Imagine Belonging at Work

Since the rise of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement in the late 1960s, the experiences of LGBTQ+ employees in the workplace have dynamically shifted. Over these past five decades, LGBTQ+ employees have benefited from workplace protections, greater social visibility, and acceptance in most workplaces. Given all of these gains, many falsely believe LGBTQ+ employees have equal access to jobs, promoti...

Hello & Welcome to the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting…I'm your host, Rhodes Perry. Since the start of the Pandemic, anti-Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate has surged at an unprecedented rate in the U.S.  The previous Presidential Administration's racist and divisive language linked COVID-19 to AAPI communities, further exacerbating this surg...

Beat Burnout and Conquer Toxic Ambition w/Angelic Williams, Founder of Toxic Ambition   I'm guessing if you call yourself an inclusive leader, a DEI professional, or a social justice champion, that you likely set bold and ambitious goals….and after achieving those bold goals, you may have the tendency to move the goal posts further down the field.   If you can relate, then this interview with Ange...

Transgender Day of Visibility Day (TDOV) is an annual day of recognition observed around the world on March 31st. It's a time to celebrate the contributions and successes of transgender and nonbinary people. It's also a time to shine a light on the work ahead to end the disproportionate level of violence and discrimination transgender people endure, particularly BIPOC trans folx. With an onslaught...

Design a Workplace Where Everyone Thrives   In Rhodes Perry's bestselling book, Belonging at Work , he helps readers distinguish between the terms diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. All of these terms are outcomes: diversity is a people outcome, inclusion is behavioral outcome, equity is a structural outcome, and belonging is an emotional outcome.   Minal Bopaiah's bestselling book, Equi...

Grow the #BelongingMovement by Empowering a Generation of Little Justice Leaders with Shelby Kretz   Public schools across the U.S. have served as the decisive testing ground for some of the most contentious social and political issues. Everything from mask mandates and teachings about racial justice, to the discussion of LGBTQ+ rights, and the opportunity for transgender athletes to participate i...

The past 3 years have underscored the importance of taking care of our mental health, working with professionals to maintain a robust sense of mental health, and talking about mental health in workplace contexts. Even so, the recent emphasis on taking care of our mental health and talking about it in workplace settings can't immediately erase decades of stigma surrounding this topic. For DEI profe...

It's budget season, which begs the question, is your employer investing in your career development to help you lead more inclusively in 2023? Whether you're looking for ideas on how to advocate for a professional development (PD) budget, or if you're curious about how you can put it to work, Rhodes offers powerful insights all about the importance of utilizing your professional development budget...

In Belonging at Work, Rhodes Perry's bestselling book, he writes about the power of being a possibility model to empower those of us who still find the idea of being a leader out of reach, out of sight, and even out of mind.   A possibility model is a person who reveals one way of being human in the world that deeply resonates with another person who may share a social identity and/or a lived expe...

The social determinants of health are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, workshop and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality of life outcomes, and they are traditionally grouped into 5 core domains including economic stability, education, health care, neighborhood and social networks.   Yet very limited research exists on ho...

When it comes to scaling and advancing our DEI commitments, technology holds many promises, and even more pitfalls. Many DEI-focused technologies make bold claims about their ability to root out biases, particularly in HR functions.   Yet, experienced DEI professionals recognize that while technology does have the power to advance and scale our goals, without important oversight, the very biases t...

According to the US Department of Labor, 47 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in 2021. The number one reason these employees joined the Great Resignation was because of toxic workplace cultures – cultures where exclusion and othering thrive.   If you too have joined the Great Resignation and are seeking your next great career opportunity, you likely are also a part of the "Great Reflec...

Today's episode features an encore presentation of a talk that originally aired in 2019 during the first Annual Belonging at Work Summit. This interview was recorded in a world that has long ago gone away; however, some of the challenges that existed then with regard to managing generational diversity, still remain stubbornly the same.   What you're about to hear, is a speaker who will underscore...

Today's episode features an encore presentation of a talk that originally aired in 2019 during the first Annual Belonging at Work Summit. In many respects, 2019 represents another world, one that no longer reflects our reality. Yet, the concept of community care was alive before COVID-19, and in 2022 it is becoming more of a regular practice.   In my book, Imagine Belonging , I describe the concep...

Today's episode of the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast is a very special encore presentation of a talk that originally aired during last week's 4 th Annual Belonging at Work Summit.   The Belonging at Work Summit is an annual event designed for DEI professionals and other inclusive leaders to gather, learn from some of today's most celebrated DEI & social justice thought leaders, and build commu...

As you give yourself permission to boldly imagine belonging at work on a global scale, how do you know if your organization is successfully moving in the direction to activate this vision? Have you all identified indicators that would suggest your organization is on track, and what do you all do if you find yourselves drifting far away from your bold vision? These are some of the questions many wo...

Welcome to The Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting. In today's episode, I honor Pride Month. And I get intensely personal.  Many of you know the origins of my DEI story. I began my social transition in college. This journey led me to become who I am today.  I noticed that as a young professional and transgender man, most workplaces weren't designed with me i...

Welcome to The Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting. Once again, I'm honored to introduce you to the incredible thought leadership of Dr. Bianca Laureano.  Dr. Laureano is the Foundress of ANTE UP, an organization she started after noticing the needs of many communities doing justice work but finding limited support in their own growth and development.  Today...

Welcome to The Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting. Once again, I'm honored to introduce you to the incredible thought leadership of Dr. Bianca Laureano.  Dr. Laureano is the Foundress of ANTE UP, an organization she started after noticing the needs of many communities that were doing justice work but finding limited support in their own growth and developme...

Welcome to The Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting. Today, as we begin a special 3-part learning series on the critical topic of intersectionality, I'm honored to introduce you to the incredible thought leadership of Dr. Bianca Laureano.  Dr. Laureano is the Foundress of ANTE UP. She started this organization after noticing the needs of many communities that...

Welcome to the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting. Today, we conclude our special 3-part learning series featuring renowned DEI thought leader, Mary-Frances Winters, founder and CEO of the Winters Group, a 40-year-old global diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm.  Please be sure to listen to parts 1 & 2 of this series (show episodes 12 & 13), befo...

Welcome back to the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting. Today you have the opportunity to dive back into part 2 of our 3 part learning series with award winning business owner, bestselling author, and renowned DEI thought leader, Mary-Frances Winters.   In part I we explored what the world of work was like over 40 years ago, when most workplaces were focuse...

Welcome to  The Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast  brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting. Today, we begin a special 3-part learning series featuring Mary-Frances, founder and CEO of the Winters Group, a 40-year-old global diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm.  During this series, Mary-Frances will put into perspective the origins of the DEI movement, her four decades of DEI thought...

On this episode of the Imagine Belonging at Work podcast, we conclude our conversation with celebrated DEI thought leader, McKensie Mack, an award-winning entrepreneur and Founder of the McKensie Mack Group, a research and change management firm that helps private and public sector organizations realize transformation in their communities. Our conversation is the third and final installment of our...

Welcome back to our powerful conversation with McKensie Mack. This episode is the second installment in our special 3-part learning series that addresses the topic of overcoming the epidemic of exclusion and loneliness at work. Once again, celebrated DEI thought leader and award-winning entrepreneur, McKensie Mack, will lead the conversation. McKensie is the Founder and Managing Director of the Mc...