Community of Practice

By focusing on merging diverse experiences, you create a workplace that not only values inclusion but actively integrates different perspectives to drive innovation and compassion. This approach ensures that all employees feel dignified, respected, and empowered to contribute their unique insights, ultimately fostering a more supportive and dynamic workplace culture.

Understanding and addressing implicit biases involves self-awareness, active engagement, and setting a positive example. These actions are critical for fostering a workplace culture that prioritizes dignity and compassion, ensuring that all employees feel valued and respected.

As a people leader, I strive to merge diverse experiences all the time. However, I can be more thoughtful and strategic by... facilitating cross functional collaboration on fundraising projects. I would also like to ensure that decision making reflects the diversity of our organization - I need to do a better job of involving other individuals from diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and jobs in the process.

Using phone, headphones, etc. as shields, especially while traveling, resonates hard with me. I'm a very outgoing & extroverted person, but when traveling for work, I intentionally avoid all eye contact and interactions with others - a lot of my implicit biases are coming out when I do that!

I really enjoyed this video, especially the example of the ABCDE testosterone test, and how testosterone does not increase aggression, it stimulates the pre-existing social patterns! OOF, that hits hard, the way we're socialized into so many of these behaviors.

Co-mentoring programs are a great idea. Older workers can learn newer technology/platforms and younger workers gain insights/wisdom behind the why things are done.

Traditional leadership approaches have historically stymied DEIB efforts and continue to facilitate the maintenance of systemic inequity in and out of the workplace. Organizational pyramids and top-down leadership continue the ideology that one person or entity is all-knowing, or at least all, responsible for the change in an organization, and ultimately anything that the entity or person(s) in charge are not interested in will not happen. These two traditional leadership approaches maintain and facilitate all other aspects of traditional leadership approaches and highlight how this approach stymies DEIB efforts. If there is a top-down approach to leadership, the person at the top ultimately has the power to control the entire organization. If their self-interest is profit, they will work to maintain a company that pushes for profit above all else. Suppose the person or persons in power are driven by self-interest. In that case, they will push for a company that is fixated on competing, which inherently implements a class system because those deemed "winners" will be brought to the top of the hierarchy. Similarly, those deemed as winners will be allowed information that those deemed to have different values, which also facilitates class systems and exclusion. The hyper fixation on self-interest and profit often creates tunnel vision. It leads to the exclusion of those who are not deemed to hold the power, knowledge, or ability to work hard and make the company money. This line of thinking is guided by implicit bias and clouded with negative stereotypes.

The new paradigm approach to leadership may lead to more success because, simply put, it utilizes all individual potential and facilitates individual growth, which enhances company growth. If every individual in a company is working at their absolute best, is passionate about their work, feels respected in the workplace, trusts their workplace, and has the same goal, they will be working at maximum proficiency. Individuals can and want to work hard to benefit the team, welcome change, and appreciate each other. If everyone is working at their best, and everyone understands (and appreciates) each other strengths, the system will be self-correcting, self-sustaining, and self-maintaining.

Being intentional about growing my skills in cultural competence has been a significant goal of mine, especially within the last year of my intellectual pursuits. This module helped me understand white culture and my preconceived lens guiding my perception and understanding of the world. In understanding white culture, I am more able to know how my views and others around me (in a predominantly white culture society) influence our perception of others. One skill (Increasing cultural and global knowledge) that I want to work on is increasing my understanding of white culture, which I will do by exploring different perspectives and research via books and podcasts (open to recommendations). A few resources I have found are Lifting the White Veil (Jeff Hitchcock, 2011), White Fragility (Robin DiAngelo, 2018), and the podcast Seeing White (John Biewen, 2017). Similarly, I will also find resources to increase my global cultural competence to be more educated and knowledgeable of many cultures. Books I have found include Behind the beautiful forevers (Katherine Boo), Open Veins of Latin America (Isabel Allende), and Expand Your Borders: Discover Ten Cultural Clusters (David Livermore, 2013).

Self-assessment is a skill that is particularly important for everyone to work on in all facets of life. I can use the Harvard Implicit Association Test to analyze my implicit bias empirically. Also, I can surround myself with individuals knowledgeable about implicit bias and cultural competence and ask for guidance in areas for improvement that I may need to be cognizant of. This goes hand in hand with the skill of engagement and working on my approach to conversations of culture and ensuring I am productively navigating these conversations.

Understanding the differences between equity and equality is extremely important when considering basic dignity needs and the DEI space. Workplaces must understand that equality within the company doesn't necessarily mean equal access. A "one size fits all" approach won't work for inclusivity because, simply put, not every individual has the same advantages or disadvantages. Equality without equity is another example of a "band-aid" approach to DEI because it is a small solution for a much larger, more complex issue. Without equal access to resources, inclusivity efforts can result in tokenization.

At Workplace Peace Institute, we often talk about the importance of learning, unlearning, and relearning -- in other words, we must be agile to the needs of a constantly changing world. So, I love seeing this call out for the need to be continually learning. I want to add a recommendation for the book club -- Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race by Derald Wing Sue. This is a deeply informative book about why talking about race is so hard and so important.

A workplace that has fostered a self-organizing system will be able to create diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplaces through community and the continual encouragement of change. An organization where the system is adaptable, and each person feels they can express themselves is an organization that embraces transformation and encourages growth. Diversity, equity, and inclusion is about growth and continual change, as the needs and dynamics of generations will continually change with time. Similarly, the company employee base will continually change over time, which may influence desired diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. In 6 months, one year, or ten years, the DEI practices of today may very well be problematic. As Dr. Short mentions in the module, many events throughout time (Woman's Suffrage, Civil Rights Movement, Racial Reckoning) have attempted to change the system itself. However, we still face many of the issues. Events that encourage these movements will likely continue until America as a whole reinvents its system. Until the system of the American Identity is dismantled and rebuilt, companies will have to endure the residual effects of events that contribute to movements. If we build companies as a self-organizing system, these events will not require "DEI band-aids" because DEI will already be infused into the company. Rather than hitting the panic button and sending out hefty training modules to attempt to reach certain employees, the employees will come together as a group and be able to express how best they can help everyone recover and feel comfortable in the workplace while the events outside of the workplace are occurring. Instead of the company's top leaders having meetings to address PR issues or how to maintain staff when the world is experiencing trauma, the employees will be able to come together and self-regulate and adapt to the change in a way that benefits everyone and where everyone has a say.

• One possible missing element from the Wheel of Power/Privilege that I identified is attractiveness, or having physical features align with typical societal constructs of beauty. This element is similar to the body size portion of the wheel but is a bit broader in nature.

• A second missing element is age. As we age, there are an array of different privileges we acquire, such as the right to vote, to apply for citizenship, to live on one's own, or to receive social security.

Thanks for the reminder of this week!

It is important for me to continue to respect diverse perspectives, show grace, and provide resources to educate on systemic biases that affect societal norms. Inclusive behaviors at work actively combat stereotypes and embrace perspectives from everyone.

My vision for our organization is at the end of the day, we all are able to remember why we starting working in our respective fields to begin with.

Creating a psychologically safe workplace is super important because it reduces stress, worry, and gives an environment where all feel comfortable being themselves. A behavior I engage to implement this is not setting my norm as "the" norm, thus getting to know others for who they are and building fruitful relationships genuinely.

While there may be limited resources available with all topic matters, those bilingual employees do not have the same access to resources in Spanish for their clients as monolingual employees have for their clients. While most forms are in Spanish, not all books/games are along with specific bilingual training considerations with trauma therapy modalities are not always available.

I have seen the Us vs. Them play out specifically with the duration of how long the employee has been working at the agency for. I think there is a natural tendency for this to occur simply based on the newer staff member learning and getting to know everyone versus others who have been in the agency for a longer period of time and having already built those relationships.

The biggest challenge in navigating inclusion and belonging within the workplace is being a new person to the team. Coming in as a new team member allows opportunity for belonging however that must be fostered through relational development which takes time, vulnerability and trust.

As a Black woman, understanding systemic racism isn’t just important, it’s personal. I’ve experienced it and so have many people I care deeply about. Growing up, our parents often try to shield us from it, hoping to protect our innocence for as long as they can. But eventually, they have to prepare us for it because it’s something we’re likely to face, whether we’re ready or not.

That reality has shaped who I am. It’s why I lead with empathy, why I advocate for others, and why I care so deeply about justice and equity. Systemic racism doesn’t just affect one group, but it impacts many communities in different ways. And while our experiences may not all be the same, the pain, the barriers, and the need for change are real.

Acknowledging these systems isn’t about blame, it’s about truth. It’s about understanding the history and structures that continue to shape people’s lives today. When we recognize that, we can begin to push for real, lasting change—not just performative gestures or surface-level fixes. We can work toward a future where everyone is seen, valued, and given a fair chance to thrive.

While I definitely hold some less privileged identities, I have quite a few areas in which I am highly privileged. Race comes to mind first - as a white person, I hold a ton of privilege in society - I recognize many of the ways that privilege affects my life, but there are probably ways I don't recognize it either.

I live in a weird in between space of financial privilege. I grew up working class, bordering on poor, but as I got older, my family moved more towards solidly middle class. We bought things second hand and kept them til they wore out and did lots of other things to save money that I found embarrassing socially, but I never remember a being worried that we wouldn't eat. As an adult, I have experienced poverty to the point of worrying if I will eat.... but I also always knew that I would never be homeless because my family wouldn't allow that.

There are also other categories in which the "switch" isn't flipped to privilege or no privilege for me as well. I go through the world with a chronic physical illness, two neurodevelopmental disabilities, and three mental health conditions, one severe enough that even the state of Texas considers it disabling. 😂 This causes significant challenges in a world that was built for healthy, neurotypical people. BUT I don't "look disabled" to people I don't know so I don't have to worry about being treated as less than unless I choose to disclose my health information, which means that I move through the world with more health privilege than someone who is visibly disabled.

Some privileges are easier for me to accept than others. I have been surprised over the last few months how difficult it has been for me to accept my financial privilege. Because I have personally never had a lot of money, I always felt decidedly UNprivileged in that category and realizing that I had tons more privilege than I thought was SUCH an uncomfortable realization. I think it takes time and some real humility to learn to accept our privileges and that can definitely be a challenge!

I can take mindful pauses, use visual reminders, and participate in regular reengagement.

I couldn't figure the math problem out! It illustrates the point in the video perfectly, along with what we learned in the last module about our unconscious biases being stronger or more likely to occur when we are rushed or pressured. I have seen math problems like this before so I knew the answer wasn't the obvious answer. However, because the video moved so quickly, I felt rushed, and my brain was screaming 10p at me so loudly that I couldn't do the actual math to figure out the problem. Even though I knew the answer my brain was giving me was wrong, I still couldn't think well enough to come up with the correct one.

One way I slow down and reconsider is in my media choices. When I am interested in a particular type of book or show or music (I'm currently on a folk horror and metal kick!), instead of reading the first thing that Amazon suggests, I try to seek out books and other media by, for, and about marginalized groups within whatever genre I'm currently obsessed. By not just reading / watching / listening to what the store or platform suggests to me (which is much more likely to be by, for, and about dominant groups), I give myself the opportunity to assess why I'm selecting a piece of media. This also serves to give me more than one story about who belongs in what genre, helping me shed some of that unconscious bias. Which can translate to less bias in decision making - once I see a trans man as the whip smart and super brave sci-fi hero, I may be more likely to hire a trans man to a position in tech. And practicing slowing down decision making in my media choices helps me learn how to do that in other situations in my life and work.

It's an ongoing process for sure and the cultural/media inventory from the last module showed me I haven't been as diligent lately (which also shows me I still have tons of unconscious bias!), so that's something I would like to work on moving forward!

The danger in hearing only ones story is that it creates stereotypes—and while stereotypes are not necessarily untrue, they are incomplete. When we hear only one narrative, we reduce individuals or entire cultures to a narrow, often negative or overly simplistic identity. This leads to:

• Distorted perceptions: A single story flattens complex identities and experiences into a one-dimensional perspective, often shaped by power, privilege, or dominant cultures.

• Loss of dignity: It robs people of their full humanity by ignoring the richness and diversity of their experiences, contributions, and struggles.

• Misunderstanding and prejudice: It reinforces harmful assumptions and can lead to discrimination, exclusion, or unjust policies.

• Limited empathy: It diminishes our ability to truly understand or connect with others beyond the surface or the stereotype.

I think that in the workplace, implicit bias can show up in subtle ways...but also very consequential ways. Biases can go unnoticed, which I see can be very dangerous. As this talk points out - it's not enough to be aware of it, we need to override it through change. It stuck with me to visualize outcomes for individuals and groups that I may unintentionally overlook. Such as, someone of color in a position I am hiring. This could help a bias in my own mind.