In this episode of the Demystifying Diversity Podcast, host Daralyse Lyons explores the vast and complicated subject of bias. Her conversations with guest experts illuminate some of the countless ways in which internalized biases impact society and the ways we treat ourselves and others.
In this episode, you will learn about:
* How everyone has bias.
* How the total eradication of bias should not be the intended goal (and would be impossible).
* How understanding our biases creates greater space for inclusivity.
* The role that empathy plays in overriding one's internal biases to create first understanding, then change.
* The non-obvious ways in which bias presents itself in our society - from healthcare, to education, to politics, and beyond.
* How racism is not only perpetrated through overt acts by hate-filled individuals, but is more often a result of inaction by those who either do not see anything wrong with the status quo, or are unwilling to intervene.
* How different societal stakeholders force compliance with biased systems.
Our guest experts this episode include:
Jeff Mayner - Jeff is a financial services professional and full-time entrepreneur who prior to his transition to entrepreneurship, worked in IT and telecommunications, and prior to that, he served eight and a half years in the United States Navy.
Rocki Mayner - Rocki is a licensed financial coach, speaker, and workshop facilitator, who previously worked as a human resources executive.
Jacqui Lipton - a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, an attorney, a literary agent at the Tobias Literary Agency, and the author of numerous academic texts. Jacqui also wrote Law and Authors, A Legal Handbook for Writers, which is a must-read book for authors looking to know their rights, increase their self-advocacy skills, and understand the intricacies of the publishing industry.
Sabrina Volpone - Sabrina is an associate professor in the Organizational Leadership Division at the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business, and a diversity researcher who uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how organizations manage their diverse workforces and how diverse individuals flourish through management of their identities at work.
Stew Kraintz - Stew is a mindset, success and relationship coach who works with people individually and in groups to empower them into ownership of their lives. Before stepping into coaching, Stew had a successful career in sales and marketing within professional baseball, having the opportunity to work for the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves, as well as several affiliated minor league clubs. Stew is also the Production and Development Assistant for the Demystifying Diversity Podcast.
Joyce Jelks - JJ is the head of people and culture at Wieden and Kennedy, New York, an Army Major, the chief founding member, relationship engagement manager for Sean Johnson and founder of Ottawa Park HR Advisory.
Liz Brown - Liz is an Associate Professor, Law and Taxation at Bentley University. She earned her BA from Harvard College and her JD from Harvard Law School and represented Fortune 100 companies for 13 years prior to joining Bentley's faculty.
Leora Eisenstadt - Leora is a mother of three who is working to normalize parenting in her professional life, while also modeling work satisfaction to her children. Leora is an associate professor in the Department of Legal Studies at the Fox School of Business at Temple University, a Murray Schusterman Research Fellow, the director of the Center for Ethics, Diversity and Workplace Culture, CEDWC, and an Assistant Producer and Consultant for this, the Demystifying Diversity Podcast.
Anel Duarte – Anel specializes in facilitating one-on-one and group practices under the trauma sensitive and trauma informed lenses. A trauma survivor herself, Anel holds safe space for participants to explore their internal experiences through yoga, body movement, meditation, the use of rituals and breathing techniques. Additionally, her interest center in intersectional social justice and gender violence advocacy in order to dismantle systems of oppression and to create a world where it is possible to live our lives in dignity, free from patriarchal, colonial and capitalist violence.
Skye Kowaleski - Skye is a writer, director, facilitator, speaker, consultant, and therapeutic breathwork practitioner whose multidisciplinary approach supports people in showing up to the world as all of who they are. Skye invites those they work with to create internal awareness while simultaneously building their capacity for constructive communication with others.
Juan Otero - Juan currently serves as Senior Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Comcast Corporation, where he oversees operational management of the company's DE and I efforts across the corporate enterprise. Juan previously served as vice president for Comcast Corporation's federal government affairs team, where he was responsible for federal legislative advocacy with members of Congress and the administration. In addition, he sits on several national nonprofit boards, including Easter Seals, the Hispanic Federation, and the Smithsonian's Latino Center.
Cameron Footman - Cameron He is the first voice of indigiped.ca, a lifelong entrepreneur and technology advocate, and the founder of Woodcrest Construction, a contracting company which specializes in welding and steel fabrication with a focus on heated furniture and art metalworks.
Alida Miranda-Wolff - Alida is the author of Cultures of Belonging, Building Inclusive Organizations that Last, and CEO and founder of Ethos, a diversity equity, inclusion and belonging firm dedicated to closing the opportunity gap for underrepresented and underserved groups.
Tanner Gers - Tanner is President and founder of Accessibility Officer, a data-driven disability inclusion firm who helps companies drive ability, DNI, and maximize ROI. Tanner also serves as a board member for Menus for All and recently co-authored Foresight Augmented Reality's solution proposal for the US Department of Transportation's Inclusive Design Challenge, and is a US Paralympian World Championship team member.
Jonathan Howe - Jonathan is a professor at Temple University whose research centers broadly on the intersection of race, sport, and education. Within these intersections, Jonathan focuses on black male college athletes as well as black coaches and athletic administrators. He has presented his work at national and international conferences and has been published in numerous academic journals. Jonathan describes his work as “me-search” because he is a black man in the world of athletics, studying the experiences of black men in sports.
Rebbeca Tesfai - Rebbeca is an Associate Professor and researcher at Temple University. Her research provides a comprehensive account of black immigrants, economic, political, and residential incorporation over time and across place. Using quantitative methods, she studies black immigrants, occupational wage, voting, housing, and residential patterns, and uses these analysis to reexamine our theoretical understanding of both immigrant incorporation and racial stratification.
Jolly Good Ginger - Jolly is a well-known social justice advocate. He was raised in the mountains of North Carolina in a racist household in an all-white town. Growing up, he was taught racism and bigotry at home, in church, at school, basically everywhere. He is on the board of directors for two nonprofit organizations, Families United and Justice Reform Group. As a national level activist, Jolly travels the country and attends rallies, marches and protests, gives speeches at various venues, and has garnered a social media following of over 1 million subscribers.
AC Fowlkes - AC is the Executive Officer of Fowlkes Consulting, and LGBTQ+ sensitivity and transgender inclusion consulting firm.
LaTonya Wilkins - LaTonya is the founder of the Change Coaches, LLC, an organization dedicated to creating revolutionary leadership development, culture change, and extraordinary personal growth. And the author of Leading Below the Surface: How to Build Real and Psychologically Safe Relationships with People who Are Different from You.
Elizabeth Smith - Elizabeth is a disability advocate and researcher, a graduate of Rollins College, who double majored in music and communication and a current participation in the Accelerate graduate studies program. Elizabeth is currently obtaining a master of public health degree, which she will receive by 2024.
Tomar Pierson-Brown - Tomar is an Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusive Excellence and a Clinical Associate Professor of Law at University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Tomar is also the director of the Health Law Clinic, which operates as a medical legal partnership with UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Charlotte Alexander - Charlotte holds the Connie Dee and Ken McDaniel Women Lead Chair as an Associate Professor of Law and Analytics at the Colleges of Business and Law at Georgia State University, where she uses computational methods to study legal text with a particular focus on understanding how courts process and resolve employment disputes and other types of civil lawsuits. Charlotte also founded and directs the university's Legal Analytics Lab, which works towards a legal system that embraces data to solve intractable problems and create a more just society.
Chair Charlotte Burrows - Charlotte Burrows, who is designated by President Biden to be chair of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the EEOC on January 20th, 2021. Also spoke about how biased assumptions and expectations can put people in the position of being expected to present a certain way on the outside when they are the ones being harmed. Prior to her current position, Chair Burrows served as a commissioner of the EEOC for multiple terms, and prior to that she served as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice, as well as general counsel for civil and constitutional rights to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
James Barnes - James is a corporate trainer, coach, and public speaker whose own transition has equipped him to teach companies, schools, hospitals, and other organizations to create safe, uplifting and empowering environments for LGBTQ+ individuals with a special emphasis on serving transgender adults and youth.
Resources this episode include:
Host Daralyse Lyons' TedX Talk: Black or White? Refusing to Choose & Embracing Biracial Identity | TEDxLehighRiver
Click here for a full transcript of this episode.
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