In Rhodes Perry’s bestselling book, Belonging at Work, he helps readers distinguish between the terms diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. All of these terms are outcomes: diversity is a people outcome, inclusion is behavioral outcome, equity is a structural outcome, and belonging is an emotional outcome.

Minal Bopaiah’s bestselling book, Equity, builds from these distinctions by taking a deep dive into what it means to work in an equitable organization. She writes that “equity means fairness…where all people have unbiased access to education, dignified livelihoods, and the ability to participate fully in society.”

Minal has a passion for talking about equity, particularly because she believes the conversation is short lived given that so many DEI professionals “treat equity as a middle child, skipping over it to get the warm, fuzzy feelings of inclusion.” Yet equity is the critical element to building organizations that successfully leverage differences skillfully.   

During this conversation, Minal and Rhodes discuss ways leaders can embrace their power to build a fair workplace where people get what they need so that they can do their best at work. Much of their conversation will help anyone at work operationalize how to design a more equitable workplace where everyone can thrive.

A few key highlights from this conversation include:

• Exploring why many DEI professionals overlook or outright avoid conversations to avoid addressing systems, policies, and practices that institutionalize unfairness.

• Recognizing that engaging in equity work requires us to “do the hard part first,” to dance with uncertainty, and to summon the courage required to entirely redesign our workplaces.

• Naming equity’s promise when DEI work centers the principles of targeted universalism – embrace the universal goal, while taking targeted interventions designed to upend unfairness.

• Underscoring how to achieve equity by using your relative power to influence how to transform your workplace culture by using concrete tools and embodying inclusive behaviors.

• Clarifying the practical, everyday actions you can take – no matter your role - to connect your colleagues to what they need to thrive at work.

• Sharing guidance on how leaders can effectively raise awareness of systemic bias and craft new systems, policies, and practices that can lead to better outcomes and lasting behavior change.

• Offering strategies on ways DEI professionals can utilize Minal’s book, Equity, to begin the hard work of designing an organization where everyone can truly thrive.

Savor this insightful talk, and if you’re looking for ways to connect with inspiring leaders like Minal, be sure to check out the Belonging Membership Community – a community of leaders committed to advancing their DEI goals while practicing community care. You can learn more here: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com.

Public schools across the U.S. have served as the decisive testing ground for some of the most contentious social and political issues. Everything from mask mandates and teachings about racial justice, to the discussion of LGBTQ+ rights, and the opportunity for transgender athletes to participate in sports – these flash points have emboldened a movement demanding a return to parental rights at the expense of exposing students to different people, beliefs, and cultures that can help them unpack their own conflicting beliefs while learning in a more reasoned way.

For DEI professionals, we recognize the value of learning and connecting across our differences. When we respectfully engage with people who are different from ourselves, we have the opportunity to build real and psychologically safe relationships with them. Increasing our proximity to differences – whether these differences are because of a person’s identity, beliefs, or behaviors, we have the opportunity to grow our empathy skills and practice them real time.

Yet, if our public schools fail to teach these important skills, largely because of censoring historical events like the genocide of Indigenous People, or the transatlantic slave trade, how can younger people have the opportunity to learn about human and civil rights movements that are not included in the public school curricula?

To help us answer this question, I am honored to introduce you to Shelby Kretz, the creator of Little Justice Leaders, an organization that makes it easy to learn about social justice. Little Justice Leaders wants to make it easy for parents and caregivers to teach elementary schoolers about social justice because Shelby and her team know it can be hard to talk with young children about these topics, and they want to make it easier for you!

During this conversation, Shelby and Rhodes discuss the challenges that educators have in public school settings to teach about social justice movements and leaders. Rhodes explores Shelby’s approach to solving this challenge with some of the services her organization provides.

A few key highlights from this conversation include:

• Learning about the costs of censoring social justice topics in elementary schools and how these costs, if left unchecked, harm the development of a young person’s reasoning skills.

• Discussing the origin story of Little Justice Leaders, and why it was created to support parents, caregivers, and teachers talk with young children about social justice topics.

• Exploring how Little Justice Leaders’ learning kits are created, how learning materials are carefully selected to help guide a student’s learning on important social justice topics.

• Recognizing how the lessons help young people identify when conflicting beliefs arise, and how they might help students notice and then unpack them.

• Sharing guidance on how DEI professionals can incorporate some of the Little Justice Leader lessons into their own learning & development work.

• Discussing learning approaches that can help any learning & development professional simplify the purpose, outcome, and processes to designing effective educational experiences at work.

• Offering a vision for the future where adults have more ease and skill engaging in respectful discourse across differences, and how that will impact our sense of belonging at work.

Savor this insightful talk, and be sure to check out this gift from Shelby, the 10 Simple Tips for Talking to Little Ones About Social Justice: Ljl.education/perry.

If you’re looking for ways to connect with inspiring leaders like Shelby, be sure to check out the Belonging Membership Community – community of leaders committed to advancing their DEI goals while practicing community care. You can learn more here: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com.

For DEI professionals, we have an even greater challenge to facilitating conversations about mental health, considering how our own mental health can become challenged with the combined threats of secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout.

To help us end this stigma, and to begin talking about the importance of taking care of our mental health at work, the Belonging at Work Team is thrilled to feature the thought leadership of Simone Walsh, Founder of Essence of Mind, a nonprofit that offers tools and resources to support individuals navigating mental illness.

During this conversation, Simone and Rhodes explore her commitment to eliminate the stigma of mental illness in our workplaces. Rhodes explores Simone’s approach to ending this stigma through wellness activities, seminars, and special events.

A few key highlights from this conversation include:

• Learning about Simone’s personal memoir, Poetic Diary of a Bleeding Heart, and why she decided to share her testimony of escaping the darkness to begin her healing journey.
• Discussing the negative impact bullying and harassment had on Simone, and how these kind of behaviors showed up in her workplace experiences.
• Identifying the personal practices Simone found most helpful to catalyze her healing journey that has helped her emerge from the darkness and share with others.
• Learning how the workplace can actually be a sanctuary that can begin connecting individuals to mental health resources that can help fortify our mental health.
• Exploring why Simone believes serving as a possibility model to support other people overcome clinical depression and anxiety can help reduce stigma.
• Recognizing how not speaking about the importance of mental health can create further stigma, and what we can do to disrupt this kind of silence.
• Sharing guidance on how DEI professionals can encourage their workplaces to end the silence around mental health and begin including this topic in the broader work.
• Making the specific case as to how business leaders can promote the mental health and well-being of their employees and why that will help them become employers of choice.

Episode 28 – Mental Health

Savor this insightful talk, and if you’re looking for ways to connect with inspiring leaders like Simone, be sure to check out the Belonging Membership Community – community of leaders committed to advancing their DEI goals while practicing community care.

You can learn more here: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com

During this episode, you will discover some of the many ways you can invest your PD budget to gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to transform moments of exclusion into moments of belonging at work. And if you don’t yet have a PD budget, you’ll gain clarity about why a PD budget is an essential element to ignite your career growth, how you can encourage your employer to budget for your very own PD budget, and ways you can put it to work as you grow into a more inclusive leader.

As a result of listening to this episode, you will:

• Learn 3 reasons why PD budgets are a key ingredient to belonging at work.
• Gain key strategies to help advocate for a PD budget (if you don’t yet have one).
• Recognize the 3 common reasons why many fail to utilize their PD budgets.
• Gain a framework to clarify the specific skills you will need to lead inclusively at work.
• Avoid paying money out of your own pocket to gain the leadership skills you desire.

After listening to this episode, if you want to dive more deeply into the content Rhodes offers, be sure to register for his upcoming, Budget for Belonging workshop, where you can discuss these topics in greater depth with fellow DEI professionals and other inclusive leaders eager to advocate for PD budgets for their colleagues, and to put their own budgets to work in the year head! The workshop will help you build an even greater sense of belonging at work for you and your colleagues.

After you listen, please be sure to explore these additional resources:

• Register for the Budget for Belonging workshop: https://belongingatwork.kartra.com/page/nov-30-22
• Subscribe to the Imagine Belonging at Work Newsletter: https://www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe
• Leave an honest rating and review of the show: http://www.imaginebelongingatwork.com/

A possibility model is a person who reveals one way of being human in the world that deeply resonates with another person who may share a social identity and/or a lived experience with this person. The phrase, “you have to see it to be it,” helps one recognize the power and significance of possibility models.

For those of us who experience exclusion simply because of who we are – perhaps we are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, a person with a disability, an immigrant, or perhaps we live at these intersections - possibility models matter when it comes to politics, entertainment, sports, and even the workplace. We have to see it to be it…

And we are extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to chat with Caitlin Copple Masingill, Founding Partner of Full Swing PR, who will share why she’s on a mission to amplify the leadership of BIPOC, women, and LGBTQ+ leaders (and those at these intersections) so that they can make a positive impact on our world.

During this conversation, Caitlin and Rhodes explore her commitment to helping underestimated and historically excluded leaders unlock the power of their influence so that they can serve as the leaders we have been waiting for – leaders that fully reflect our rapidly changing workforce throughout all levels of large and small workplaces alike.

A few key highlights from this conversation include:

• Exploring what possibility models mean to Caitlin and why she’s so passionate about amplifying the leadership of BIPOC, women, and LGBTQ+ leaders (and those at these intersections) in workplaces around the globe.

• Abandoning old models of leadership by transforming the narrative of what it means to be an effective, successful, and inspiring leader in 2022.

• Learning about the existing barriers that make it difficult to transform old notions of what it means to be a leader, and ideas on how to get started.

• Sharing guidance on how we can amplify this new narrative of what it means to be a leader in today’s (and future) workplaces.

• Making the specific case as to why the lived experiences of underestimated and historically leaders is a “value add” for any organization as it works to remain relevant in today’s rapidly evolving world.

• Overcoming imposter syndrome to empower any of us who resonate with Caitlin’s message to fully share our talents with the world.

Savor this insightful talk, and if you’re looking for ways to connect with inspiring leaders like Caitlin, be sure to check out the Belonging Membership Community – community of leaders committed to advancing their DEI goals while practicing community care. You can learn more here: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com  

Yet very limited research exists on how the nature of work, and our working conditions influence employee health and well-being. Fortunately, Dr. Brad Shuck, Co-Founder of Org Vitals developed a potentially new line of research within Human Resource Development called the Workplace Determinants of Health. The WDOH are organizationally attributable employment and related conditions that influence and group differences in health risk and health status.

A few key highlights from this conversation include:

• Why Dr. Shuck set out on researching WDOH and how he and other researchers came up with a potential structure for understanding WDOH, which includes four pillars: stress, capacity, physical and social environment, and meaning in work.

• How we can identify, assess, and address our WDOH, specifically examining these four pillars of stress, capacity, physical and social environment, and meaning in work.

• How Dr. Shuck’s company, Org Vitals helps employers monitor, assess, and address WDOH for a larger workforce, and how his company helps to connect employers with solutions and resources at the right time to overcome poor WDOH.

• How meaning in our work connects to the ingredients of belonging – feeling seen, connected, supported, and a sense of pride in our work, and the opportunity Dr. Shuck recognizes when it comes to supporting employers trying to help their employees become more engaged.

• Why employers ought to consider their own organization’s vitals, and recognizing the costs of failing to address elements of toxic workplace culture.

Savor this insightful talk, and then explore some of the resources shared during this conversation:

• Belonging Membership Community: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com
• The Social Determinants of Health: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hrdq.21468.
• OrgVitals: https://www.orgvitals.com/

Yet, experienced DEI professionals recognize that while technology does have the power to advance and scale our goals, without important oversight, the very biases this technologies aim to upend can become exacerbated by them.

During this episode, Vivienne Ming offers oversight strategies to keep these technologies in check. Vivienne is a theoretical neuroscientist, technologist, and the co-founder of Socos, a company that combines machine learning and cognitive neuroscience to maximize life outcomes.

Rhodes and Vivienne engage in an honest discussion that introduces you to a few of the technologies being used by DEI professionals to help advance their goals, and they will also highlight their specific limitations as an important reminder that technology alone is not a panacea to overcome biases at work.

After you listen, please be sure to explore these additional resources:

• Read this Workforce Solutions Review, The Power & Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence by Rhodes Perry & Bernadette Smith: shorturl.at/ktUX4.

• Subscribe to the Imagine Belonging at Work Newsletter: https://www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe.

• Leave an honest rating and review of the show: http://www.imaginebelongingatwork.com/.

If you too have joined the Great Resignation and are seeking your next great career opportunity, you likely are also a part of the “Great Reflection.” This collective reflection period encourages many of us to reimagine the kind of workplace culture we desire – one where our values fully align with our employers’ values.

Yet, where can you learn more about a prospective employer’s values, and how do we know if their stated values are more than simply lip service? If you’re looking for answers to these questions and more, then be sure to give this episode of the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast a close listen.

You will learn 5 simple actions you can take to earn your next great career opportunity. As you listen, you may want to write out your top 5 – 10 personal values that guide how you live and work. Knowing your personal values will help you get the most out of today’s content, as you identify prospective employers that prioritize building more safety, trust, and belonging at work.

After you listen, please be sure to explore these additional resources:

• Grab your copy of Imagine Belonging: https://www.imaginebelonging.com/.

• Subscribe to the Imagine Belonging at Work Newsletter: https://www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe.

• Leave an honest rating and review of the show: http://www.imaginebelongingatwork.com/.

What you’re about to hear, is a speaker who will underscore the importance of unlocking the power of working on multigenerational teams, and the challenges that every manager has with making this mix of employees work well together, and that speaker is Laurie Battaglia.

Laurie is the CEO and Workplace Strategist of Aligned at Work®, and she works with companies who understand that their leaders are the ones who create a healthy, human-centered environment where they and their teams thrive.

During our conversation, Laurie reminds us that there are five distinct generations in the workplace including Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Zoomers. She also recognizes the distinct challenges people managers endure when leading multigenerational teams.

She reminds us that when we fundamentally can’t relate to someone because they are so much younger or older than ourselves, it’s hard to see things from their perspective. As a result, we can resort to using harmful stereotypes and blame solvable problems on one another instead of working to understand the differences that distance us.

To unlock the powerful potential of multigenerational teams, Laurie offers 3 core strategies to manage generational diversity at work:

1.    Openly Communicate. Encourage your teams to openly communicate and respect the reality that different generations may prefer one communication & working style over another, and that your team will need to find a middle ground.

2.    Respect boundaries. A wider representation of age groups at work has introduced new generational beliefs and values at work. This reality underscores the importance of respecting the varied generational beliefs and values, while upholding your team’s set of established boundaries and values.

3.    Don’t play favorites. During team meetings, build opportunities for ALL voices and perspectives to be considered,  regardless of someone’s age, title, or level of seniority. You can achieve this by creating an inclusive decision-making process that encourages open dialogue and psychological safety. 

Savor this insightful talk, and if you like what Laurie has to share, consider joining the Belonging Membership Community, where you’ll have a chance to learn more about generational diversity from speakers just like Laurie. You can also connect with other DEI professionals ready to support you as you advance your DEI goals: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com.

Visit www.imaginebelongingatwork.com for more details on how you can share your feedback!! If you have questions, show topics you’d like to explore, or if you have guest recommendations, you can share those on this same webpage under the “Ask Rhodes” tab.

In my book, Imagine Belonging, I describe the concept of Community Care as a practice where each of us uses our relative power, privilege and resources to better the people who are both in and out of our scope of influence. When it comes to equitably including the diversity of our world into our workplaces, it is imperative that DEI practitioners embrace the compassion practice of community care, which asks us to give support where we can to our colleagues, and being vulnerable enough to ask for support when we need it.

Community care was a concept first introduced to me by Aida Mandulay. Aida is an award-winning Latinx activist, international presenter, and trauma-focused clinician known for big earrings and building bridges. Trained as a sexuality educator, social worker, and nonprofit management professional, they work to make the world a more equitable place through education, therapy, and community organizing.

What you’re about to hear, is Aida’s approach to community-care. When it comes to the workplace, one of the core tenants of community care is to cultivate a workplace culture that not only addresses harm, but also helps prevent harm, knowing that harm will undoubtedly happen. It’s about mutuality, it’s about interdependence. It’s about all of us taking care of each other. Giving support when we can, asking for support when needed, and continuing to show up so that we can collectively maintain the stamina to advance our DEI goals…

During Aida’s talk, they remind us:

·     “Militant self-care is about compassion and context. Its’ about not masking who we really are, or pretending that we have more bandwidth than we actually do. Rather, it’s self-care that is rooted in the idea of community. It challenges the superficial notions of what self-care is and upends the very individualized idea of self-care which is dominant in most corporate environments.”

·     Aida also reminds us to “Use your organizational values as a guiding framework in your everyday. Rather than thinking about them just once a year, bringing them up at literally every staff meeting. How are we aligning with our vision? How are we aligning with our values today? If we have a workplace conflict, let’s look at our values. How would our values dictate that we addressed this? Just by doing that, you’re getting closer to being authentic and being the kind of organization you want to be.”

·     And lastly, Aida has this to say about relationships - “If you think that time is money, then I’m asking you to invest the time and the money to build human relationships that will actually sustain your work and make your workplace culture a healthy one. Transforming a toxic work culture does a lot for retention, especially retention of underrepresented employees.”

There are so many other incredible takeaways from Aida’s talk today. Savor them all, and if you like what Aida has to share, consider joining the Belonging Membership Community, where you’ll have a chance to observe and embody community care compassion practices, as you connect with other DEI professionals ready to support you as you advance your DEI goals: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com.

Visit www.imaginebelongingatwork.com for more details on how you can share your feedback!! If you have questions, show topics you’d like to explore, or if you have guest recommendations, you can share those on this same webpage under the “Ask Rhodes” tab.

The Belonging at Work Summit is an annual event designed for DEI professionals and other inclusive leaders to gather, learn from some of today’s most celebrated DEI & social justice thought leaders, and build community over the course of 5 days so that we can maintain the stamina to keep going in our work.

It’s truly an epic learning journey – and on its fifth and final day, we launched a special viewers’ choice award. This award allows every single Summit participant to choose their top 3 most favorite speakers – as a special gift to participants, we offer an encore talk on Saturday featuring the most popular talk from the Summit.

What you’re about to hear, is the speaker who won the viewers’ choice award, bestselling author and founder of change coaches, LaTonya Wilkins. LaTonya partners with executives, professionals, and teams to build cultures of belonging through highly customized coaching and consulting services. Latonya is a sought-after keynoter and has inspired audiences all over the world. And today she’s here to inspire us.

A few key highlights from LaTonya’s talk include:

• Ways old models of leadership don't serve us anymore, including those with power and privilege.
• The key reason why most workplace culture transformation efforts fail.
• Everyday actions you can take to lead below the surface to cultivate real connections with your co-workers and team.
• Examining the "Terrible Three" biases and the nonsensical human instinct to exclude in order to belong.
• The importance of leaders being vulnerable and "sharing their slips" to model letting go of perfectionism, a harmful trait of white supremacy culture.
• Practical skills on how to listen better, how to build more empathy, and how to create psychologically safe relationships.

Savor this insightful talk, and please consider checking-out some of the other Summit speakers from last week by visiting: belongingatworksummit.com.

Then, be sure to visit the podcast’s homepage where you can learn more about how to support the show and catch up on your favorite episodes here: www.imaginebelongingatwork.com.

Thanks for growing our #BelongingMovement!

If you’re interested in exploring these critical questions while receiving guidance on how to establish metrics to activate your belonging at work vision, then you'll want to listen to this episode featuring a panel discussion Rhodes Perry moderated on July 5, 2022 all about Measuring What Matters. After listening to this episode, you will gain powerful insights from a panel of DEI thought leaders, including Malissa Adams and Cecilia Stanton Adams for the Diversity Institute, and Jamie Strong, Senior Consultant from Inturvey. 

After listening to these panelists, you will gain essential knowledge, skills, and confidence to begin measuring what matters to benchmark success. Specifically, you will: 

• Learn why establishing a bold vision for transforming your workplace culture is the first essential action to take prior to benchmarking your successes.

• Recognize why clarifying what you want in your workplace culture, what’s worked well in the past, and naming how you will get there will help clarify the path forward.

• Gain awareness of available diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics beyond employee demographics that will help you build a culture of belonging. 

• Feel empowered with new knowledge, skills and confidence about how you can begin benchmarking your successes as you activate your belonging vision.

After listening to this episode, be sure to subscribe to the show and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. When you do, you’ll be entered into an exclusive drawing where you will have the chance to travel to Portland Oregon for a one-day inclusive leadership strategic planning session with me and my team! 

We’ll be selecting this winner during our 4th Annual Belonging at Work Summit running July 11 – 15. You can register for the 100% free and virtual Summit here: www.belongingatworksummit.com 

Thanks for growing the #BelongingMovement

P.S. Have guest recommendations? Let Rhodes know by leaving a comment on his website: www.imaginebelongingatwork.com under the “Ask Rhodes” tab.

In today’s episode, I honor Pride Month. And I get intensely personal. 

Many of you know the origins of my DEI story. I began my social transition in college. This journey led me to become who I am today. 

I noticed that as a young professional and transgender man, most workplaces weren’t designed with me in mind. But fortunately, I had many employers who were open to upending some of the barriers I encountered.

These are barriers that most non-transgender people never notice. But they exist. And they are pervasive. 

In today’s episode of the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast, I talk about these barriers. I also share with you an article I penned for the Portland Journal. Its title? Why Pride Matters More Than Ever Before In 2022.

Once again, I’m honored to introduce you to the incredible thought leadership of Dr. Bianca Laureano. 

Dr. Laureano is the Foundress of ANTE UP, an organization she started after noticing the needs of many communities doing justice work but finding limited support in their own growth and development. 

Today, we conclude our special 3-part learning series on the critical topic of intersectionality. We’ll discuss the concrete, specific actions we can take to begin dismantling systems of dominance. These systems include white supremacy culture, patriarchy, ableism and nativism. 

We also talk about resources available for inclusive leader who want to discover how to take an intersectional approach while creating a culture of belonging.

Once again, I’m honored to introduce you to the incredible thought leadership of Dr. Bianca Laureano. 

Dr. Laureano is the Foundress of ANTE UP, an organization she started after noticing the needs of many communities that were doing justice work but finding limited support in their own growth and development. 

Today, we continue our special 3-part learning series on the critical topic of intersectionality. 

During this episode, part II of our series, we’ll learn about the origins of intersectionality as a Critical Race Theory that impacts all of us. 

We’ll discuss why it’s critical that our DEI work embrace an intersectional framework and how DEI leaders can begin taking this approach. 

We’ll also consider why our work will remain incomplete if we fail to establish a long-term DEI vision that incorporates intersectionality.

Today, as we begin a special 3-part learning series on the critical topic of intersectionality, I’m honored to introduce you to the incredible thought leadership of Dr. Bianca Laureano. 

Dr. Laureano is the Foundress of ANTE UP. She started this organization after noticing the needs of many communities that were doing justice work but finding limited support in their own growth and development. 

She imagined, and then created a virtual space for collective un/learning and accountability that honors shifts and the ebb and flow of collective webs of knowledge. 

ANTE UP offers professional development and training for the world we have inherited.

During this special learning series, I’ll be asking Dr. Laureano to share her thoughts about intersectionality.

In this episode, we’ll first take a deep dive into what intersectionality truly means, and how it impacts all of us. We’ll discuss how to resist building silos and instead build coalition & connections across different culture within our organizations.

Today, we conclude our special 3-part learning series featuring renowned DEI thought leader, Mary-Frances Winters, founder and CEO of the Winters Group, a 40-year-old global diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm. 

Please be sure to listen to parts 1 & 2 of this series (show episodes 12 & 13), before you dive into this concluding episode. 

In today’s episode, Mary-Frances and I discuss the topic of supporting systemic change. Where does this change begin? It begins with each of us on an individual level. 

To reach the DEI goals we’ve set for our organizations, we must focus on transformation in ourselves, while we invite others to join us on our journey. 

In this episode, Mary-Frances emphasizes a critical point: leaders must understand that organizations are made up of individuals. If our group culture is going to change, we as individuals must change.

In part I we explored what the world of work was like over 40 years ago, when most workplaces were focused on complying with EEO policies and staying out of legal trouble. Mary-Frances also offered her perspective on how workplace DEI goals have and haven’t evolved over the past 4 decades, and what DEI professionals of today can learn from our predecessors. 

During this episode, we’ll take a peek into what the future of work could be as we give ourselves permission to establish a bold vision for what’s to come. We will also explore how to identify and work around some of the biggest obstacles that stymie this vision. Then we’ll identify several proven strategies to begin upending these obstacles…Today!

After the conversation, please be sure that you’re subscribed to the podcast. Once you’re subscribed, you will be the first to hear part 3 of this interview. And you listen, I’d love for you to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Your perspective will help more people find this show and benefit from the content.

As reward, you’ll be entered into a VIP drawing where you will have the chance to travel to Portland Oregon later this fall for a one-day inclusive leadership planning session with me and my team!

For now, let’s gain a new perspective and powerful insights from Mary-Frances Winters.

Today, we begin a special 3-part learning series featuring Mary-Frances, founder and CEO of the Winters Group, a 40-year-old global diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm. 

During this series, Mary-Frances will put into perspective the origins of the DEI movement, her four decades of DEI thought leadership, what her journey has taught her, and her vision for what the future of work holds.

As you listen, I’m confident you will gain inspiration and motivation to establish your own bold vision for the future of your workplace.

In today’s first episode, you’ll meet Mary-Frances and discover more about the Winters Group. She tells us what the world of work was like 40 years ago and how it's changed since then. 

She also gives us her perspective on how workplace DEI goals have and haven’t evolved over the past 4 decades, and what DEI professionals of today can learn from our predecessors.   

Our conversation is the third and final installment of our special learning series with McKensie. We address how to find the courage required to establish personal and professional boundaries to overcome the epidemic of exclusion and loneliness at work. During this conversation, we recognize the truth in that we all play pivotal - though quite different - roles to dismantle white supremacy culture at work. 

McKensie offers new frameworks, essential skills, and powerful ideas to help you speak truth to power and maintain the stamina and resolve required to advance your organization’s DEI goals.

Once again, celebrated DEI thought leader and award-winning entrepreneur, McKensie Mack, will lead the conversation. McKensie is the Founder and Managing Director of the McKensie Mack Group (MMG), a research and change management firm that helps private and public sector organizations bring about transformation in their communities.

A key theme for todays’ discussion is finding the courage to engage in difficult conversations that disrupt power differentials at work. We explore the amazing breakthroughs that come as a result of this disruption, and how it can help us show up in a new, powerful way to do our best work. 

We also talk about how to identify and overcome white supremacy culture and the interlocking systems of dominance that negatively impacts our organizations if left unchecked and real harm inflict upon the people who are part of them.

McKensie Mack, Founder and Managing Director of the McKensie Mack (they/them) Group, will guide our discussion. They are a trilingual facilitator, educator, activist, and researcher. 

McKensie has over 10 years of experience helping organizations, community groups, governing agencies, and healthcare organizations create transformational cultures at the intersection of race, gender, class, disability, and LGBTQ+ identity with clients based in the U.S, the UK, India, France, Germany, Spain, Peru, and other countries. 

They will help you discover the courage necessary to set and maintain your boundaries as you help your colleagues overcome exclusion and injustice at work, in its many forms, including racism, patriarchy, ableism, sizeism and classism. 

During this first part of our discussion, McKensie shares their approach to establishing and maintaining interpersonal and organizational boundaries. By the end of this episode, you will learn why these boundaries are essential to the success of your workplace’s DEI commitments.

During this episode, Dr. Jones-DeWeever and I discuss:

• Ways inclusive leaders like you can radically include Black women leaders into executive pipelines

• How to defy the odds as an outsider working from within to make real change

• We also feature Dr. Jones-DeWeever’s final thoughts on how to racially include Black women leaders in the workplace and beyond.

The occasion? To celebrate the historic confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court. 

This landmark event gives us an amazing opportunity to discuss the key topics of Dr. Jones-DeWeever’s award-winning book, How Exceptional Black Women Lead. 

In this episode, we explore how Black women leading organizations can overcome harmful racial and gender stereotypes.

We also talk about why it’s difficult for Black women to forge strong and meaningful mentor and sponsorship relationships at work.

Importantly, we also focus on what any of us within the workplace can do about it.

Earlier this month marked an historic occasion…

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed as the first Black woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. 

To celebrate, I’ve dedicated a very special 3-part learning series that delves further into the topic of who belongs.

Only 4.7 percent of attorneys are Black, and only 70 Black women have ever served as US federal judges, so Justice Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the United States Supreme Court represents a truly remarkable example of perseverance in punching a hole in the glass ceiling, making way for other Black women to follow. 

Please join me for this very special episode of the Imagine Belonging at Work podcast, as Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever, bestselling author and social entrepreneur. Her significant expertise and lived experiences helps put into perspective this truly monumental occasion as we discuss how exceptional black women lead.

We say we want it. But do we really? We think we are willing to work for it. But are we? 

In today’s episode of the Imagine Belonging at Work podcast, I talk about this important and timely topic.

During this episode, I delve into questions such as:

How are transformation and change different? 

Why is it important to understand these differences?

Why is it harmful to maintain the workplace status quo?

I’ll give you the knowledge, skills and actions required to make transformation a reality in your workplace. As in each episode, I’ll help you understand why belonging at work matters.

The flipside of that number? If you are a manager, 67% of your team members feel like they do not belong. They feel the sting of exclusion. 

This is alarming news with potentially devastating consequences for employees and their employers’ bottom line.

But there is hope. There is something leaders can do. They can bring a feeling of safety, trust and a sense of belonging to their teams.

The goal of the Imagine Belonging At Work Podcast is to give listeners simple, actionable real-world advice, and to inspire them to take action by committing to first transform themselves, and then transform their workplaces, building more equitable organizations.

This includes some framing a few reflection questions and rounding out this episode, Rhodes created a special meditation exercise, you can try out to help activate what you imagine. 

This show was created for people like you – inclusive leaders, DEI professionals, visionaries, and change makers. In this podcast, we dare to imagine workplace cultures that have yet to exist…until now.

It recognizes that leading this kind of transformative work can be both thrilling and intimidating.

You’ll hear inspiring stories from inclusive leaders who have boldly imagined a new way to lead, build teams, and structure the future of work.

You’ll learn how they moved beyond their limiting beliefs, giving themselves permission to envision and then build an enduring culture of belonging at work.

This kind of proven visioning work results in powerful individual and organizational transformation. During your daily commute, workout, or leisure time, allow Rhodes Perry to share actionable advice, and introduce you to some of the today’s most inspiring DEI thought leaders, all while modeling ways to lead with vulnerability as they bring their full selves to these conversations.

Each episode explores the journey of the successful inclusive leader who reflects on the ups and downs of building belonging at work, all in an effort to inspire you to take action, and unapologetically bring as much of your authentic self to work, as you desire.