The Inclusion Solution LIVE

At this year's Forum on Workplace Inclusion, The Winters Group, Inc hosted a live podcast recording event to explore the question: What would it mean to decolonize diversity, equity, and inclusion work? Put differently, what would it mean to reimagine a DEI industry that centers humanity, justice, and dismantling systems of inequity and oppression in all forms? What can we, as practitioners, advoc...

Meaghan Shiffler is a teacher living in Detroit and a newlywed navigating the US immigration system with her wife during this global pandemic. She shares more about the pivots she's had to make in her life -- from rescheduling her wedding to a small kitchen ceremony; navigating the emotional toll of supporting her wife through unfair immigration policies and systems; and adapting her middle school...

Julie Cassidy has been teaching for nearly three decades, and she's a single mom living during this global pandemic. In our conversation, Julie shares what it's been like transitioning from the classroom environment to a distance learning environment. As a teacher of over XX students, she even shares a little bit about how this environment has impacted her senior year students and their parents. J...

Dr. Calvin Smith, III is an Atlanta-native hailing from Westlake HIgh School, Morehouse College, and Meharry Medical College's School of Medicine. He is a Black man and advocate working in Nashville, TN at COVID-19 testing centers--and of course, he's an "everyday person" experiencing this Global Pandemic. During our talk, Dr. Calvin shared more about his experience serving and engaging with patie...

Ryan is a father, educator, advocate, and son living during a global pandemic. In our talk, he shares what it has been like grieving the loss of his dad and being a co-parenting father during this time. We talk about a recent post he wrote for the Inclusion Solution, The Public Education Pandemic, and he expands on how Black and Brown children have and will continue to be impacted by the current e...

Aisha Ghori Ozaki is a Muslim-American, mom, partner, equity & inclusion leader living during a global pandemic. In our conversation, she shares what life has been like for her multi-racial family and how their holy observance of Ramadan has been impacted by COVID-19. She underscores the power of service, and importance of fostering community and gratitude particularly during times when we're...

Sajdah is a mom, wife, educator, consultant living abroad in the British Virgin Islands during a global pandemic. She offers a glimpse into how the British Virgins Islands' response to COVID has differed from her home country, the United States. We talk about cultural differences and make some bold connections to white supremacy cultural norms like individualism, and how they have influenced the U...

"This is The Inclusion Solution Live! The Winters Group's podcast for all things diversity, equity and inclusion. I am your host Brittany J. Harris, Vice President of Learning and Innovation, and I am excited to leverage this medium as yet another opportunity to facilitate dialogue, shift perspectives, and empower action in service of equity, justice, and inclusion." --- Send in a voice message: h...

Valda Valbrun and Brittany J. Harris explore the common stereotype of the Angry Black Woman and how it perpetuates marginalization and oppression. All too often Black women who dare to express legitimate anger about microaggressions or worse treatment are subjected to the “tone police” who dismiss their concerns because of the delivery. Valda and Brittany share their lived experiences as professio...

Leigh Morrison shares how attending a women's college helped her in understanding the ways in which she internalized sexism and gender oppression in very subtle ways. She challenges us to consider the ways in which we might harbor negative messages about our own identities--even those identities we are proud to be part of. Leigh reminds us that none of us are immune to internalized oppression and...

As a south Asian American, Thamara Subramanian dives into a personal and historical recollection of the model minority myth and reveals that is not a new or millennial phenomenon, but instead a historically misconstrued tool of oppression. She affirms that there is a way to balance pride in identity without perpetuating oppression towards other people or even oneself. Thamara inspires us to gain k...

In this episode, The Winters Group's very own Principal Strategist, Travis Jones, reveals how his identities as a white, cisgender male (and new father) influences his worldview and the cultural scripts he received growing up. He unpacks whiteness and masculinity and offers his perspective on the ways in which racism and sexism can be the detriment of the white working class. Travis encourages whi...

In this episode of The Inclusion Solution Live, Brittany J. Harris is joined by President & CEO of The Winters Group, Mary-Frances Winters. Mary-Frances Winters elaborates on her Demystifying Internalized Oppression piece written for The Inclusion Solution Blog. She unpacks: Messages she received in her childhood based on race and color The role of practitioners and diversity leaders in disman...

Thank you for joining us for the first season of the Inclusion Solution Live!  Much of the current work in D&I spaces brings interpersonal or structural forms of oppression to light, but it’s less common for D&I professionals to address internalized oppression and biases. These biases can be painful to unpack, particularly if we are personally and professionally committed to equity and inc...