversation with her, we talk about her work, the importance of creating space for learning and growth, and how to build programs with accountability and consistency.

Ify Walker is the Founder and CEO of Offor, a national talent brokerage, working to place board members and CEOs, create high-performing teams, and break up the myth of meritocracy. She is also an advocate for a 30-hour workweek. We discuss how organizations can begin to make the shift to a 30-hour workweek, why they should, and how it benefit Black women in particular. We also dive into the topic of how companies can begin the work of DEI, the importance of data, and the willingness it takes to confront the status quo.

Donald Thompson is a serial entrepreneur, public speaker, author, podcaster, and executive coach, using his skills and expertise to serve as a thought leader on goal achievement and company culture, and I am very excited to have him on the show today. We have an insightful conversation about the relationship between C-Suite executives and the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within an organization. He shares with us some of the tools he finds helpful in starting conversations around DEI, and the importance of expanding our networks, both personally and professionally.

I am so excited to be here with Jessica Hope, a diversity and inclusion strategist for USAA, where she develops holistic, data-driven strategies that advocate for people, marginalized populations, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a whole host of other amazing things. She shares with us how her background in the military and as a social worker, as well as through the art of storytelling, she is able to connect with others and do the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Through our conversation she talks about the role of politicians in this work, and challenges us to check with ourselves, are we just checking boxes off? Or are we actually making a difference. I so enjoyed this conversation and I know you will too.

I am so excited to share with you my conversation with Lesley Slaton Brown, the Chief Diversity Officer at HP Inc. Lesley was also named one of the most powerful women in corporate diversity by Black Enterprise, and a top influential woman in corporate America by Savoy Magazine. In our conversation, we talk at length about the strides HP has taken in prioritizing diversity, particularly at the board level. She also shares some of the strategies they are applying to ensure that the diversity of the board is applied throughout other levels of the organization as well.

Today we have an amazing guest, Sheree Atcheson - one of the UK’s most influential women in tech and an international multi-award winner for her services in diversity and inclusion in the industry. Sheree is currently the Global Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at Peakon, an advisory board member for Women Who Code, contributor of Forbes, and author of Demanding More. In our conversation, we learn more about the reason she wrote Demanding More and the work to be done within the DEI space, how she launched Women Who Code in the UK and across Europe, and the work she does within her role at Peakon. This was a fascinating conversation, and I cannot wait for the release of Demanding More, coming April 2021. For pre-order information, be sure to check the resources section below.

I am so delighted to share with you the recent conversation I had with Michelle Bess, the Vice President of Talent and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at OppLoans. In her role, she focuses on creating systems and processes to ensure an equitable company where individuals from all backgrounds are seen, validated, and where they’re able to succeed. In this episode, we talk about the work that OppLoans is doing, what it looks like doing DEI within a company with a very small team, and some often overlooked areas of inclusion within organizations.