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Tag: diversity and inclusion

  • Microsoft isn’t releasing a diversity report for 2025

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    Microsoft will not release a diversity and inclusion report for 2025 like it has been doing every year since 2019, Stephen Totilo from Game File has reported. Totilo asked the company if it was skipping this year after it failed to publish a report from October to early November like it had done so the previous years. “We are not doing a traditional report this year as we’ve evolved beyond that to formats that are more dynamic and accessible — stories, videos, and insights that show inclusion in action,” said Microsoft’s chief communications officer, Frank Shaw, in a statement. “Our mission and commitment to our culture and values remain unchanged: empowering every person and organization to achieve more.”

    As Totilo notes, the Trump administration made it very clear early on that it was against government and corporate diversity, equality and inclusion programs. Trump signed executive orders directing government agencies to roll back DEI initiatives and encouraged the private sector to do the same. Meta reportedly ended its DEI programs earlier this year, while Google reportedly announced that it will “no longer set hiring targets to improve representation in its workforce.”

    Totilo previously reported that Microsoft didn’t mention anything about its diversity programs in two shareholder reports for 2025, signifying that the company wasn’t highlighting its DEI initiatives anymore like it did the previous years. Based on its statement, Microsoft isn’t completely dropping its DEI efforts. Without a report, however, we can’t keep an eye on its progress when it comes to things like pay equality and workforce diversity.

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    Mariella Moon

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  • Inclusive Classrooms in 2025: Creating Community Despite Restrictions

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    Creating safe, inclusive classrooms feels more challenging in some places across the United States—but it’s far from impossible. Here’s how real teachers are ensuring that every student and family feels safe, seen, and welcome in 2025.

    Teaching in 2025: The Challenges of a Divided Country

    Ten Commandments posters in classrooms. Bans on signs that say “All Are Welcome.” More and more books banned from school and classroom library shelves. Diverse and inclusive topics off-limits. For many teachers, these are the realities of teaching in 2025 (and it’s driving some right out of the classroom). While many of these restrictions may eventually be overturned by local and federal courts, the community sentiment often lingers.

    In a recent survey, teachers told us they’ve been requested or required to avoid discussion of LGBTQ+ subjects, lessons on slavery and women’s rights, and ICE raids at schools. These stories aren’t new, of course. For decades, administrators and legislators have placed restrictions on what teachers can say and do in their classrooms when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion topics. But the situation has gotten tougher in many areas over the last few years.

    “My administrators have advised me to avoid discussions about politics, deportations, and LGBTQ+ issues,” one Colorado high school teacher told us. “I also have been instructed to steer students away from sharing their opinions on these issues. Similarly, I have been advised not to put up any posters in my classroom that might offend (conservative) parents who visit the school.”

    Another high school teacher noted that their school has banned many books for language or content, often those featuring diverse characters. “So in the end, we teach almost no books that have Black characters because of fear of offending someone or fear of exposing actual social problems the Black community has faced.”

    How To Create Inclusive, Welcoming Classrooms Despite Restrictions

    Here’s the good news: Teachers across the country are still dedicated to making their students feel safe and welcome in their classrooms. They’re finding creative, thoughtful ways to comply with new restrictions while still ensuring everyone feels seen and represented. Here are their suggestions and ideas for creating your own inclusive classroom, no matter where you teach.

    We Are Teachers

    1. Change your wording, but keep the message.

    This past spring, one Idaho teacher went viral for sharing her banned “Everyone Is Welcome Here” sign. In response, the State of Idaho doubled down, passing a law that specifically bans school signs that “represent a political, religious, or ideological viewpoint”—a broad category, to say the least.

    While Idaho is the first to put this type of ban into law, plenty of teachers face opposition to their diverse and inclusive classroom decor. So, how are teachers dealing with bans like these? They’re choosing their words with care.

    “I have been more creative with signs for displays,” says a Kansas teacher. “It might say ‘Stand Up for What Is Right’ rather than using words like ‘social justice.’ Or I might reference welcoming ‘newcomers’ rather than using the term ‘immigrant.’”

    Krys E. teaches in Alaska and uses a lot of social-emotional learning materials that say things like “Be Strong” or “Be a Leader.” Wording like this avoids recommending specific actions but encourages students to make the choices that feel right for them.

    2. Use images of your students and their families to decorate the classroom.

    What better way to make everyone feel seen than by literally hanging them on your classroom walls? “I am having my students (a diverse group) draw and create decorations that represent them,” says a Texas preschool teacher. She plans to hang family photos with all types of diversity shown, plus self-portraits reflecting a variety of skin tones and individual differences.

    Several teachers recommended hanging family photo walls in your classroom, so every student has a chance to be represented. Encourage families to share pics of themselves celebrating the holidays they love, eating or cooking their favorite foods, or participating in community events. Tip: If families aren’t comfortable sharing pictures, have kids draw their families instead.

    3. Hang a culture wall.

    Looking for a good back-to-school activity? Here’s what one Colorado high school teacher does to set the tone for a welcoming environment: “I have students create a culture wall to honor diversity in the classroom. They can make a poster about their own culture, or they can choose another culture that interests them. The posters usually include the country’s flag, national food, national animal, currency (money), famous figures, landmarks, etc.”

    4. Reach out to and welcome all families.

    The best way to make people feel safe and welcome? Tell them that they are, and demonstrate it every day in meaningful ways. A Texas preschool teacher explains that she works hard to welcome all families, inviting them to visit campus as often as possible. Here are a few more tips for creating inclusive and welcoming classrooms for all sorts of families:

    • Learn to pronounce all of your students’ and parents’ names properly, and use their correct titles and forms of address.
    • Use communication apps that can help translate and facilitate your interactions with families that don’t speak English well (or at all).
    • Offer a variety of different family events so everyone has a chance to participate. Vary the dates and times, offer foods everyone can eat, and accommodate cultural expectations that may be different from your own.
    Sensory bin with foam hands and faces in a variety of skin tones, with mirrors as well
    Katie H. for We Are Teachers

    5. Encourage all students to explore new experiences and learn about their classmates.

    The “Contact Hypothesis” states that when people from different backgrounds interact in meaningful ways, prejudice and stereotypes tend to decrease. Research backs this up: Direct contact with people who are different from ourselves has a stronger effect on tolerance than just learning about differences in a vacuum.

    Katie H. teaches preschool in Texas, where she makes welcoming differences a part of her curriculum. “At the beginning of the year, we have intentional conversations about how our homemade foods (or cafeteria food) might look/smell different and how wonderful that can be.”

    Michigan teacher Paulette Pepin recommends “allowing students to share their special gifts and teach classmates” about their personal experiences. Encourage students to show respectful interest in other’s foods, traditions, or cultures, and invite families to share a variety of learning and cultural experiences together throughout the school year.

    6. Choose books that demonstrate inclusivity and diversity without directly addressing specific topics.

    “With the Texas Legislature’s new ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights,’ our admin encouraged us to only use books that are currently in the district library,” a Texas pre-K teacher notes. Fortunately, children’s literature has greatly increased diversity and representation in recent years.

    While there are indeed a lot of books that address topics some consider controversial, there are also many others that simply make diversity a matter-of-fact part of the story without drawing attention to it. It’s easy to find books that show a wide variety of skin tones, family types, and other inclusive characters like those in a wheelchair or with hearing aids.

    Tip: Review sites like Kirkus often include information about diverse representation (or lack thereof) in books. For instance, in a review of a new book about finger counting games for kids, Kirkus includes this helpful note: “Woodcock’s illustrations employ crayoned linework and painted and spattered color to portray busy children with varied skin tones, hair textures, and abilities.”

    Be sure to include books written and illustrated by diverse creators, too, no matter what the topic. Just seeing author/illustrator pictures or names that represent their own cultures can make a big difference for kids.

    7. Use toys, games, and videos that show diverse people as a matter of course.

    Katie H. makes an effort to be sure all kids see themselves represented through toys in her Texas preschool classroom. “We include multicultural and diverse-ability toys in our dollhouse and kitchen center, and include discussions on how families can be composed differently.”

    A dollhouse with inclusive dolls with different skin tones, including one using a wheelchair and one using a walker
    Katie H. for We Are Teachers

    In younger classrooms, ensure your dolls and figurines include multiple skin tones, hairstyles, and physical differences (the ones shown here come from Lakeshore Learning). When choosing videos to share with classes of any age, look for those that incorporate people or characters from many cultures, countries, or backgrounds. As with books, just seeing themselves represented onscreen can be a powerful tool for making kids feel included.

    8. Emphasize kindness.

    In every situation, teaching students to be kind to one another is always appropriate. Demonstrate and model empathy, and take time to recognize kind behavior whenever you see it. Show students that even when you don’t agree, you can still be kind and respectful to one another.

    Many lessons about kindness automatically encourage tolerance and respect for diversity without drawing specific attention to it. Erika O., a 4th grade teacher in Texas, recommends checking out Steve Hartman’s Kindness 101 videos. For older students, explore TED Talks on kindness or empathy to spark conversations.

    9. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

    Every teacher knows that no matter how hard you try to create inclusive classrooms, you’re always going to run into problems that seem petty to you but urgent to others. In these cases, it can sometimes be best to bite your tongue, go along with the potentially frustrating request, and find other ways to accomplish the same goal.

    For instance, one Massachusetts PE teacher was told she couldn’t use the word “yoga” with her students. “I just called it stretching, because it was all the same no matter what you call it,” she says. Her students still learned the valuable mind-body exercises, and in the end, that was what mattered.

    10. Speak up and speak out when and where you can.

    If you’re lucky enough to have the freedom to teach and talk about diverse and inclusive topics in your classroom, don’t let the opportunity pass!

    “I teach in a school where I, as a white person, am in the ethnic minority and our curriculum is intentional about using diverse authors and mindsets,” explains Liz M., a Massachusetts teacher. “I created stickers that go on frequently banned books [in our library] as a way of encouraging students to read diverse stories that other schools are trying to hide.”

    I created stickers that go on frequently-banned books as a way of encouraging students to read diverse stories that other schools are trying to hide. -Liz M., Massachusetts Educator
    We Are Teachers

    When you’re faced with challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion in your own classroom, you’ll ultimately need to follow your own heart. “I make sure we have a Pride Club every year despite being the only middle school in the area with one,” says Sasha T., a middle school teacher and school Pride Advisor in Washington who has been pressured not to hang signs or distribute flyers. “I make sure I use correct pronouns, names, and make sure all students are heard and respected in my classroom.”

    Illinois elementary teacher Amanda A. shares, “I had a parent very, very upset that I informed their child that colors are for everyone, and anyone can like pink, purple, blue, etc.” Her response? “I continue, with the protection of my tenure and my union.”

    Resources for Creating a Welcoming, Inclusive Classroom in 2025

    Ultimately, every teacher has to make their own choices about how important diversity, equity, and inclusion are in their classrooms. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or discouraged in the face of new legislation or local administrative rulings, consider starting a conversation in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook. Other educators are always willing to help you process challenges and brainstorm constructive solutions.

    Here are a few more resources to support a welcoming atmosphere for every one of your students and their families:

    Plus, check out 9 Areas of Your Teaching to Evaluate for Diversity & Inclusion.

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    Jill Staake, B.S., Secondary ELA Education

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  • 25 Famous People With Disabilities Everyone Should Know

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    The disability community is diverse and full of talent, intellect, creativity, and innovation. Throughout history, disabled individuals have earned fame for innovations and inventions that not only benefit the disability community but also drive change and improve the lives of all individuals. Below are just some of the many famous people with disabilities who have made significant contributions to society. 

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    Famous People With Disabilities

    Frida Kahlo

    Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist known for her bright and vivid self-portraits. She contracted polio at the age of 6 and was also in a car accident at 18. Many of her self-portraits depict her experience living with physical disabilities. (1907–1954)

    Laura Bridgman

    Laura Bridgman was the first deafblind woman to be formally educated in the United States. She lost her sight and hearing as a result of scarlet fever, which she contracted at the age of 2. Laura attended Perkins School for the Blind, where under the direction of Dr. Samuel Howe, she learned to read and write utilizing special tactile paper. (1829–1889)

    Marlee Matlin

    Marlee Matlin is a deaf actress, author, and activist. She lost most of her hearing at 18 months old. In 1986, she became the first deaf actress to win an Academy Award for her performance in Children of a Lesser God. She has since been monumental in paving the way for more roles in Hollywood for deaf individuals. (b. 1965)

    Hunter Woodhall

    Hunter Woodhall is an American track-and-field athlete and Paralympian. He was also born with fibular hemimelia and underwent a double leg amputation at 11 months old. He won the gold medal in the Men’s 400 Meter T62 division at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games. (b. 1999)

    Eddie Ndopu

    Ndopu is a South African disability activist, humanitarian, and author living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). He was also the first African disabled student to be accepted to Oxford University, where he graduated with a master’s in public policy. Ndopu is a global advocate appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). (b. 1990) 

    Rick Hoyt

    Rick Hoyt was a triathlete, marathoner, and Ironman. Born with cerebral palsy, Rick participated in his first wheelchair duo race, pushed by his father, Dick, in 1977. The duo completed over 1,000 marathons, duathlons, and triathlons, including 32 Boston Marathons. They were also the first wheelchair duo to complete the Hawaii Ironman. A statue in honor of Rick and Dick Hoyt was built in 2013 near the start line of the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. (1962–2023)

    Ralph Braun

    Ralph Braun is known as the “Father of the Mobility.” Ralph was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in childhood. His desire for independence spurred him to develop the first battery-powered scooter and the world’s first wheelchair lift. He later founded BraunAbility, which continues to be the leading manufacturer of mobility products worldwide. (1940–2013)

    Alice Wong

    Alice Wong is a disabled activist, author, and community organizer. Wong was born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). She is the founder of Disability Visibility Project, which seeks to amplify stories of individuals with disabilities through oral and written narrative. Her accolades include receiving the 2016 American Association of People With Disabilities Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award and inclusion in the BBC’s Top 100 Women in 2020. (b. 1974)

    Edward V. Roberts

    Ed Roberts is considered the father of the independent living movement for individuals with disabilities. Ed contracted polio at age 14, which resulted in him being paralyzed from the neck down and reliant on a ventilator to breathe. He became the first student with a significant disability and wheelchair user to attend UC Berkeley. Along with other disability activists, he helped to establish the Berkeley Center for Independent Living. In 1983, along with disability rights activist Judy Heumann, he co-founded the World Institute on Disability (WID), which works to spread the independent living movement worldwide. (1939–1995)

    Simone Biles

    Simone Biles is an artistic gymnast for the United States. She was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. She has 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals, making her the most decorated female gymnast in the world. She has also become an outspoken advocate regarding mental health, following her withdrawal from the 2020 Summer Olympic Games after developing the “twisties.” (b. 1997)

    Quote: “We’re not just athletes, we’re people at the end of the day and sometimes you just have to step back.”

    Judy Heumann

    Judy Heumann was a disability activist and author, frequently known as the “mother” of the Disability Rights Movement. She contracted polio at 18 months old and became a wheelchair user thereafter. She became the first wheelchair user to be a teacher in the state of New York, following a lawsuit after she was denied a teaching license because she failed the medical exam due to her inability to walk. In 1977, Judy led the 504 Sit-In in San Francisco, a 26-day protest that led to the establishment of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Judy went on to serve in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, including being appointed by President Obama as the first Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State. (1947–2023)

    Quote: “Disability only becomes a tragedy when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives.”

    Senator Tammy Duckworth

    Tammy Duckworth is an Army veteran and American politician. While serving as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot during the Iraq War, her helicopter was hit by a grenade, resulting in her becoming the first female double amputee during the war. She then entered politics, where she served for two terms on Illinois’ Eighth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected in 2016 to the U.S. Senate. (b. 1968)

    Christopher Reeve

    Christopher Reeve was a Hollywood actor and director, most famously known for his role as Clark Kent/Superman in Superman. He received a British Academy Film Award, an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 1995, Christopher sustained a spinal cord injury while riding his horse, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down and reliant on a ventilator to breathe. Following his accident, Reeve became an advocate for disability and spinal cord injury, founding his own foundation, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. (1952–2004)

    Quote: “So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.”

    Judi Chamberlin

    Judi Chamberlin was a disability activist and author. She lived with depression and schizophrenia. As a result of her experiences in psychiatric wards, she became an advocate for humane mental health care for psychiatric survivors. Her book, On Our Own: Patient-Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System, was published in 1978 and has become a leading text in the Mad Pride Movement. She also founded the National Empowerment Center to empower people with lived experience with mental health challenges and trauma. (1944–2010)

    Lenin Moreno

    Lenin Moreno is an Ecuadorian politician and disability advocate. Moreno is a wheelchair user due to losing his ability to walk as a result of gun violence. He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 for his disability advocacy and served as the 46th president of Ecuador from 2017 to 2021. (b. 1953)

    Farida Bedwei

    Farida Bedwei is a Ghanian software engineer who lives with cerebral palsy. She is the co-founder of Logiciel, a technology company in Ghana. In 2013, Bedwei was named the most influential woman in business and government in Africa for the financial sector by South Africa’s CEO magazine. She is also an author and disability rights activist. (b. 1979)

    Haben Girma

    Haben Girma is a lawyer, disability advocate, and author. In 2013, she became the first Deafblind individual to graduate from Harvard Law School. In 2016, Girma was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Law and Policy. In 2019, she released her memoir, and she currently serves as a public speaker and consultant. (b. 1988)

    Kyle Maynard

    Kyle Maynard is an entrepreneur, athlete, author, and speaker. He was born with congenital amputation, a condition that results in an individual having no arms below the elbows and no legs below the knees. He learned to live independently early on without prosthetics. He became the first quadruple amputee to summit Mount Kilimanjaro without prosthetics. Maynard received an ESPN Espy Award for Best Athlete With a Disability in 2004. He penned a memoir called “No Excuses” and is founder of a No Excuses CrossFit gym in Georgia. (b. 1986)

    Quote: “We should never shy away from the challenges that face us out of fear of failure or an unwillingness to battle the odds. We should confront our problems head on and make no excuses.”

    Michael Phelps

    Michael Phelps is a former American competitive swimmer. He lives with ADHD, depression, and anxiety. He is the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 Olympic medals. Additionally, he has set 39 world records, including 29 individual and 10 relay records. He also holds 20 Guinness World Records. Since retiring from competitive swimming, Phelps has served as a fierce advocate for mental health support for athletes. (b. 1985)

    Quote: “The one thing that’s common to all successful people: They make a habit of doing things that unsuccessful people don’t like to do.”

    Lydia X.Z. Brown

    Lydia X.Z. Brown is a writer, disability advocate, public speaker, and attorney. They identify as autistic and are the founder and leader of the Autistic People of Color Fund in partnership with the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network. Brown serves as the director of public policy at the National Disability Institute. In 2013, Brown was named a Champion of Change by the Obama administration for their leadership within the disability community and their commitment to the promise of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). (b. 1993)

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    Nicole Homerin

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  • IPOs are back. Where are the women?

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    Investors are pouring money into initial public offerings like it’s 2021, with this season alone unleashing several new tickers, including FIG, BLSH, and soon, STUB. For some, the surge is a welcome sign of renewed optimism after tariff-related chaos in the spring threatened a promised IPO revival. 

    But an analysis of recent IPO-related filings shows that women leaders are largely missing from the boards and executive teams at the vast majority of new public companies, despite years of calls for more diversity in corporate leadership. The data may even be an early signal of future losses for executive women, as DEI, already facing a backlash, is abandoned or sidelined, especially in the tech industry. 

    Damion Rallis, cofounder of board data firm Free Float Analytics, combed through information about 61 companies that filed IPO-related documents in the first two weeks of August. He found that nearly 88% of the firms (most of which were in tech) had only one or no women on their board of directors, while 93% had only one or no women in their C-suite. Rallis is now calling this the “Bro-PO market,” and said his findings were “crazy.”

    “We’ve given up our ideals. We’ve just given up,” he said on Free Float’s Business Pants podcast.   

    Only seven of the 61 companies Rallis examined had two or more women on their boards, while only four listed two or more women executives. In total, women represented only 12% of the 349 directors and 11% of 205 executives identified in the filings. Stubhub listed one female executive on its team of five, and one female director on a board of seven. Bullish listed two executive leaders, both men, and one woman on its six-person board. 

    For reference, women represent about 30% of board members at Russell 3000 companies, according to recent studies, and 29% of C-suite roles, according to a 2024 McKinsey survey.  

    In recent years, corporate boards have made gender and racial diversity a central focus of recruitment efforts, especially after Nasdaq issued a rule that said listed companies must disclose their board gender and diversity statistics. That directive was set to expand: Eventually, it would have imposed minimum diversity requirements or asked companies to explain why their boards weren’t diverse. However, that effort was shut down in late 2024 by a federal appeals court that decided Nasdaq had overstepped its statutory authority when it set the policy. 

    In 2020, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon declared that “IPOs are a pivotal moment for firms,” as he described his bank’s then-landmark pledge not to take companies public if their boards were entirely male. But the company abandoned that promise this year, citing “legal developments related to board diversity requirements,” my colleague Emma Hinchliffe reported in February. “We continue to believe that successful boards benefit from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, and we will encourage them to take this approach,” Goldman told Fortune at the time. 

    The Goldman Sachs rollback was one of many widely seen as a response to a long-running war on “woke” corporate policies that’s now backed by President Trump.  

    Despite these policy shifts, most investors have come to expect companies to form diverse boards and C-suites as part of optimizing a leadership team. The bar is lower for “starter boards” of newly IPO’d companies, says Matt Moscardi, cofounder of Free Float Analytics. But he says he was still surprised that today’s fledgling public companies are not even nodding at market norms. Instead, they’re leaving out 50% of humanity. 

    “You’d expect them to look and say, ‘Well, you’re going to IPO, what do other publicly traded companies look like?’” Moscardi told Fortune, “and there is basically no effort to do that.” 

    Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world. Explore this year’s list.

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    Lila MacLellan

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  • A New Report Shows School Segregation Has Increased 64% Since 1988

    A New Report Shows School Segregation Has Increased 64% Since 1988

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    The 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision is May 17, 2024. Brown was the Supreme Court Case that ruled that racial segregation or “separate but equal” schools were unconstitutional. But that doesn’t mean that segregation is over. A new report from Stanford University and the University of Southern California shows that, in the largest 100 school districts, segregation between white and Black students has increased 64% since 1988. Segregation by economic status has increased by 50% since 1991.

    The U.S. Army, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    We have come a long way since the Little Rock Nine desegregated Little Rock High School in 1957, but this report shows that we have a long way to go.

    Key Findings

    The report found that:

    • While not at pre-Brown levels, school segregation is increasing.
    • White-Hispanic and white-Asian segregation has also increased, more than doubling in large school districts since the 1980s.
    • School segregation is strongly associated with achievement gaps.

    Why?

    In short, policy choices.

    Since 1991, two-thirds of districts that were under court-ordered desegregation orders have been released from those orders. As a result, school districts may not have continued policies that reduced segregation, like voluntary integration and socioeconomic-based student assignment.

    Since 1998, the number of charter schools has increased, and where charter schools expanded fastest, segregation grew the most.

    When we asked teachers in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE on Facebook their thoughts on why segregation was increasing in schools, here’s what they had to say:

    “Segregation in schools happens because we haven’t eliminated the policies that lead to de facto segregation in our communities … school funding should not be tied to local property taxes.” – Cory D.

    “As long as there is an option for rich families (predominately white but not necessarily) to pay to go to a private school, public schools will never truly be unsegregated.” – Dan L.

    Check out the Segregation Explorer tool from the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford to see what is happening with school segregation in your state or school.

    Now what? Teachers weigh in …

    Teachers in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE had ideas on what to do to reverse this trend.

    “Filter more funding into schools in underserved communities. … The schools that have been traditionally underfunded should be the best buildings, technology, etc. Further, teachers who teach in those schools should be paid more. They should have smaller classes. Everyone should be trained in culturally responsive teaching. That would draw more privileged students back to those schools.” – Angie R.

    “Funding needs to be revamped nationwide.” – Amber B.

    “Agree with smaller class sizes, better funding and more high-quality training for teachers.” – Lisa W.

    “You’d need to reverse the cause of it and you’re nowhere near doing that.” – William W.

    “Mix up district boundaries to include a variety of environments, classes, races, and spread the money equally.” – Faith J.

    “Old-fashioned bussing or rezone school boundaries. Neighborhood schools create segregated schools.” – Annette H.

    “Eliminating poverty [like Sweden has by equalizing money through taxation] is the only just thing to do. And it is the only thing that will desegregate our communities and our schools.” – Molly B.

    OK, so what can teachers do?

    If you work in a segregated school, you’re not in charge of housing policies, charter school applications, or parental decisions about where they send kids to school, but there are things that we can do in the classroom to focus on and celebrate diversity.

    Understand why school integration is important

    “I love the school at which I work in that our school has a very diverse population. … I wish the adults in the world could see how differences can be a beautiful thing … if middle schoolers are able to come together to accomplish goals, shouldn’t adults be able to do the same?” – Christy C.

    Diversity in schools is not just about civil rights (though that is important). More than 50 years of research on desegregation efforts has shown that when schools are more diverse, there is no loss of learning for white students and there are gains for students from underrepresented groups. These gains extend to college and job success for students of color, and all students learn how to succeed and work in a diverse community. One thing all teachers can do is advocate for models of desegregation, like magnet schools, and for changes in local policies.

    Read more: 6 Things the Nation’s Top-Performing Public School System Does Differently (including integration)

    Engage in culturally responsive teaching

    “Teach accurate history and culturally relevant literature in the classroom.” – MeGhana L.

    The idea behind culturally responsive teaching is that kids connect best, and learn best, from material they connect with. So, teachers can incorporate their students’ experiences, cultures, communication styles, and perspectives into learning. This means being aware of the materials that we’re using and bringing into the classroom, and working to incorporate underrepresented perspectives and topics that are relevant for students.

    Learn more: What is culturally responsive teaching?

    Learn more: Why and how one teacher created her own culturally responsive materials  

    Use technology

    Technology can connect schools with other schools around the country. Classrooms can participate in activities together via videoconferencing, for example. Also check out these virtual field trips that students can take advantage of to learn about other people and cultures.

    Connect learning to life

    Teach beyond the next assessment to prepare students to think about real-world issues and topics. Help students understand the context for issues that are important to them, whether that’s an environmental topic like how water resources impact their community or a social justice topic like police actions in a community.

    Learn more: 20 #OwnVoices books for the classroom

    Explore other aspects of diversity

    Beyond International Day or celebrations about food and clothing, even segregated spaces can explore diversity within individuals. A school or class election is a great place to start engaging in thinking about how we are all unique and have diversity of thought.

    Read more: 26 Books About Activism and Speaking Up for Young Readers

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    Samantha Cleaver, PhD, Special Education & Reading Intervention

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  • New York state wants companies to protect their LGBTQ+ Gen Z and millennial workers—and it’s throwing a $260 billion retirement fund at the issue

    New York state wants companies to protect their LGBTQ+ Gen Z and millennial workers—and it’s throwing a $260 billion retirement fund at the issue

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    Money talks. That’s what Thomas DiNapoli, comptroller of the state of New York, is counting on when it comes to LGBTQ+ protections in the workplace. 

    In what seem to be the first ever moves of their kind, DiNapoli’s New York State Common Retirement Fund, which manages $260 billion in assets, is pushing for more details about companies’ human capital management strategy work related to LGBTQ+ employees.

    In proxy statements published this month, $45 billion Lennar Corp. and $13.5 billion International Paper disclosed matching shareholder proposals from the retirement fund. The proposals are backed by a supporting statement explaining that demographic shifts show that 20.8% of Gen Z identifies as LGBTQ+, which is twice that of the 10.5% of millennials who identify that way. Furthermore, a third of people who identify as LGBTQ+ report experiencing harassment or discrimination in recent years and, nearly half, 45.5%, report facing discrimination at some point in their lives.

    Lennar and International Paper have recommended that investors vote against both proposals.

    Expanding focus

    The proposal is a new front in some investors’ quest to get more expansive data on diversity from companies, and similar efforts have been fruitful in obtaining more granularity on policies related to gender, race, and ethnicity. Now, investors are expanding their focus to include LGBTQ+ employees. Investors have used the more detailed reporting in recent years to hold boards and C-suite teams to account for public diversity pledges on investments, promotion among senior executive ranks and recruitment of new employees.

    Accordingly, companies should tell investors whether they have equitable employee benefits, non-discrimination policies and employee support groups, the New York fund wrote in the statement. In the proposals at both Lennar and International Paper, New York referred to the companies’ own disclosures about inclusivity in the workforce, respect for diverse backgrounds and their general statements about fostering high-performing workplace cultures via their diversity efforts. New York holds about $15.8 million in International Paper stock and $33 million in Lennar stock, according to the fund’s 2023 asset listing. 

    Both proposals quoted a 2019 report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Business Success and Growth Through LGBT-Inclusive Culture. “Companies that adopt LGBT-inclusive practices tend to improve their financial standing and do better than companies that do not adopt them. Additionally, employees, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, express greater job satisfaction at companies where these practices are in place.”

    Miami-headquartered homebuilder Lennar’s board wrote that the company was “built on a culture of inclusivity” and brings together the best talent to drive the success of the “Lennar family.” The board said its “Everyone’s Included” initiative represents an evolution of that focus, including an advisory council that brings together diverse cross-representation. Its code of ethics and business conduct already specifically prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of “color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other legally protected status,” the board said. “Producing the proposed report is unnecessary and inefficient.”

    International Paper board members said its annual report discussed diversity and inclusion initiatives, including its long-term goals. “Among the Company’s primary Vision 2030 Goals, the Company aims to promote employee well-being by providing safe, caring, and inclusive workplaces and strengthening the resilience of its communities,” the board said (emphasis in original).

    The company also has a global diversity and inclusion council and employee networking groups. “Requiring the Company to produce an additional report limited to a subset of its overall diversity, equity and inclusion efforts would prove unduly burdensome for the Company, divert time and attention of Company management, and give rise to undue expenses, all while providing little to no additional value considering the Company’s robust diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, culture and disclosure practices, including with respect to LGBTQ+ matters,” the IP board said.

    The proposals are an escalation from the fund’s efforts last year that involved writing letters to 55 portfolio companies that signed the Human Rights Campaign and Freedom for All American Business Statement on Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation. The campaign prompted new discussions about workplace policies, the state said in an annual report. 

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    Amanda Gerut

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  • Black professional women are struggling to find their way in a job world where they have few workplace peers

    Black professional women are struggling to find their way in a job world where they have few workplace peers

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    Regina Lawless hit a professional high at 40, becoming the first director of diversity and inclusion for Instagram. But after her husband died suddenly in 2021, she pondered whether she had neglected her personal life and what it means for Black woman to succeed in the corporate world.

    While she felt supported in the role, “there wasn’t the willingness for the leaders to take it all the way,” Lawless said. “Really, it’s the leaders and every employee that creates the culture of inclusion.”

    This inspired her venture, Bossy and Blissful, a collective for Black female executives to commiserate and coach each other on how to deal with misogynoir, a specific type of misogyny experienced by Black women, or being the only person of color in the C-suite.

    “I’m now determined to help other women, particularly women of color and Black women, to see that we don’t have to sacrifice ourselves for success. We can find spaces or create our own spaces where we can be successful and thrive,” said Lawless, who is based in Oakland, California.

    Many women in Lawless’ group have no workplace peers, making them the “Onlys” — the only Black person or woman of color — which can lead to feelings of loneliness or isolation.

    “Getting together helps us when we go back and we’re the ‘only-lonelies’ in a lot of our organizations,” Lawless said.

    With attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives raging, Black women looking to climb the corporate ladder face a more hostile landscape than ever. Aside from having to constantly prove themselves and talk in a manner that can’t be labeled as angry or emotional, obtaining top managerial positions doesn’t stop the double dilemma of racial and gender pay gaps. All this adds up to disproportionate representation of Black female senior leadership.

    Dr. Claudine Gay’s resignation in January as Harvard’s first Black president following accusations of anti-Semitism and plagiarism was just the latest in a revolving door of Black women who have been aggressively questioned or abandoned after achieving a career pinnacle.

    Black female professionals also were hit hard when an administrator at a historically Black college in Missouri accused the school’s white president of bullying and racism then took her own life. This led some to build networking groups and mentorships. For others it triggered an exodus to entrepreneurship and re-invention.

    In Boston, Charity Wallace, 37, a biotech professional, and Chassity Coston, 35, a middle school principal, reflected on their own career struggles in light of Gay’s ordeal. Wallace said she was being more cognizant of her mental health, and that’s where their young Black professionals group, sorority sisters and family come in.

    “It’s a constant fight of belonging and really having your girlfriends or your homegirls or my mom and my sister. I complain to them every day about something that’s going on at work,” Wallace said. “So having that circle of Black women that you can really vent to is important because, again, you cannot let the things like this sit. We’ve been silenced for too long.”

    Coston said she mourned Gay’s resignation and, fearing something similar could happen to her, she reconsidered her future in education. But she didn’t want to give up.

    “Yes, we’re going to continue to be scorned as Black people, as Black women. It’s going to continue to happen. But we can’t allow that,” Coston said. “I’m speaking from my strength right now because that wasn’t always how I felt in my stages of grief. We have to continue to fight just like Rosa (Parks), just like Harriet (Tubman).”

    Gay struggled despite her resume full of accomplishments, Wallace said.

    “I can’t imagine how she felt trying to do that and getting all these accolades, her degrees that she has, the credentials, and it just seemed like even that was not enough for her to stay,” Wallace said.

    The backlash to DEI efforts is only amplified with clashes over identity politics. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’ tenure bid at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill stalled in 2021 because of her work with the 1619 Project, a collection of essays on race. The 2022 confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court, drew criticism for their harsh and race-based questioning.

    President Joe Biden emphatically stating he only would consider a Black woman for the high court deepened resentment toward DEI, said Johnny Taylor, CEO of The Society for Human Resource Management.

    “Contrast and compare a CEO standing in front of his workplace or her workplace saying, ‘I’m only gonna consider, the next candidates will only be this,’” Taylor said. “That created some real tension.”

    Black women are questioning whether it’s even worth trying for top positions, said Portia Allen-Kyle, chief advisor at social justice organization Color of Change. Extreme scrutiny and online vitriol are high prices to pay.

    “What I’ve heard from quite a few Black women — family, friends and otherwise — is a little bit of feeling of frustration at the idea that excellence is not enough,” Allen-Kyle said. “The ‘Work twice as hard, be twice as good … maybe you’ll be able to be accepted on your merit.’ That lesson that maybe that’s not the case is hard and frustrating and disappointing all around.”

    The number of Black women in the workforce is in danger of shrinking because of a lack of support and opportunities, according to advocates.

    Black women comprise 7.4% of the U.S. population but they occupy only 1.4% of C-suite positions and 1.6% of senior vice-president roles, according to a 2020 report from Lean In, “The State of Black Women in Corporate America.” U.S. Census data shows Black women working year-round and full-time in 2021 made 69 cents for every dollar a white man got. Meanwhile, white women made 80 cents on the dollar.

    Lawless, who left Instagram/Meta in August, thinks more Black women will decide to be their own boss rather than enter a traditional workplace.

    “There’s going to be a chilling effect and you’re going to see more Black women pivot and go into entrepreneurship, which we’re already doing at higher rates,” Lawless said. “Corporations have a real problem. They’ve lost more women at the director and above level since the pandemic.”

    Even self-made businesses cannot avoid DEI resistance. The Fearless Fund, a small venture capital firm, is embroiled in a lawsuit accusing a grant program for Black women-owned companies of discrimination. The litigation has scared away potential investors, according to the firm’s founders.

    Job openings for diversity officers and similar positions have declined in recent months. The combined share of venture capital funding for businesses owned by Black and Latina women has dipped back to less than 1% after briefly surpassing that threshold — at 1.05% — in 2021, according to the nonprofit advocacy group digitalundivided.

    Stephanie Felix, of Austin, Texas, just started her own DEI consulting firm in January. It’s not something the 36-year-old, who worked in DEI for company review website Glassdoor, initially saw for herself.

    “People say there’s risk in leaving but there’s also a lot of risk in staying,” Felix said.

    Colleagues, family and even Felix herself had reservations about her career leap. But she said she has too often seen DEI hires go from “office pet to office threat.” Their arrival was heralded as a new chapter, but senior leaders wouldn’t come through with promised resources or authority to effect change.

    “I applaud women that choose to step away and choose themselves. I applaud myself for it too,” Felix said. “Even though it’s not easy, it gives you more sovereignty over your life which is, in my mind, definitely worth it.”

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    Terry Tang, Michael Casey, The Associated Press

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  • Nex Benedict’s Tragic and Avoidable Death Is a Call to Action for All Teachers

    Nex Benedict’s Tragic and Avoidable Death Is a Call to Action for All Teachers

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    Recently, I’ve been sitting in collective grief alongside my trans community. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been grappling with a devastating incident that occurred on February 7, 2024. Nex Benedict, along with their trans friend, found themselves cornered in a high school bathroom by three students. Enduring both verbal slurs and physical assaults, Nex suffered severe head trauma after being repeatedly slammed into the floor. Despite sustaining injuries, they were merely escorted to the office without any medical assistance. Shockingly, instead of the perpetrators facing consequences, Nex was the one suspended and sent home, neglected by the school. Then, tragically, Nex passed away the following day, with head trauma suspected as the primary cause.

    Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old Indigenous nonbinary individual who was a member of the Choctaw Nation, was a vibrant soul who enjoyed cooking, art, video games, and doting on their cat. However, their adolescence was marred by constant advocacy for their own rights and those of others, as adults consistently failed to provide adequate support.

    The loss of Nex has plunged both the queer and Indigenous communities into mourning. 

    Another Two-Spirit individual has fallen victim to the violence perpetuated by colonizers, amplifying the sorrow within Indigenous circles. For the trans community, already reeling from numerous losses in recent years, Nex’s untimely death is particularly poignant due to the blatant lack of intervention. Nex’s story resonates deeply with us; their absence serves as a stark reminder of the systemic failures that endanger our existence.

    This tragic incident transcends mere bullying—it illustrates a disturbingly wide acceptance of behaviors rooted in systemic discrimination.

    Despite relentless efforts by the trans community to highlight the dehumanizing impact of discriminatory laws and national conversations, society continues to propagate an environment where violence against us is normalized. It is a grim irony that Nex met their untimely demise in the very space where the assault on trans rights began: the bathroom.

    Months earlier, a teacher at Nex’s school faced termination after appearing in an 2SLGBTQIA+-affirming TikTok and then being criticized on Libs of TikTok, a platform known for its conservative bias. Nex, deeply affected by this injustice, lamented the loss of a supportive figure. While it may be tempting to attribute such incidents to partisan politics, the truth is far more sobering. 

    This is not merely a state-specific issue—it is a nationwide epidemic. 

    Silence in the face of injustice perpetuates the problem. If the plight of trans individuals only becomes apparent after tragedies like Nex’s, then systemic change remains elusive. This past week, students at Nex’s high school walked out in protest of the ongoing bullying that has been occurring. Why do we, as educators, continually force students to be activists? Why are students forced to speak up for their own safety? 

    Educators must acknowledge that our institutions were not designed to be safe havens for queer or Indigenous students; they were conceived within a framework that prioritizes the comfort of white, cisgender males. Efforts to reform such systems face resistance, but the urgency of the task demands collective action from all educators.

    Consider this a call to action.

    If you claim allyship with the trans community, silence is no longer an option. It’s time to move beyond passive expressions of solidarity and take tangible steps toward advocacy. Attend school board meetings, incorporate inclusive teachings into your curriculum, and advocate for the rights of queer students as fervently as they advocate for their own survival.

    The trans community has long been at the forefront of this battle, sacrificing personal comfort in the relentless pursuit of equality. Anti-trans legislation permeates every corner of the nation, threatening the very existence of trans individuals. Now more than ever, we need allies to stand with us in solidarity, amplifying our voices in every school, district, and state.

    Take action:

    • Reach out to your local 2SLGTBQIA+ center. Connect, ask how you can support, and learn what issues are facing your community members. 
    • Call the Owasso, Oklahoma, school district and demand the removal of the superintendent. 
    • Advocate for the queer community at local, state, and federal levels.
    • Support Indigenous initiatives that raise awareness about Missing and Murdered Women and Two-Spirit people. Check out Native Hope to learn more and how to offer support.
    • Utilize resources like Learning for Justice for educational materials.
    • Explore Learning for Justice’s Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ Students for further insights.

    Let Nex’s story be a catalyst to inspire change. Together, we can create a future where every individual is valued, respected, and protected in our schools and communities, regardless of their gender identity or expression.

    For more articles like this, be sure to subscribe to our newsletters.

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    Skye Tooley

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  • Lunar New Year Coloring Page 2024: Grab Our Free Download

    Lunar New Year Coloring Page 2024: Grab Our Free Download

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    This year, Lunar New Year celebrations begin around the world on February 10, 2024. It is the beginning of the Year of the Dragon. To celebrate, we created this fun lunar new year coloring page! To get your copy, just fill out the form on this page.

    Get My Coloring Page

    Once you color our Lunar New Year coloring page, learn more about the global celebrations

    Allie Ogg / We Are Teachers

    Our coloring page is a great way to kick off a bigger unit on Lunar New Year! You can check out some of our favorite books and activities for teaching about Lunar New Year here.

    Download Coloring Page

    What Is Lunar New Year?

    Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year, marks the beginning of the lunar calendar. Celebrated in many Asian cultures, it involves family reunions, feasts, and traditional customs. People exchange red envelopes for good luck. It symbolizes renewal and the zodiac animal changes yearly.

    Why is 2024 the Year of the Dragon?

    2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac. The zodiac follows a 12-year cycle with each year represented by a different animal. Legends say the order was determined by a race; the dragon finished fifth because it helped animals along the way, and the zodiac honors that order.

    The dragon is a special symbol in the Chinese zodiac as it’s associated with strength, good fortune, and power. People born in the Year of the Dragon are believed to inherit these qualities. Dragons are mythical creatures in Chinese culture, embodying wisdom and courage. Their presence signifies prosperity and protection.

    Invite students to color in their own special dragon with our festive lunar new year coloring page!

    Yes, I Want My Coloring Page

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    We Are Teachers Staff

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  • Sam Altman says Muslims in the tech industry feel “uncomfortable speaking up”

    Sam Altman says Muslims in the tech industry feel “uncomfortable speaking up”

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    OpenAI’s recently reinstated CEO, Sam Altman, says Muslim workers in the tech industry are scared to speak up for fear of damaging their career prospects.

    Altman, who is Jewish, made the observation in an apparent reference to the ongoing war in Gaza and the resulting rise in religious and racial tensions.

    In a series of posts on X, Altman explained: “Muslim and Arab (especially Palestinian) colleagues in the tech community I’ve spoken with feel uncomfortable speaking about their recent experiences, often out of fear of retaliation and damaged career prospects.”

    Islamaphobia and antisemitism have soared since Hamas’ deadly terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which sparked a conflict that has now claimed more than 22,000 lives.

    In the U.S. alone, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it received a “staggering” 2,171 complaints of bias incidents or requests for help between Oct. 7 and Dec. 2, which is a 172% increase over a similar two-month period the previous year.  

    At the same time, the Anti-Defamation League said it recorded 2,031 antisemitic incidents nationwide between Oct. 7 and Dec. 7, marking a 337% increase in reports compared with the same two-month period in 2022

    “Our industry should be united in our support of these colleagues; it is an atrocious time,” Altman continued on X, the Elon Musk-owned platform formerly known as Twitter. “I continue to hope for a real and lasting peace, and that in the meantime we can treat each other with empathy.”

    ‘Less’ support for Muslims

    Responding to a question about his Jewish colleagues the tech entrepreneur— who co-founded location-based service company Loopt before taking the helm at OpenAI—claimed he’s witnessed less empathy towards Muslims than Jews in recent months.

    “I am Jewish. I believe that antisemitism is a significant and growing problem in the world, and I see a lot of people in our industry sticking up for me, which I deeply appreciate,” he answered. “I see much less of that for Muslims.”

    An example of Altman’s concern may be illustrated by an open letter penned by a group of Google employees published on Medium late last year.

    They accused executives and managers at the tech giant of a double standard, allowing for “freedom of expression for Israeli employees versus Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian workers.”

    In a message published in October, Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed the rise in both antisemitism and Islamaphobia being reported and offered support to Jewish Googlers as well as Palestinian, Arab and Muslim Googlers.

    “I’ve always been proud of how Googlers come together in moments of crisis,” he added. 

    Antisemitism has only recently been taken seriously

    Altman has admitted he has not always seen antisemitism as a “significant” issue and only recently said that was “totally wrong.”

    “For a long time I said that antisemitism, particularly on the American left, was not as bad as people claimed,” Altman posted on X just last month. “I’d like to just state that I was totally wrong. I still don’t understand it, really. Or know what to do about it. But it is so f–ked.”

    While Altman’s stance has shifted, tech CEOs are also increasingly taking the growing hostility against Jews more seriously.

    TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew met with 40 top Jewish executives last year to examine how the platform can reduce antisemitic content as well as mitigate bias on the app.

    “For every view of pro-Israel posts, there are about 54 views of pro-Palestine posts,” Anthony Goldbloom, the founder of Sumble, a startup that curates public data for a variety of applications, and the mastermind of the TikTok meeting told Fortune. “If TikTok was just a mirror reflecting back what people believe, it shouldn’t be a 54:1 ratio.”

    Meanwhile, politicians and executives alike including Pfizer’s CEO recently slammed the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania over their approaches toward on-campus antisemitism.

    Fortune has contacted Sam Altman for comment.

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    Orianna Rosa Royle

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  • In billionaires’ brawl over DEI, Bill Ackman knocks Mark Cuban’s rebuttal to Elon Musk: ‘I fell for the same trap’ 

    In billionaires’ brawl over DEI, Bill Ackman knocks Mark Cuban’s rebuttal to Elon Musk: ‘I fell for the same trap’ 

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    Billionaires are duking it out on X over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

    On Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, wrote: “DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on anyone who uses it.”

    That was in support of a long post by hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman on the reasons he pressured Harvard president Claudine Gay to resign, as she announced she would earlier this week. Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, is a Harvard alum and prominent donor to the university. 

    Gay received intense criticism last month for her answers to lawmakers over anti-Semitism on campus following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. Specifically, she failed to condemn calls for genocide against Jews as a violation of university policy. That was followed by allegations by conservative activists that she had committed plagiarism in her academic work, and suggestions that she had been unqualified for the role of president, which she assumed last July, in the first place.

    “It was a thinly veiled exercise in race & gender when they selected Claudine Gay,” entrepreneur and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a Harvard alum, posted to X on Tuesday. “Here’s a radical idea for the future: select leadership based on *merit.*”

    When an X user responded to Musk by questioning whether DEI qualifies as racism, Musk countered: “Discrimination on the basis of race, which DEI does, is literally the definition of racism.” 

    At this point, another billionaire weighed in: Mark Cuban, the Shark Tank star and Dallas Mavericks owner (last month he sold his majority stake in the NBA team to families linked to Sheldon Adelson, the late Las Vegas casino magnate). 

    “Let me help you out and give you my thoughts on DEI,” he responded to Musk. 

    “Good businesses look where others don’t, to find the employees that will put your business in the best possible position to succeed,” he continued. “You may not agree, but I take it as a given that there are people of various races, ethnicities, orientation, etc., that are regularly excluded from hiring consideration. By extending our hiring search to include them, we can find people that are more qualified. The loss of DEI-phobic companies is my gain.”

    Ackman responded to Cuban, writing: 

    “That’s exactly what I thought until I did the work. I encourage you to do the same and revert. DEI is not about diversity, equity, or inclusion. Trust me. I fell for the same trap you did.”

    Musk replied to Ackman with “Yup.” 

    Musk, who owns X, has been a frequent critic of DEI in recent weeks. In mid-December, he wrote: “‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ are propaganda words for racism, sexism and other -isms. This is just as morally wrong as any other racism and sexism. Changing the target class doesn’t make it right!”

    (The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Tesla in September alleging it failed to probe complaints of racist conduct and has fired or retaliated against employees who reported harassment. In other such cases, Tesla has said that it doesn’t tolerate discrimination and takes such complaints seriously.)

    Ackman, in a similar vein, wrote on Wednesday: “DEI is racist because reverse racism is racism, even if it is against white people (and it is remarkable that I even need to point this out).”

    In her resignation note, Gay wrote, “It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor—two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am—and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus.”

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    Steve Mollman

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  • Former Merck CEO Ken Frazier on the responsibility of CEOs to uphold principles despite politics

    Former Merck CEO Ken Frazier on the responsibility of CEOs to uphold principles despite politics

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    On this week’s episode of Fortune‘s Leadership Next podcast, co-host Alan Murray talks with former Merck CEO Ken Frazier. In a conversation recorded live at a Deloitte Next Generation CEO event in Washington, D.C., Frazier tells Murray why the decisions he made to leave former U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidential advisory council, and to vocally support voting rights, were a matter of principle, not politics.

    Frazier also discusses the challenges he faced in his first few years as CEO of Merck—and the shareholders who trusted his vision enough to support him. Finally, Frazier, who is also the cofounder and former CEO of the the OneTen Coalition and current chairman of health assurance initiatives at General Catalyst, talks about starting the OneTen Coalition after the murder of George Floyd, and because he identified a need to find a common language to talk about ESG and DEI.

    Co-host Michal Lev-Ram joins for the pre-interview chat. Listen to the episode or read the full transcript below.

    Transcript:

    [music starts]

    Alan Murray: Leadership Next is powered by the folks at Deloitte, who, like me, are exploring the changing rules of business leadership and how CEOs are navigating this change.

    Welcome to Leadership Next, the podcast about the changing rules of business leadership. I’m Alan Murray.

    [music ends]

    Michal Lev-Ram: And I’m Michal Lev-Ram. Alan, the next two episodes of Leadership Next are a little bit different and a little bit special, although our episodes are always special. That’s because each of these episodes features an interview that you recorded live earlier in October in D.C., where Deloitte, our podcast partner, hosted a Next Generation CEO event. So to start, can you give us a little bit of context? What is the next generation initiative? And what made it the right crowd for a live Leadership Next recording? 

    Murray: Well, first of all, I wish you had been there, it was really kind of magic. Yeah, this is a program that Deloitte runs for people who’ve been identified by their companies as having a shot at the top job. And it’s really designed to give them a look at what it’s like to be a CEO of one of these large companies. So you’re dealing with about 20 people who are really tuned in to what they’re hearing from the CEOs. And first up was Ken Frazier, who is the former CEO of Merck, the pharmaceutical giant. He’s currently at General Catalyst. And as you remember, Michal, Ken Frazier played a critical role in the history of the stakeholder capitalism movement. He was the one, in 2017, when the Unite the Right rally happened in Charlottesville, and the president made some ambivalent comments about who was responsible and good people on both sides. He was the one who, at that moment, made the decision to resign from the president’s Advisory Council, and really, his resignation prompted a whole bunch of other CEOs to resign as well. And within a couple of days, the whole thing had shut down. So, he is a person of strong opinions. And he really was kind of energized by the Next Generation CEOs who were in the room. So it’s really a fascinating conversation. 

    Lev-Ram: Yeah, talk about leadership. Ken is just a super fascinating person with a really interesting professional and background story. So after graduating from Harvard Law, he started his career as a lawyer for a big Philadelphia law firm. And there he made a name for himself representing a wrongfully convicted death row inmate in Alabama, named Bo Cochran. After 19 years on death row, Frazier and his team worked to get Cochran’s conviction overturned, and it’s just a really amazing story all around. While still at the Philly firm, his future employer, Merck, became one of his clients. And Merck took him on as general counsel in 1992. And he’s been there in different capacities ever since. 

    Murray: He told a fascinating story about the early days when there was an activist investor in his stock trying to push him to cut his research budget so they could make greater profits in the short term. And he stood up and said, No, that’s not the way to run a company. For the long term, we have to be about the science, we have to be about the research. You know, the other thing he did, after the George Floyd murder a couple of years ago, he helped create this OneTen project, which is an effort to take disadvantaged people and get them into good jobs in big corporations. So a fascinating CEO who cares deeply about his impact on society. 

    Lev-Ram: Don’t forget, Alan, another accolade to throw in here. He was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in both 2018 and again in 2021. So I’m very, very disappointed to have missed this live and in person. But looking forward to listening along with everybody else. We have an episode to get to. 

    Murray: Yeah, enough talking about Ken, let’s let Ken talk. Here’s my conversation, before a live audience with former Merck CEO Ken Frazier. 

    [music starts]

    [music ends]

    Murray: I’m Alan Murray, and I’m here today with a man who I’ve been trying to get on this podcast since February of 2020, and finally succeeded: Ken Frazier, the former CEO of Merck—you were still CEO when I first tried to get you on the show. Glad we finally got you here!

    Ken Frazier: Same here, Alan, thanks for having me. Yeah. 

    Murray: Thanks so much for doing it. I want to talk a little bit about your career as CEO at first. We have a lot of things to talk about. I mean, you’ve been involved in so many interesting corporate businesses, but also social issues over the course of the last few years. And we’re gonna get into all of that. But I just want to start by talking about how you started your career as CEO. You know, we’re here with a group of people who stand on the doorstep of becoming CEOs, they’re in the Deloitte Next Generation program. And we had a conversation earlier, that was based on the Mike Tyson quote, “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” You got punched in the face pretty early. So, talk about the beginning of your career as CEO of Merck and what you did. 

    Frazier: So, I took over Merck Jan. 1, 2011, which was kind of an auspicious time in a lot of ways in the industry. At that time, Wall Street was encouraging CEOs in the pharmaceutical biopharmaceutical engineering industry, not to invest in R&D. In fact, there was  a prominent report by one of the banks that said, the way to create value was to cut your R&D budget and to invest in non pharmaceutical assets, there was a company called Valiant, you might remember them, their stock was going through the roof. And their philosophy is, we don’t invest in science, we invest in management. The challenge that I faced is that my company had five year EPS guidance. By the way, if you ever become CEO, don’t do that.

    Murray: First piece of advice…

    Frazier: Only one and a half years had elapsed. So I had three and a half years, this EPS roadmap 25 days into the job, I decided that that was the wrong thing for Merck, in the long term, it would help keep the stock price up in the short term, because we had in fact promised our shareholders that we’d follow this EPS roadmap. So I called my board 25 days into the job. And I said that you don’t really know me that well, but I just want to let you know, I intend to withdraw the last three and a half years of our EPS guidance. All hell broke loose. Right, my lead director said, We won’t let you do that, and I said, I don’t know exactly what you think you just said to me. But I feel strongly about this. And the board went into executive session, I called my wife and I said, Honey, don’t buy the expensive formica. Okay, not clear how long this is going to last. But they let me stay, and the stock plummeted. But you know, when you look back on things, you see things that you couldn’t have seen before. Every time a share of Merck stock got sold, somebody bought it, and the people who bought it were the right patient, long-term shareholders for a company that intended to invest in R&D. So I got the right shareholders, although the process of the transition was painful.

    Murray: Did your lead director stick with you? 

    Frazier: He did stick with me…with great hesitation. You know, it’s not easy also for the board to fire a CEO 25 days into the job.  It doesn’t make them look great, either. And I’ll be honest here, for a while, this board was not about to give me more money, because they weren’t happy with the stock price performance. And but at the end of the day, I think it turned out well, because Merck has always been a science-based company. And if I cut the R&D budget, I could then talk all I wanted to the scientists about how we’re a science-based company, but they would never believe me.

    Murray: Such an important turning point, as an observer, as a journalist who was watching what was going on from the outside over that period. By 2011, there were many, many polls that showed that your industry was the most hated industry in the country. It was, you know, and it was partly because of that kind of behavior. Right? 

    Frazier: You know, the industry does a lot of great good for a lot of people. I think COVID is an incredible example of that. But I think the challenge is, and it’s not just true for the pharmaceutical industry, as we begin to have this concept that CEOs have a responsibility to maximize returns to shareholders, we sometimes miss the fact that we also have other stakeholders that we have to think about, right? And I don’t think it’s at all inconsistent or, or wrong to think about driving value for shareholders and also driving value, for example, for patients, if you’re in the pharmaceutical industry.

    Murray: You got into the CEO job, by way of a career in law. But can you talk about, I know you were particularly well known, because you took on a someone who had been on death row for 19 years and got them off? Not the usual kind of corporate law practice. Can you talk about that case? 

    Frazier: Yeah. So I represented a guy named Bo Cochran, who was 13 days before his date in Alabama, who is totally innocent of a crime. And I didn’t want to take the case, but it was either I took it or he was going to be executed without being represented, and I took the case, and turns out that we were able to demonstrate after about five or six years of going back and finding evidence that we could prove him not only not guilty, but actually factually innocent. And that was the most important thing I’ve ever done in my life as an individual. 

    Murray: What did you learn from that? 

    Frazier: Well, I learned something that I already knew from having done criminal defense work in other cases, which is that the system that we have, in which—let me put it this way, if we were going to have a system under which someone could be sentenced to death, you would expect of that system a discipline, a consistency, a rigor is the word I’m seeking, that the system completely lacks. It would have to be the most rigorous thing we do in our democracy, and frankly, the way the system works in our country often is, if you’re poor, and you’re from an underrepresented group, the state appoints a lawyer for you, that lawyer often doesn’t do a good job of representing you. The state then runs roughshod over your constitutional rights. And then when you get a lawyer at the end of the process, who wants to vindicate those processes, those rights, often the courts think the concept of finality of the verdict is more important than the factual innocence thing. And so a lot of people in our country, and, you know, the Innocence Project has gotten more than 100 people off death row or life sentences by demonstrating with DNA evidence that they didn’t commit the crime. Now, DNA evidence usually involves rape murders, which is a very small percentage of cases. So we know for a fact that there are lots of people who are on the row who are under sentence of death, who can be demonstrably shown to be innocent. 

    Murray: Let’s fast forward. 2017. Donald Trump is president, he asked you to sit on one of his advisory councils, you agree, you’re the CEO of a regulated industry, you can’t really ignore the president of the United States or the government of the United States. And the Unite the Right rally turned into a disaster, happened in Charlottesville. And the next day, the resident comes out and makes some comments that were highly ambivalent about that event. You resigned. And it had huge effects—all the other resignations, I covered this pretty closely, all the other resignations happened because you resigned the other CEOs, once they saw you walked out, felt they had to do the same. Why did you do it? 

    Frazier: So let me start by saying, you alluded to it. But you know, the country is hugely divided along political lines. We know that. The Gallup poll last year showed for the first time Americans don’t consider themselves to be fundamentally divided by race, religion, or region. They consider themselves fundamentally divided by party affiliation. And that was true in 2017. I did not want to go on the president’s council. But my colleagues at Merck said, you know, we’re representing a pharmaceutical industry. He’s a new president. He’s the only president we have, he’s asked you more than once, you ought to go. So I did that. That took a lot of criticism from my friends on the left. Okay. When the comments were made about Charlottesville, I remember I was furniture shopping with my wife, and so I was paying maybe more attention to my iPhone than I normally do. 

    Murray: Not your favorite activity.

    Frazier: I saw the president’s comments. And I knew immediately that I could not remain on the president’s ouncil because of what was happening at Charlottesville.

    Murray: But is it your choice? I mean, you represent Merck, you represent a company .

    Frazier: I do, but also represent my family. I came home and my 20-year-old son was waiting for me. He never came home from college, but he was there when I got home. And he was challenging me with what passes for a searching inquiry for a 20-year-old. He said to me, What’s up dad? What’s up? Okay, which is his way of saying, all this talk. You’ve talked all these years about standing up for principle, we’re watching, okay. But what I ended up doing was, I called my board. And I said, I intend to step down from the president’s council. I was actually advised by my PR people to do it quietly. I said, No, actually, you might remember this. I was down there several times. And he always sat me next to him. So my kids are like, Dad, you’re killing us. Right? But I said, I’m going to withdraw, and it’s going to be a noisy withdrawal. I’m going to put out a statement, I’m going to say why I’m withdrawing. I said to my board, however, I do recognize I have a responsibility to the company. And so the question I’m asking you, is in my statement, do you want me to say I’m withdrawing from the council as a matter of my personal conscience? Or do you want me also to say I’m withdrawing because of the company’s values? And I’m happy to say that. Unanimously, they said, we want you to speak to the company’s values. 

    Murray: No debate?

    Frazier: No debate whatsoever. 

    Murray: And did you know at that moment that once you stepped down all the other CEOs would step down and the council would crumble? 

    Frazier: No, I didn’t know that. But that gets to the question of principle. At the end of the day, what’s hard about these decisions that CEOs face? Is what are you making the decision for this principle? And his pragmatism? The pragmatic thing is, why would you piss off the president of the United States? Right. And by the way—

    Murray: Who’s already talking about drug pricing.

    Frazier: Right, he’s already talking about drug pricing. By the way, this is August 2017. He’d been in the White House for about seven months, I think, whether you like President Trump or no, the jury was still very much out about President Trump at that point in time. So the pragmatic decision is, why put your company in that situation? But the principle decision for me was that I felt like someone needed to take a statement, and that if I didn’t, I would be providing my own tacit approval of what the president did and did not do. So for me, that was an easy decision. But I didn’t want to speak on behalf of the company, 

    Murray: Did you get criticism for it? 

    Frazier: Oh, yeah, I got criticism, a lot of criticism. And what the most important thing that I remember thinking about that whole thing was, shortly after I stepped off the council, and then you’re right, everyone sort of followed. Because, you know, frankly, I think people’s employees, a lot of them got challenged by their employees, because someone else had stepped off. So you know, what are you doing? And I had CEOs call me and say, you should have consulted us before you went out on your own. Right? Like, you can’t have your own conscience or whatever. But I do think one of the challenges that we have about political division in this country is that we don’t find a common language to talk about what we’re talking about, or what we’re feeling. So, after I stepped off, one of the first things I wanted to do was to go to one of my manufacturing plants, one of Merck’s manufacturing plants in the south, is located in a town that’s called Stonewall, Georgia. I’ll say it again, STONEwall, Georgia, if you hear me talking, okay. And I went to that plant, I was advised not to go there. But I went there to talk to my plant workers. And I wanted to say to them, I’m the CEO of Merck. I’m not here to tell you who to vote for, or who to like. You’re Merck people. I’m a Merck person. We all have common values. I’m not judging you, you may have many reasons why you support the president, and I support whatever political views you want to have. But you’re damn sure gonna support mine. And I will tell you, when I walked in that room, people’s arms were crossed. And when we finished having that conversation, people came up to me and said, we get you. Because what they wanted to hear was that I wasn’t judging them, and I wasn’t taking a position on them. And I think a lot of the division in our country is because we deal with issues without communicating with each other, and without what I call grace. 

    [music starts]

    Murray: Jason Girzadas, the CEO of Deloitte US is the sponsor of this podcast and joins me today. Welcome, Jason. 

    Jason Girzadas: Thank you, Alan. It’s great to be here.

    Murray: Jason, everyone in business is talking about AI. It clearly has the potential to dramatically disrupt almost every industry, but a lot of companies are struggling. What are some of the barriers that companies are facing in creating business value with AI? 

    Girzadas: Yea, Alan, AI is on every client’s agenda. I think every CEO and board interaction and conversation that I’m a part of proves the fact that the promise of AI is widely held, and the hope is far and deep that it creates business value. But there are challenges, to be sure. What we’ve seen is that the probability of success increases dramatically with strong executive sponsorship and leadership, there has to be a portfolio of investments around AI as well as to link the business ownership with technology leadership to see the value of AI-related investments. Over time, we’re optimistic and confident that the value will result, but it will be a portfolio where other short term opportunities for automation improvements around productivity and cost takeout and then longer-term, medium-term opportunities for business model innovation that are truly transformational. So this is a classic case where it won’t be a single approach that realizes value for AI.

    Murray: It sounds like you take it a step at a time. 

    Girzadas: I think a step at a time, and also a portfolio recognizing that some investments will have short-term benefit where you can see immediate use cases creating financial and business impact, but longer-term opportunities to really invent different customer experiences, different business models, and ultimately create longer-term benefit that we can’t even fully appreciate at this point in time. 

    Murray: Jason, thanks for your perspective. And thanks for sponsoring Leadership Next. 

    Girzadas: Thank you. 

    [music ends]

    Murray: Continuing the line of conversation: Three years later, Trump is out of office, the state of Georgia decides to adopt a voting rights bill that many people felt would restrict access to minorities in the state. But it also was about as political a piece of legislation, as you could imagine, supported by every Republican, opposed by every Democrat, because it meant Republicans would get more votes and Democrats would get less.

    Frazier: And people had to subscribe to the idea that the election was stolen. That was a big part of it, too. 

    Murray: So you stepped in? My understanding is, you and I’ve never talked about this, but my understanding is you personally called Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta, you personally talked to Jim Quincy, the CEO of Coca Cola.

    Frazier: Well, Ken Chenault and I divided up the list, Ken Chenault of American Express.

    Murray: And together, the two of you called them and said, You’ve got to speak out. You’ve got to take a stand. You have to go against this. Almost explosive—this 2017, you had Mitch McConnell go on TV saying, you CEOs, this is politics. You CEOs stay out of—stay in your own swim lane. What are you doing telling us how to run—

    Frazier: Except for political donations.

    Murray: Yeah, they’ll take those.

    Frazier: Stay out of politics except for donations to me, please. That’s a principle. 

    Murray: So again, why did you do it was the right thing to do? Did you talk to the board? How did you handle it? Were you still CEO at the time?

    Frazier: I was CEO at the time. This is what’s really hard about being a CEO. I first of all, don’t believe that CEOs or businesses want to be in the middle of political disputes. And I try to be careful about whether or not I want to get into the middle of political disputes. But I also believe that in the long run, we need to have an environment in our country that is conducive to commerce, and it’s conducive to people. And that comes down to a set of principles that we were taught early in school, if we went to school in this country, and there’s certain things like you know, the rule of law, the right to vote, equal treatment, equal opportunity. Go through that list of fundamental American values. And if it’s a fundamental American value, it is my view that if our elected officials are either abandoning or ignoring their responsibility to uphold those principles, it falls to the American people to ensure that those principles are upheld. I happen to think CEOs are among the most influential American people. So if people have a responsibility to stand up for principle, then I think CEOs ought to stand up for those principles. And from my perspective, that’s one of those things that a lot of people will disagree with, because they’ll say that was political. And I said, wait a minute, the right to vote isn’t inherently a political issue. If somebody wants to politicize that principle, that doesn’t mean I have to be quiet about it. And the example that I’ve used recently in talking to CEOs is the American business community has stood in unison for democracy in Ukraine. But we can’t speak to it in Georgia? I mean, come on. It’s the same principle. Right. So at the end of the day, we talked about this later, I think one of the things that makes it possible to make decisions, tough decisions, is to ask yourself, What are your values? Because it’s your values, from your values when you’re hearing all of these contradictory things. I believe that values help you have both the wisdom to figure out what’s right, and the courage to do what’s right. Because if it really comes down to values, and I would say to people, you know, on this issue about the right of Americans to vote, that is so fundamental to democracy. And by the way, Alan, I’m sure you read it. The statement we made was so anodyne, it was so completely unpolitical. It was like, the CEOs in this country support the right to vote. Right? It actually didn’t say anything about Georgia, we avoided …

    Murray: Because some of the critics were saying, Oh, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You haven’t read the bill. You know, the specifics. They did the same thing in Connecticut that we want to do here. You weren’t talking about the specifics. 

    Frazier: We were talking about the right to vote as a principle, a fundamental principle and as I said before, I had read the law. And I was at pains to say, there are some things in this law that are really good. But there are some things in this law that you can say without question—by the way, I’d never said they had to do with race either. Right? When I would go on television, I would say, these provisions are going to make it hard for people who live in densely populated areas to vote. Now, you could figure out who that is. That’s code for some things. But the people actually stood in line for seven, eight hours, you might remember this in order to vote, and I thought, no one should have to do that. 

    Murray: It’s not right. So both of these examples 2017, 2020—those are you taking action to stop something that you thought was negative from happening. But I want to talk about the OneTen initiative, because this happened after the George Floyd killing, and there was an outbreak, that one was instantaneous. Every CEO, and by the way, 10 years ago, 10 years before that, that would not have happened. Yeah, it was, it was a—it was a change that 2017 created. 

    Frazier: I think it was a very hopeful development in our country, if I can be so direct as an African-American. I compare George Floyd to Rodney King, when the Rodney King thing happened, Black people were in the streets. When the George Floyd thing happened, everybody was in the streets, I would see these stories about places in North Dakota, where there were no Black people living, and people were protesting. Right. And, you know, frankly, I’m being a little political here myself, I actually believe that shows that the country is moving to a place where we can empathize with one another. 

    Murray: Yeah. So all these companies, you know, put out statements that double down on their commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, but you know, I’m interpreting, so you tell me if I’ve got this, right. But you said, Well, wait a minute, if all we do here is all these companies compete for the same talent, then that talent will get higher pay, that’s fine, but we’re not really doing what we want to do, which is restart the escalator of mobility in this country and give these people an opportunity. So you created OneTen, talk about OneTen, what it is…. 

    Frazier: OneTen Coalition, of 70 leading companies that, in the wake of the George Floyd murder, came together and said, we are going to look at our hiring practices systemically, and ask ourselves which jobs really require a four-year degree versus which jobs should be skills-based jobs. Now, how does it relate to George Floyd? Well, in the 2020 census, 76% of African-Americans at age 26 do not have a four-year degree. So, if you reflexively require a four-year degree, systemically, unintentionally, you’re keeping 76% of that population from ever having an opportunity to go to the middle class. 

    Murray: But now wait a second, Ken. So are you saying OneTen is not explicitly about race? 

    Frazier: No, I’m gonna get to that in a minute. Okay. It was initially totally about race, and it continues to focus on communities that are underrepresented. I want to talk about what we’ve done since the Supreme Court case.

    Murray: Yeah, because you’re a lawyer.

    Frazier: Right, but my wife always says, when they say you’re a lawyer, you should add, but not in a pejorative sense of the word. When these companies were saying they wanted to do something to show that they stood for racial justice, we didn’t want to put out statements, we said, What in the wheelhouse of companies is to hire people, right? And if you start hiring people from these unheard, unseen, underrepresented communities, then you can be doing something about that. So that’s how OneTen started, with Ginni Rometty of IBM, Ken Chenault and myself, and Charles Phillips, and Kevin Sherar, who’s the former CEO of Amgen. So we all got together, we’re up to about 110,000 people that we’ve hired into family-sustaining-wage jobs, that’s the key. $50,000 income adjusted, depending on whether you’re in Mobile, Alabama, or Seattle, Washington. So that’s where we went now, explicitly, it was founded, with the mission of creating opportunity for Black talent. We have now changed the mission to make it very clear that while that was what it was founded for, we don’t exclude anybody from it. 

    Murray: And this is because of the Supreme Court. 

    Frazier: It was in response to the Supreme Court. 

    Murray: And how do you feel about that Supreme Court decision? 

    Frazier: Well, that’s a complicated question. But let me try to talk about what I think. 

    Murray: That’s a lawyerly answer. 

    Frazier: I think—I think what Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion says, is that colorblindness, or race neutrality, is a good organizing and governing principle for a multiracial, multicultural society. It’s a good aspiration, is what he’s saying. And I don’t think anyone can disagree with that, at the end of the day, that we should all be judged by who we are, as Dr. King said, by the content of our character, not by our outward appearance. But at the same time, I have to say that I do think that while we are now 59 years after the passage of the seminal Civil Rights Act of ‘58, after the Voting Rights Act, the reality of the world is there are vestiges of centuries of racial oppression, slavery, that continue to affect African-Americans differentially.

    Murray: This goes back to your death row case. 

    Frazier: It goes back to the death row. It’s law enforcement. If you look at life expectancy, if you look at education—I don’t want to be autobiographical. I sit here before you because in 1963, the civil leaders of Philadelphia, the social engineers of Philadelphia, decided to engage in what they called school desegregation. My parents were too poor to buy houses that were proximate to where the good schools were. Okay. So my younger sister and I got put on buses against our will and sent across town to all-white schools, where we got an education that was different from our siblings’. That was a race-conscious decision. It wasn’t intended in any way to exclude or hurt someone. But it was a decision that was made for the purpose of addressing the past discrimination. And that’s where I disagree with Chief Justice Roberts. He says any racial classification is invidious. Well, law school professor, that’s like saying in 1964, a sign in the South that said, “Blacks are welcome” is the same as when it says “Blacks are not welcome”. We all know those two things are different. Okay. And so the challenge we have in our society is twofold. On the one hand, again, as an organizing democratic principle, it is best to avoid classifying people on the basis of race, no one can disagree with that. On the other hand, if we’re ever going to address the huge disparities that exist, that I believe no one can disagree, are vestiges of the way this country has run for years, we have to think about, how do we include people without in any way excluding people? And that’s what we try to do at OneTen. What we say is, let’s go into those communities that we normally don’t go into.

    One quick example, one of our members—I won’t identify, the CEO said to me, OneTen company, he said, I did a tour of our plants. And for all of our plants, we would hire from the community surrounding the plant. Except our plant outside Detroit, he said, and then I discovered for some reason, our plant, which is near the interstate, everybody at the Detroit plant came in from the suburbs, went into the plant inside the gate, and then went home that night, and I went to my plant manager and said, why is this plant different? Why are we not hiring from the surrounding community?

    So again, I think it’s important for us, and this is an important issue for our society, to find ways to deal with one another, in such a way as to never take into consideration external factors that really don’t go to the heart of who people are. But I also think, and again I use my own example, I am fortunate that the social engineers in Philadelphia 1963, they must have heard Martin Luther King, and they somehow it pricked their conscience and they said, some of these kids are getting an education. I don’t think that hurt anybody that they did that.

    Murray: Yeah. Ken Frazier, you have now proven I was right to, since February of 2020, push to get you on this podcast. What a fascinating conversation. 

    Frazier: Can I say one more thing, though? What’s missing is a common language in our society. Right? We have to find ways of communicating, so that the other side understands our intent and doesn’t misunderstand what we’re trying to do. I think DEI, ESG, all of those things have become politicized and toxic. And I think we have to find ways to talk about these issues. You know, I like to talk about openness, because no one’s against openness, right? Nobody’s against fairness and opportunity. We have to find a common language in our society that allows us, irrespective of our political views, to see what the other person’s good intent is.

    Murray: But let me challenge you a little bit on that. Of course we need a common language so that we can talk about these issues without descending into fights. But this has been exacerbated by a broken political system. And, and, and my experience talking to CEOs is, and this gets back to where we started this conversation. From day one, you said, Merck can’t be about making money in the short term, it has to be about the long term. And we all know in the long term, what’s good for the company, and what’s good for society are going to start to meld, right? You can’t be a successful company if the planet’s on fire. You can’t be a successful company if you’re in a country that is melting down. Every CEO I talked to these days says, Please, please, please keep me out of politics. I don’t want to have anything to do with it. I don’t like it. I don’t want to be part of it. I don’t understand how that’s consistent with the long-term view of the health of the company, because surely our political dysfunction is at least as big a problem for the future of American companies.

    Frazier: I agree. And that was my point about having an environment that’s conducive to people as well as to commerce. The point I was making, though, is that rather than get dragged into the political fight, just be specific about what you’re doing. Right. Just be very specific about what it is that your company stands for, and don’t get pulled into the political debate about words. Because frankly, the good thing about the politicians is, they’re so shallow in their thinking that, if you call the thing something else, they don’t even talk about it. 

    Murray: Would you ever consider running for office yourself? 

    Frazier: Never!

    Murray: We’d all be better off. 

    Frazier: That’s kind of you to say but my wife would say, don’t go there!

    Murray: Ken Frazier, thank you so much. 

    [music starts]

    Leadership Next is edited and produced by Alexis Haut. Our theme is by Jason Snell. Our executive producer is Megan Arnold. Leadership Next is a product of Fortune Media.

    Leadership Next episodes are produced by Fortune‘s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel. Nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

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    Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges: A Minority-Owned Utah Company Makes Waves in the Market

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    New Minority-Owned Venture PoziBands Aims to Empower Individuals to Embrace Positivity and Celebrate Their Uniqueness Through Its U.S.-Manufactured Wristbands


    SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah, August 30, 2023 (Newswire.com)
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    PoziBands, a dynamic and vibrant wristband company dedicated to spreading positivity and color expression, announced its grand launch today as a new minority-owned business in the heart of Utah.

    PoziBands aims to empower individuals to embrace positivity and celebrate their uniqueness through its U.S.-manufactured wristbands. Each band is meticulously designed to embrace positive messaging, making the wearer feel uplifted and inspired every day. The company’s commitment to quality and comfort ensures that every wristband is made with utmost care, keeping wearer satisfaction at the forefront.

    “We are thrilled to launch PoziBands in Utah, where diversity and inclusion thrive. Our goal is to inject optimism into people’s lives and uplift spirits through our colorful and meaningful wristbands,” said Aaron L. Moore, founder and CEO of PoziBands.

    PoziBands understands the power of positivity, and the company’s wristbands serve as a reminder to stay motivated and optimistic, even during challenging times. With trendy designs and inspiring messages, PoziBands intends to make a positive impact on every person who wears its wristbands.

    “We firmly believe that positive messaging can change lives and create a ripple effect in society. Our wristbands are not just fashionable accessories, but subtle reminders to stay hopeful and spread positivity wherever you go,” said Laura, an Affiliate for PoziBands.

    PoziBands’ collection ranges from bold and vibrant designs to more subtle and elegant options, ensuring there’s something for every individual’s style and preference. The comfortable fit makes the bands perfect for everyday wear, reminding wearers to stay positive throughout their day.

    As a minority-owned business, PoziBands takes pride in its commitment to diversity and inclusivity. By providing a platform for greater representation, the company aims to inspire and support minority entrepreneurs in the state of Utah and beyond.

    For more information on PoziBands and our collections, please visit www.pozibands.com. To request an interview or media inquiry, please contact Aaron Moore at Aaron@pozibands.com.

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  • A Global Diversity and Inclusion Cohort for Professionals is Set to Launch

    A Global Diversity and Inclusion Cohort for Professionals is Set to Launch

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    Mar 21, 2022


    DETROIT, March 21, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Lighthouse Accelerator Executive Program will launch its inaugural Equity and Inclusion Executive Coaching Program in April of 2022. With a successful pilot program ending in December of 2021, 13 emerging and executive-level professionals joined virtually as guest speakers provided alignment and programming with fellow Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) professionals from around the world. 

    The Pilot program was broken into two tracks for DEI practitioners as they took a collaborative approach through information-sharing and simulations to understand best practices that reinforced the advantages of inclusion and equity, and guided the participants through the creation of a DEI action plan to incorporate into the DNA of their company. The Emerging track was created for those practitioners just starting out in the field and looking to understand the fundamentals of becoming a DEI practitioner. The Executive-Level track had top-level leaders seeking a collaborative, safe space to discuss real scenarios impacting their organizations and companies. 

    “The DEI sector is evolving at a rapid speed, especially following the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020. We’ve seen a significant increase in Chief Diversity Officer positions and people seeking to become DEI practitioners recently,” says Nikki Pardo, the company’s founder. “With over 16 years of DEI expertise, I founded the E&IC to create a safe space where members can meet without their knowledge or experience being called into question. Running pilots for both tracks last year was the best move I ever made because the feedback and testimonials from the participants far exceeded my expectations. Several collaborations were forged, relationships evolved, and the opportunity to dissect real-time business case scenarios was priceless.” 

    Pilot Participant Justin M. Williams, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Girl Scouts of SE Michigan, adds, “For the first time in a long time, I felt seen as a whole person doing this incredibly daunting yet rewarding work – while still building professional connections, developing professional skills and learning strategies they can apply in their professional lives to advance equity work across sectors. The business of DEI needs more spaces like these, where the priority is learning and building via a community of like-minded professionals where you can feel comfortable issue-spotting and getting real-world strategies from peers. This group changed my perspective on the work and for that I am eternally grateful!”

    Participants can anticipate collectively identifying and overcoming hurdles through an exchange of candid views and insight, study industry trends, and develop useful skills and tools using an evidence-based approach. Participants will also deconstruct actual scenarios through collaboration, build on the concepts and acquire strategic planning alignment from the prior session, and receive executive coaching within an intimate and judgment-free cohort with the help of industry professionals. Each participant will make important connections and form strong relationships in a collaborative environment that extends beyond the scheduled session, create an action plan, and leave with a business case for diversity and inclusion within their firm. 

    To apply for the cohort launch, you must be a member of The Equity and Inclusion Coalition. Visit www.eicoalition.org/dashboar  to find the application form in the Member Dashboard. Workshops, interactive forums, webinars, executive coaching services, certification suggestions, and The Lighthouse Accelerator are all available to members.

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    Source: The Equity and Inclusion Coalition

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  • Jennifer Tardy Consulting Publishes the LEQ – Lived Experience Intelligence™ Report

    Jennifer Tardy Consulting Publishes the LEQ – Lived Experience Intelligence™ Report

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    An introduction to untapped intelligence, and the important implications of this transformational perspective for both individuals and organizations.

    Press Release
    –

    Feb 22, 2022


    BOWIE, Md., February 22, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Jennifer Tardy Consulting, an internationally known, award-winning diversity recruitment training and consulting firm located in Maryland, today announced the publication of the LEQ – Lived Experience Intelligence™ report, which is an exciting new concept that establishes the correlation between using the LEQ model in hiring and promotion decisions and truly leveraging an untapped intelligence necessary to take the workplace to the next level.

    The firm defines LEQ as the extent to which one exercises the knowledge, skills, and abilities that one has developed through life events, applying, and expressing them in one’s thinking and actions, and using them as an asset. Through the LEQ concept, the firm has been working toward answering the all-time million-dollar question. “If I have two top candidates, do I hire based on diversity?” Leaders too often think that people should be hired based on characteristics like race, sexual orientation, and gender. Hiring based on protected characteristics is illegal and leads to negative downstream implications for the person hired, such as others questioning whether they were truly qualified. Furthermore, how one identifies is not the crucial element that creates such great outcomes for employers. It is the lived experiences generated by how one identifies that creates new, unique perspectives and considerations—an intelligence. Leveraging these perspectives and considerations is what creates the value. Hiring based on LEQ is one way to make inclusive recruiting more systematic and to move the needle to make diversity recruiting, simply recruiting. 

    “In developing LEQ, I knew that if we wanted to speed the momentum of increasing diversity to create more well-represented workplaces, we had to move beyond talking about the benefits of diversity and start unpacking (and valuing) the “it-factor” to companies that are well represented among untapped groups. It is no longer a question of whether an employer values diversity. It is now a question of ‘do you understand the power of LEQ?’ If you truly understood the impacts and benefits of collective organizational LEQ, your workplace would be clamoring for opportunities to increase diversity.” – Jenn Tardy 

    “The benefits of increasing diversity have been spotlighted, helping to move the needle from a moral imperative to an operating and sustainability imperative. But it is time for us to take the conversation further. No one has tackled this question before, in this way: What is it about increasing diversity that makes it so beneficial to workplaces? The answer is LEQ. We encourage organizations to continue moving the needle toward increasing diversity within their workplace so they can continue to find unmatched competitive advantages from the increased collective spectrum of LEQ throughout their organization.” – Jenn Tardy. 

    The LEQ – Lived Experience Intelligence™ report covers: 

    • Defining Lived Experience Intelligence (LEI) and Lived Experience Intelligence (LEQ)
    • LEQ Explained: Learned Experiences versus Lived Experienced 
    • LEQ, White Privilege and Diversity of Thought 
    • Notable Quotients: IQ, EQ, CQ, AQ, and LEQ
    • Integrating LEQ: Valuing LEQ Requires Inclusion 
    • The Full Employee Life Cycle and LEQ 
    • The LEQ Journey 

    And more. 

    Organizations can download a free copy of the LEQ – Lived Experience Intelligence paper by visiting http://www.livedexperienceintelligence.com/.

    Source: Jennifer Tardy Consulting

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  • Crittenton Services of Greater Washington Hosts 133rd Annual Celebration & Fundraiser Benefiting At-Risk Youth of Color

    Crittenton Services of Greater Washington Hosts 133rd Annual Celebration & Fundraiser Benefiting At-Risk Youth of Color

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    Honors Five Distinguished Community Leaders, including 1st Female Chair of the FCC

    Press Release
    –

    Nov 18, 2021


    WASHINGTON, November 18, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Today, Crittenton Services of Greater Washington, a nonprofit specializing in positive youth development to at-risk teens, will host its 133rd fundraiser. The 2021 theme, “Moments that Matter,” will highlight the stories and resiliency of youth of color impacted by the pandemic. The virtual annual celebration will take place on Nov. 18, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. More information about the event can be found here.

    “My parents had me in their teens, so I know what it’s like to persevere in the face of tremendous challenges,” said Siobhan Davenport, President & CEO of Crittenton Services of Greater Washington. “Black, brown, and immigrant girls from underserved communities have quietly carried an enormous burden during the pandemic. They’ve persevered despite the odds, from homelessness and grieving the loss of loved ones, to taking on additional caregiving responsibilities at home and in school. However, the pandemic is not over for them. This event shines a light on their strength, resiliency and raises money for Crittenton to remain a stabilizing force in the lives of these girls at this critical moment in their development.”

    Crittenton partners with schools to run multi-year social-emotional learning and holistic development programs for over 600 6th-12th grade girls. They live in communities with the highest violence and poverty rates and lowest academic achievement rates in the region. Still, the organization achieved a 100% graduation rate and 99% continuation rate among its girls, even at schools with 50% graduation rates. In addition, 83% of program alumnae pursued post-secondary education, including the military, vocational schools, and two-year colleges or universities.

    “The moment that mattered to me was the day I realized that everyone cares at Crittenton,” said Hownisha Reed, a Crittenton program alumna. “So many people in my life had let me down, and I didn’t have the capacity to trust people. But the Crittenton team became the trusted and caring adults in my life. They opened me up to learn about myself, about life, and do things I never thought were possible.”

    The virtual event will also honor five female leaders and trailblazers from the region, including: 

    • Carisa Stanley Beatty, First Vice President, Amalgamated Bank,
    • Sindy Marisol Benavides, Chief Executive Officer, League of United Latin American Citizens,
    • Kate Goodall, Co-founder & CEO, Halcyon,
    • Karima Woods, Commissioner, District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities & Banking, 
    • and Jessica Rosenworcel, the first female chair of the Federal Communications Commission. 

    “I am so honored to join the Crittenton team for another year celebrating our amazing women,” said Bryan Tramont, Crittenton Board Member and Co-Chair of the annual celebration. “In a pandemic year, Crittenton’s critical services have made a difference in the lives of so many young women across the D.C. region. Tonight’s honorees are difference makers in their own rights in business, public policy, and within the nonprofit organizations they have transformed.”

    Crittenton Services of Greater Washington (CSGW) is the top leadership, empowerment, and advocacy nonprofit for at-risk youth and teen girls of color in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. CSGW partners with schools to run multi-year social and emotional learning programs that teach girls the skills to have healthy relationships, excel in school, and grow into confident and resilient young women. Learn more about the organization at www.crittentonservices.org.

    Source: Crittenton Services of Greater Washington

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  • New Groundbreaking Research Study Released About Women of Color in Business by Authors/Harvard Business School Alumnae

    New Groundbreaking Research Study Released About Women of Color in Business by Authors/Harvard Business School Alumnae

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    The 2020 Women of Color in Business: Cross Generational Survey, in Co-Sponsorship With the Executive Leadership Council, involves nearly 2,500 respondents across all generations, including Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers amongst Black, LatinX, Asian and Caucasian women. And for the first time, the research also included White male manager respondents.

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Apr 22, 2021


    NEW YORK, April 22, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Bonita C. Stewart and Jacqueline Adams, trailblazing business leaders, co-authors, and Harvard Business School alumnae, announced today, with The Executive Leadership Council, the release of their 2020 Women of Color in Business: Cross-Generational Survey©. The new survey is an evolution from their 2019 survey which was included in their book, A BLESSING: Women of Color Teaming Up to Lead, Empower and Thrive, published last fall. Their latest research involved nearly 2,500 respondents across all generations, including Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers amongst Black, LatinX, Asian and Caucasian women. And for the first time, the research also included White male manager respondents.

    Although the new survey covers a wide variety of topics, two major new findings involve “generational diversity” and the importance of manager training. “Generational diversity” is a term the co-authors coined to highlight the nuances that are being overlooked in today’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion conversations, specifically, representation across the generations. The 2020 survey found that Gen Z and Millennial female “desk workers,” especially those who are Black and LatinX, are supremely confident that they will control their careers. They are mission-driven and tech-forward, with 42% of Black Gen Z respondents saying that they are always the first to know about technological innovations, twice the percentage of women of the other races.

    The data has convinced the co-authors that “great managers matter.” When asked about mentoring, the female managers of all races were more magnanimous in their willingness to help anyone regardless of race or gender, ranging from 56%-65%. Only 34% of the white male managers concurred. Fifty-one percent preferred to give and 61% preferred to receive advice on the job from other white men because: “I feel I can better identify with them.”

    To win the race for exceptional talent, leaders and managers must become comfortable with hiring underrepresented minorities in multiples, providing honest feedback and stretch assignments, and creating an inclusive environment for ideas to flow freely from all employees across all generations, genders and races.

    Other areas in the research included finance and investments, professional development, and the pursuit of “side-preneurship,” especially by Black women who were three-times more likely than their white counterparts to be leading a side business in their spare time.

    The 2020 data found that 46% of Black women were frequently or always the only person of their race in a professional setting, down just one point from 2019. By contrast, 72% of white women said they were not very often or never the only person of their race in a professional setting, again down by one point from 2019.

    This “onlyness” has costs. Twice as many Black women as their white counterparts said they faced extra scrutiny of their job applications and job performances because of their race. Large majorities of all of the female desk workers reported additional stress on the job as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic: 70% for Black, 72% for LatinX, 60% for Asian and 67% for white women. The female desk workers also reported additional stress as a result of the racial and social justice protests: 54% for Black, 39% for LatinX, 34% for Asian and 30% for white women.

    Stewart and Adams’ findings are particularly pertinent as we continue to see a number of landmark appointments to leadership positions by women of color.

    Stewart and Adams said: “The bottom line is that great leaders and managers – male and female – want to win. We advocate for a commitment to manager excellence through additional manager training and finding ways to create psychological safety so that everyone, especially the white male managers, can confidently ‘team up’ with highly qualified, ambitious women of color.”

    The Executive Leadership Council’s (ELC) decision to announce with Stewart and Adams on the release of this consequential survey’s findings is particularly significant because the information directly aligns with the organization’s purpose of increasing the number of successful Black executives by adding value to their development, leadership, and philanthropic endeavors across the life cycle of their careers. “The past several months have seen multiple Black women make history rising to CEO positions in Fortune 500 companies and the highest leadership positions in government,” says Michael C. Hyter, President and CEO of The ELC. “The issue is not the lack of qualified Black women. It’s the lack of opportunity for Black women to ascend to these roles. The ELC is proud to support this research to empower and energize Black women, and enlighten their organizations, as they strive for future career success.”

    Bonita C. Stewart – https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonitacstewart/  

    Jacqueline Adams – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-adams-1471602

    Online Access to Full Research and Press Release: https://leadempowerthrive.com/research2020

    Media Contact:
    Squire Media & Management, Inc.
    212-928-8090

    Source: Bonita C. Stewart and Jacqueline Adams

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  • National Diversity Council Launches Multi-State Virtual DiversityFIRST™ Certified Diversity Professional (CDP) Certification Program

    National Diversity Council Launches Multi-State Virtual DiversityFIRST™ Certified Diversity Professional (CDP) Certification Program

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    Press Release
    –


    updated: Jan 28, 2021


    HOUSTON, January 28, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
    In 2015, National Diversity Council’s DiversityFIRST™ program graduated its inaugural class of 23 Certified Diversity Professionals (CDPs) and to date, have graduated over 700.

    This year, the DiversityFIRST™ Certified Diversity Professionals (CDP) program will be offered virtually in 24 cities across the United States:

    • Philadelphia, PA – February 8 – 12, 2021
    • Cincinnati, OH – February 22 – 26, 2021
    • Newark, NJ – March 8 – 12, 2021

    Click here for additional dates and a virtual location nearest you: http://diversitycertificationprogram.org/sessions/2021-2

    Graduates of the program are recognized as a National Diversity Council Certified Diversity Professional (NDCCDP).

    The National Diversity Council has gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that our graduates receive the finest, timeliest, and most relevant knowledge available in the evolving Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) field. Our mission is to prepare you to create and implement highly successful D&I strategies for organizational excellence that give you and your organization a competitive edge in today’s global marketplace.

    However, that is only part of our mission. You will also expand your horizon with the knowledge you acquire, the new colleagues you meet, and the experience you gain.

    Upon completion of the 5-day program, participants will:

    • Recognize diversity and inclusion as drivers of business success and employee engagement in the 21st-century workplace.
    • Possess a broad range of knowledge and skills to perform at a high level as D&I professionals and bring value to their organizations.
    • Gain access to a reputable and reliable community of professionals through the DiversityFIRST™ Graduate Network to encourage continued learning as the D&I field evolves.
    • Enhance credibility with the National Diversity Council’s CDP designation to positively impact professional growth.

    To register and learn more about the National Diversity Council’s DiversityFIRST™ program, please visit the website at: www.diversitycertificationprogram.org

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    Media Contact:

    Jennifer L. Payne

    jennifer@socialsovereign.com

    (313) 451-5800

    Source: National Diversity Council

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  • First Three Winners of Fairwinds Scholarship to the Turing School of Software and Design Scholarship Announced

    First Three Winners of Fairwinds Scholarship to the Turing School of Software and Design Scholarship Announced

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    Scholarship program created to bring greater diversity to software development career field

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Jan 26, 2021


    BOSTON, January 26, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
     Fairwinds, which provides Kubernetes configuration validation software backed by a suite of services and open source tooling, continues its commitment to diversity and inclusion programs by awarding the first three of six scholarships to the Turing School of Software and Design. The scholarships are designed to help students who identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) with both academic and cost-of-living aid while they pursue an education in software development.

    “Last year, Fairwinds asked a bold question in response to the Movement for Black Lives: ‘What can we do to help ensure more equity in tech?’” said Bill Ledingham, CEO at Fairwinds. “This partnership with the Turing School represents a big part of our answer to that question. We’re extremely proud of the first three scholarship winners and are excited to help these students achieve their dreams.”

    Throughout 2020, Fairwinds worked to identify ways to support Black lives within the company, nationwide and around the world. The Fairwinds Scholarship to the Turing School has been provided to:

    • Khoa – An immigrant whose parents were twice captured as they tried to make it to the U.S., Khoa experienced poverty, prejudice and a lack of inclusion growing up in the States. A family member who was a Turing School alumnus encouraged him to pursue his passion for software development and take a risk to change his life.
    • Cydnee – A Black, Spanish-speaking, first generation American with a passion for fighting for underrepresented communities, Cyndee is focused on building software that allows people to maintain their independence, particularly those that fit somewhere between what’s considered able-bodied and disabled.
    • Klaudia – A mixed-race woman having experienced prejudice from both her family and the outside world, Klaudia has supported herself from a young age. She put herself through college and is attending the Turing School to ensure that the software development industry is filled with people of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities.

    “We strive to have a diverse student population and realize there are very real barriers in place, particularly for women and people of color, to do our full-time program,” said Darren Smith, the Financial and Enrollment Advisor for incoming Turing School students. “This scholarship helps more of our students focus solely on their education to then succeed long term in their careers.”

    In addition to funding scholarships, Fairwinds has partnered with the Turing School’s Black @ Turing student group by providing funds to elevate networking and employment opportunities for Black students.

    About Fairwinds

    Fairwinds provides software and services for companies to ship cloud native applications faster, more cost effectively and with less risk. Leveraging Kubernetes best practices learned from thousands of customer deployments, Fairwinds enables companies to confidently run containerized applications on production-grade infrastructure at scale. Offerings include Fairwinds Insights – software for automating, monitoring and enforcing Kubernetes best practices for security, reliability and resource optimization; and ClusterOps – a managed service with Fairwinds experts deploying and managing Kubernetes infrastructure 24×7 for customers. For more information, visit www.fairwinds.com, read our blog or follow @FairwindsOps on Twitter.

    About the Turing School of Software & Design

    The Turing School of Software & Design is a nonprofit computer programming school on a mission to unlock human potential by training a diverse, inclusive student body to succeed in high-fulfillment technical careers. With over 1000 alumni and growing, we believe in a world powered by technology where the people building it represent the people using it. Contact: Lindsey Lucero | 719.359.3120 | lindsey@turing.io

    Source: Fairwinds

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  • Tactile Images Partners With Getty Images and the National Federation of the Blind to Deliver More Than 45 Million Images to the World’s Blind and Disabled Population

    Tactile Images Partners With Getty Images and the National Federation of the Blind to Deliver More Than 45 Million Images to the World’s Blind and Disabled Population

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    Blind People Share What Photography and Art They Want to Experience First. National Federation of the Blind Granting $500,000 to Museums and Institutions for Tactile Exhibition Displays.


    NEW YORK, January 25, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Getty Images, a world leader in visual communications, and the National Federation of the Blind, America’s civil rights and membership organization of the blind, have partnered with Tactile Images to deliver more than 45 million images to the world’s blind and disabled population at museums, science centers, libraries, schools, and government agencies. This partnership will significantly enhance educational opportunities and cultural inclusion for blind and disabled individuals.

    As part of this initiative, more than 50,000 members of the blind community shared what photography and art they wanted to experience first. The National Federation of the Blind reinforced this by announcing that they will be granting $500,000 to museums and institutions for the development of tactile exhibition displays.

    “Blind people have all the same interests, concerns, and aspirations as all who participate in our society and culture, and that culture is reflected in the millions of images that this partnership will help us access,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. “We look forward to working with Tactile Images and Getty Images to curate a collection that will include, inform, and inspire the blind of America and the world.”

    Getty Images, the National Federation of the Blind, and Tactile Images are committed to participating in initiatives that provide greater accessibility to visual resources, with an emphasis on photography and fine art, that represent the world’s people and cultures, including the blind and those with disabilities. This commitment involves helping people fully understand and experience the society within which they live, providing unique educational perspectives and increasing access to content that may have previously been inaccessible. This partnership reinforces a collective commitment to improving accessibility for and inclusion of people from all backgrounds, including those who are blind.

    “In a world where communication is largely visual, Getty Images is thrilled to partner with the National Federation of the Blind and Tactile Images to allow the blind community to more fully engage with and experience our pictures,” said Peter Orlowsky, Head of Strategic Development at Getty Images.

    Tactile Images has several product offerings, all of which allow a blind individual to experience and engage with traditionally visual and graphic material through touch and sensory stimulation. Each is a unique, one-of-a-kind work of art. To further assist in creating a more interactive experience, braille is utilized for text, and sensors are embedded so that when touched, a customized audio description and narrative is activated. Components that emit unique smells can also be used. These three senses – touch, hearing, and smell – work together in the brain to replace the sense of sight. The blind or low-vision user creates a mental picture from this confluence of sensory stimulation. Touching a tactile print while listening to a coordinated audio presentation creates an enhanced kinesthetic learning experience.

    “At Tactile Images, we are very excited that Getty Images and the National Federation of the Blind have decided to partner with us. This partnership will help to bring tactile imagery to the blind and disabled on a global scale,” says John Olson, Co-Founder of 3DPhotoWorks, the parent company of Tactile Images. “I’ve always believed that truly ‘seeing’ an image involves much more than just the sense of sight. As the notable American neuroscientist, Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita, once stated, ‘We don’t see with our eyes or hear with our ears; these are just the receptors, seeing and hearing in fact, goes on in the brain.’ We look forward to partnering with museums, science centers, libraries, and government agencies to make their existing content more accessible while also creating new and innovative installations and exhibitions.”

    Tactile Images will also develop several traveling exhibitions in collaboration with Getty Images and the National Federation of the Blind. These exhibitions travel to museums, educational centers, and institutions throughout the world. They include a diverse array of engaging topics and narratives, increase community-based partnerships, and maximize an institution’s space, attendance, and participation. Furthermore, they promote inclusion, critical skills acquisition, independence, and self-confidence.

    For more information, visit www.tactileimages.com.

    General media inquiries should be directed to:

    Bradley LaMere
    Senior Creative Officer and Vice President of Marketing
    Tactile Images and 3DPhotoWorks
    518-392-4836 (office); 518-332-3592 (cell)
    blamere@tactileimages.com (preferred)

    Matt McKibben
    PR Manager, The America’s
    Getty Images
    646-613-3701; 347-776-0128 (cell)
    Matt.McKibben@gettyimages.com

    Broadcast media inquiries should be directed to:

    Bob Wheelock
    Executive Producer
    917-826-5216
    Wheels2956@gmail.com

    About Tactile Images:

    Tactile Images is committed to providing tactile experiences for the blind and disabled. These transformative experiences allow for an intimate connection with a wide range of visual and graphic material, especially photography and fine art. Images designed for touch provide the opportunity to acquire visual information independently, without relying on recorded descriptions or the interpretation of a sighted companion. Users can explore the depth and complexity of their favorite artworks and images, often for the first time. Tactile printing is an innovative process patented by 3DPhotoWorks, the parent company of Tactile Images, which converts any image into a three-dimensional tactile print that blind and disabled individuals assemble in their mind’s eye through touch, sound, and smell. Customized audio narratives, as well as components that emit unique smells, enhance the experience. Tactile Images’ partnership with Getty Images and the National Federation of the Blind reinforces their mission to deliver tactile images to every museum, science center, library, and government agency worldwide. Visit Tactile Images at www.tactileimages.com and via social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

    About the National Federation of the Blind:

    The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), headquartered in Baltimore, is the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind Americans. Founded in 1940, the NFB consists of affiliates, chapters, and divisions in the fifty states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. The NFB defends the rights of blind people of all ages and provides information and support to families with blind children, older Americans who are losing vision, and more. We believe in the hopes and dreams of blind people and work together to transform them into reality. Learn more about our many programs and initiatives at www.nfb.org.

    About Getty Images:

    Getty Images is one of the most trusted and esteemed sources of visual content in the world, with over 415 million assets including photos, videos, and music, available through its industry-leading sites www.gettyimages.com and www.istock.com. The Getty Images website serves creative, business and media customers in nearly every country in the world and is the first-place people turn to discover, purchase and share powerful visual content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. Getty Images works with over 340,000 contributors and hundreds of image partners to provide comprehensive coverage of more than 160,000 news, sport and entertainment events each year, impactful creative imagery to communicate any commercial concept and the world’s deepest digital archive of historic photography.

    Visit Getty Images at www.gettyimages.com to learn more about how the company is advancing the unique role of still and moving imagery in communication and business, enabling creative ideas to come to life. For company news and announcements, visit our Press Room, and for the stories and inspiration behind our content, visit gettyimages.creativeinsights.com. Find Getty Images on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or download the Getty Images app where you can explore, save and share the world’s best imagery.

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    Source: Tactile Images

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