Thread by @thoughtxchng

We're LIVE to collaborate and learn how to create a #DEI ecosystem in your organization! @JohnsonCarolynn @KenBouyer @kimariewhy @CalvinHJr @supt4kids @EquitySupt1 @davyno #BringPeopleTogether #Crowdsourcing #DEI

@davyno welcomes us all and recognizes that there are more CEO's named "Dave"' than there are female CEO's in Fortune 500 companies.💜 Irreversible and sustainable change is what we are here for, thank you for showing up! #TeVirtualEvents #DEI

We are now participating in our 1st of 5 exchanges. Let's make the most of our time together by #crowdsourcing! First question - "Why are you here and why is that important?"

Over 1700 ratings in under 4 minutes!

Top thoughts:
▶️ I need to learn how to show up better as a diverse inclusive human
▶️ Because it’s 2020 and we shouldn’t need this Summit. But... we DO.
▶️ Because I am a white leader who wants to create a supportive environment for all 💜

Forest T Harper is up first for his 5 minutes of fame! The impact of 5 minutes is amazing! Forest insists that we need to focus on retention of the right people. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we can do it. We need a community of ACTION 💜 #BringPeopleTogether #DEI

@KenBouyer is up next! Thank you for joining us, Ken! 30 years with @EYnews? Incredible. Ken says there weren't a lot of people of color his position when he started. Let's talk about building a diverse talent pipleine. Is your org seriously committed to this person? #DEI

If you're going to be recruiting a diverse talent pool, you'd better be ready to support them with comms strategies, opportunities and the right people. Can't find the talent? Where are you looking? How are you showing up? You need to fish in different ponds 🎣 #DEI @KenBouyer

@KenBouyer Are your executives on board? How are they part of the solution? You can't reply on recruitment efforts only! #BringPeopleTogether #DEI

@supt4kids Welcome! We are so pleased to see you representing #K12Leadership! 1st question "When was the first time you were educated by someone of color?" Is your answer "I never had one"? Many children go through school without ever having a teacher of their ethnicity. #DEI

NY state has 732 districts, 39 superintendents of color and losing them constantly. Lorna loves the fishing analogies also! and agrees with @KenBouyer that #leadership needs to be fishing in other ponds, looking in new places to increase diversity. #DEI

How can we help move qualified candidates in the right direction to continue to drive change? Broadband access & devices & quality instruction needs to be EQUITABLE across the nation. #BLM - We need to change the message in schools to let kids know their lives matter! @supt4kids

We're hearing now from Renu Dalessandro! She speaks about the diverse employee base and laying a foundation of DEI. They are asking "where do we start?" Initial work - Identify your business needs and connect it with business goals! Who are we? Who do we want to become? #DEI

Buy-in from employees - who will be an advocate for you? What is the temperament around you? Conduct focus groups, Listen, listen, listen! Get help from a third party expert that can ask the right questions. It doesn't have to be a HUGE scope. Small programs to start.

Bring in a speaker. Form a sub-committee (social events maybe). Build in accountability! Ask for a quarterly report, ensure managers can promote #DEI in their own teams. Push back? Pivot and change your course. Focus on inclusion first maybe? Keep going. It's not easy.

Integrate diversity into workspace planning. Do your homework to understand your first important steps. Mistakes will happen - that's okay!
Wrap up from Renu:
Understand you organisation, get buy-in and find your advocates, and listen listen listen!

Ronald Taylor is up! He starts off strong with nothing but admiration for @KenBouyer 💜
Are you tired? Ronald Taylor is. Yesterday was a big day for #DEI and we recognize that. 💔 We need to keep trying and we recognize it's exhausting. We truly want to help. #ElephantIntheROOM

Ronald Taylor - Make sure your company wants #DEI for the right reasons by having BOLD conversation. if it's performative, stay away from it. He says talk about the elephant in the room! Challenge your leadership. Everyone has skin in THIS game.

What are the rights as they relate to this conversation in the corporate world? You have the right to be an ally. What else can you do? Resource groups, make sure they're all working together. Touch all aspects of the organization. It's not the time to be quiet. #GoodTrouble 💜

@kimariewhy is up now and talking about ACTION - She has been on this journey with Rock Central for about 5 years. There is "before George Floyd" and after. We can't treat them the same. #DEI has to be a part of our DNA and if we think that it's NOT, then we are foolish.

We all need to have these #DEI conversations with team members, and the senior leaders in organizations. Recognize your biases. Face them and accept that they affect decision making. @kimariewhy used #Thoughtexchange to help Rock Central engage with their teams. #LOUDtocrowd

Learn, listen, take action. Take action outside of your organization after building a strong foundation internally. Think about your communities, that's where your people are going back to at the end of the work day. Build relationships to #bringpeopletogether

The only way that we will be able to see irreversible, sustainable change, is if we all work together. It's time to lean in and really talk about action. There are a lot of organizations that want to do the right thing but need help. Thank you @kimariewhy! #BringPeopleTogether

We need a moment to digest all this profound conversation! We are into our 3rd exchange now, this really helps to deepen the conversation. The question asked is "What thoughts and questions come to mind after hearing our 2nd group of speakers?" #BringPeopleTogether

Media attention around #DEI - it comes and goes, but how do we make sure that our ACTION is sustainable? Let's get right into it with @CalvinHJr ! Thank you for joining us Calvin and for sharing your feelings around how difficult it can be to keep going in this struggle. #DEI

@CalvinHJr - We've had so many different approaches to sustainability today, and that's exactly right! We need many different ways to tackle #DEI. What happens next? The spark of a flame goes away, it needs something to connect to for it to be sustainable. 🔥

Start the conversation and accept that the solutions won't happen immediately. The problems change over time. Keep the conversations going. Even though we might not be the ones crossing the "finish line" keep running. It's a relay race, a long race and we are in it together. 💜

@EquitySupt1 is up now and is vulnerably sharing his sadness about recent events.💜 Very passionate and powerful words from Dennis, in the form of an apology. It's not enough to be allies, we need to be co-conspirators to do the difficult work of self assessment.

Co-conspirators SHOW UP again & again. Allies show up when it's convenient. Allies can look and feel theatrical. Co-conspirators interrogate our own actions to protect the purity of our actions. Leaders - this is our work if we truly want sustainable action! 💜 @EquitySupt1

@DebraLangford is up now, thank you for joining us! Advancing Black pathways:
1 Careers
2 Education
3 Financial health and wealth
Debra is sharing some promising results and stats from #DEI efforts at @jpmorgan. Talent is created equally, opportunity is not. #BringPeopleTogether

Thank you @DebraLangford for your inspiration and specific examples of how we can work together to create change. You can learn more about @jpmorgan's Advancing Black Pathways program here: jpmorganchase.com/abp

It's time to hear from @JohnsonCarolynn 💜. It's a heavy time and not everyone believes #BLM. TRUST is so important. Allies - Carolynn recalls seeing Debra 25 years ago and left a hug impact on her! This is a beautiful story.

Many connections within this speaker panel, nice to hear the backstory of their personal and professional connections. Fortune 500 companies - Carolynn sees herself as an example of what can happen when opportunities are in place. #BringPeopleTogether

^^ This is certainly not the case for so many people. Build trusting relationships to develop allies in different spaces. DATA proves that there are MANY qualified people of color in the tech space alone. #DEI #STEM @JohnsonCarolynn

@JohnsonCarolynn asks @davyno's experience as a CEO and an ally. @davyno recalls growing up in a community where everyone looks like him and he really took to heart the importance of opportunity to ALL. This has been a part of his upbringing. This drives him to keep going. #DEI

@davyno says that he is more familiar with equity in the gender pay gap and that has been a focus for him. He is learning now how to take on new and unfamiliar challenges. He is a dreamer with one foot on the ground and one foot in the sky - Dream big. #BringPeopleTogether

@JohnsonCarolynn We need to move beyond gender equality & move toward ethnicity AND gender.
"What has a greater understanding of privilege means to you, Dave?" Deep, interesting, vulnerable conversation happening between @JohnsonCarolynn & @davyno 💜 #BringPeopleTogether

@davyno & @JohnsonCarolynn are sharing great fears about "getting it wrong". The pressure as a model black woman is REAL. Pressure as a white, male, CEO in the tech world is REAL. We are all afraid on getting it wrong. Focus on what is to be gained and lost.

If we are going to get to the right place, power can not be taken, it must be transferred. Everyone has power because you have INFLUENCE. Remind each other that we have this POWER and we need to own it. - @JohnsonCarolynn

What a powerful time we all had together. The connections were real and our panelists wore their hearts on their sleeves. Thank you so much to everyone who joined us! We are grateful to all who are having these important conversations.💜 #DEI

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