The Inclusion Solution LIVE

In the finale episode of the companion podcast for Racial Justice at Work: Practical Solutions for Systemic Change (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2023), lead author Mary-Frances Winters and special projects editor Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez take a look back at Season 4’s highlights, including lessons on inclusive leadership, making HR systems more just, and ways to co-create solutions with those mos...

The messages created by cultural gatekeepers such as marketers have the power to perpetuate inequities — and to also disrupt them. Marketers can push back on the dominant narrative by building in time to consider the impact of their decisions and to move intentionally to ensure those most harmed by racism are centered and not further traumatized by marketing and advertising campaigns. In this comp...

For too long, tech has been overwhelmingly dominated by the white male perspective. In order to achieve racial justice and truly move toward socially conscious design in tech and artificial intelligence (AI), allies must ask themselves if they are prepared to give up power in order to ensure equity for all. In this companion podcast for Racial Justice at Work: Practical Solutions for Systemic Chan...

Sometimes contracting undifferentiated racial justice learning for “all staff” groups may not be the most effective approach for learning and development. For example, employees who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) already navigate fatigue and should not be burdened with educating their white colleagues about racism. For more nuanced learning, race-based caucus groups can...

Racial justice requires that white folks and non-Black people of color be clear in the ways they perpetuate anti-Black colorism, both historically and moment to moment. While it is easy to cause harm unknowingly, recognizing and getting curious about one’s role can be difficult when the default is to protect the ego. This is where loving accountability for one’s self can be a disruptor that opens...

Allyship is always active — it is what one does and how one shows up for others, not just a frame of mind. To be an effective ally requires internal work, curiosity about others, and an approach that engages those who have been marginalized versus making assumptions or deciding for them. In this companion episode for the book Racial Justice at Work: Practical Solutions for Systemic Change (Berrett...

Many organizations these days have supplier diversity programs, however, they’re often implemented without considering the potential barriers posed to smaller vendors owned by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). How can we reimagine procurement policies and practices to mitigate harm to BIPOC-owned businesses? In this companion podcast episode for Racial Justice at Work: Practical Solu...

An important part of justice work is making sure we collect information so that we can understand the root causes of injustice. Data points in and of themselves can be dehumanizing, so there also needs to be a qualitative element that takes into account the perspectives of underrepresented groups when it comes to framing questions and interrogating data. In this companion episode for the book Raci...

Understanding how HR policies impact people differently due to institutionalized inequity is crucial to creating a justice-centered culture. So is questioning and interrogating longheld practices that serve as barriers to hiring BIPOC talent, from how job ads are worded to arbitrary requirements to unchecked bias throughout the interview process. In this companion episode for Racial Justice at Wor...

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice work is a change management process. Like any change management process, there’s going to be resistance for a variety of reasons: Employees may be unclear about their role, feel uncomfortable about their capabilities, or disagree with what’s being proposed. However, working through that resistance pays off when people start to realize that centering those...

When taking a developmental approach to racial justice, coaching leaders who have lived in predominantly monocultural, monolingual environments will be distinct from coaching those who have had a lot of exposure and experiences with different cultures. In this podcast episode for the new book Racial Justice at Work: Practical Solutions for Systemic Change (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2023), lead a...

It’s so important in the quest for racial justice that leaders step up with their actions and not just their words. They must be willing to be courageous and vulnerable, and ready to anticipate criticism in the name of justice. In this companion episode for the new book Racial Justice at Work: Practical Solutions for Systemic Change (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2023), lead author Mary-Frances Wint...

What type of mindset is needed to cultivate a psychologically safe workplace? What do we need to bring in terms of caring, compassion, and empathy? In this next episode of the companion podcast for Racial Justice at Work: Practical Solutions for Systemic Change (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2023), co-hosts Mary-Frances Winters and special projects editor Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez continue their di...

In this companion podcast episode for Racial Justice at Work: Practical Solutions for Systemic Change (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2023), lead author Mary-Frances Winters and special projects editor Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez ask members of The Winters Group team to share their “why” for writing their chapters. Listen in as Thamara Subramanian, Equity Audit and Strategy Manager and author of “Make...

The new book Racial Justice at Work: Practical Solutions for Systemic Change (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2023) by Mary-Frances Winters and the team at The Winters Group, Inc., reimagines policies, practices, procedures, and ways of working that foster equity and justice for all. In this kickoff episode of the book’s companion podcast, co-hosts Winters and Racial Justice at Work special projects e...

Justice is a newer concept in the corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion space, and there is a lack of understanding about what it means and how to actualize it. There is a great deal of effort put into hiring BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) and other programmatic activities such as employee resource groups and mentoring programs, but not enough emphasis on the organizational sy...

Chevara Orrin is an award-winning diversity and inclusion practitioner, social entrepreneur, published author, social justice activist and Principle Strategist with The Winters Group, Inc. Chevara shares how her intersectional identities influence the way she shows up as a bi-racial woman in her family, relationships, and career. Her emphasis on self-healing helps her to address historical trauma...

Djuana Beamon is a thought leader and diversity practitioner who has worked at a number of different organizations. She agreed to share her Black Fatigue story with a mission to wake people up. This week’s episode is a challenge presented to both black and non-Black folks to reimagine how to mitigate Black Fatigue in the context of being a friend, colleague, leader, community member and more. Djua...

Tremayne Bess experiences the intersectional fatigue that comes with being Black, Gay, and often older in the HR spaces where he works. Tremayne is now the Director of HR at Splunk, but has previously had to remove himself from many workplace environments that did not foster a sense of safety. Setting boundaries is only one of the ways that he manages fatigue and this applies with family, friends,...

Tami Jackson is known as the purple tressed, J.E.D.I. Knight with 15 years of professional experience in a variety of industries including sports/entertainment, advertising, higher ed, tech and learning and development with a penchant for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion work. Tami’s personal account of Black Fatigue in a corporate setting is one that is all too familiar in the Black Commu...

Language truly matters in this episode with special guest Dr. Shannon Sullivan, Chair of the Philosophy Department at UNC Charlotte and author of Good White People: The Problem with Middle-Class White Anti-Racism. This discussion covers a range of terms you may find familiar such as white fragility, and also concepts like inter-generational fatigue and Epigenetics. Join Mary-Frances Winters and Dr...

Dr. Tara Doaty, CEO of Sage Wellness Group, is a Howard University trained clinical psychologist who works with survivors of trauma, especially with parents, children and families. She has personally experienced Black Fatigue and has witnessed it in her work to create safe and trauma-free environments for her clients. Dr. Tara shares her expertise with Mary-Frances Winters, providing actionable so...

Best-selling author and CEO of The Winters Group Inc., Mary-Frances Winters, will be your host in this third season of The Inclusion Solution Live to discuss the many layers of Black Fatigue with her special guests. The racist system is not just literally killing Black people, it is tearing the whole nation apart. In every aspect of life from socio-economics, to education, the workforce, criminal...

The current racial justice movement has magnified calls to defund the police, abolish the prison system, and invest in more restorative forms of justice centered on healing, community, humanity--proactively removing barriers. Inasmuch as these conversations may be more top of mind today, the dialogue around criminal justice, school to prison pipeline, prison industrial complex more often than not...

In this episode, Brittany J. Harris connects with Stephanie Harris (no, we're not related, but we're family :-)). Stephanie is a mindset coach, wellness activist, wife of a COVID-19 survivor, mother, and of course, an everyday person living during a global pandemic. Stephanie shares a personal account of how her husband contracted and ultimately survived COVID-19. We talked about her experience ad...