Podcast interviews with movers & shakers and diverse innovators.
Cat is Vice President, Clinical Transformation, Immunology and Integration Leader at Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
She sponsors Johnson & Johnson’s WiSTEM2D University . She is an advocate for supporting STEM Women now and in the future with the Women in STEM2D Scholars Award.
Hear Cat discuss:
1. How COVID-19 has disproportionately affected women in WiSTEM2D.
2. The importance of women in STEM.
3. Why investments in research will be critical to advance health for humanity.
Jack Myers, founder of MediaVillage and AdvancingDiversity.org, is the nation’s best-known practitioner of media ecology. Renowned for his entrepreneurial leadership in media industry innovation focused on growth, Myers has been recognized with the Excellence in Education Award and he’s also earned a George Foster Peabody Award for Documentary Filmmaking.
MediaVillage’s mission is to advance advertising supported media industry growth through investments in diversity and education, highlighted by the industry’s first-ever Advancing Diversity Week that took place September 2021, culminating with the 4th annual Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors Induction Experience and inaugural Gen-Z Town Hall Meeting.
Jack is the author of four books on generational shifts, including Hooked Up, the earliest research on Gen-Z influence, and The Future of Men, which is also a TED Talk that’s generated almost 200,000 views. Jack’s early consulting work contributed to strategic innovation for more than 200 media, advertising, and marketing clients. He began his career with ABC Radio, CBS Television and Metromedia Outdoor. He graduated from the Newhouse School at Syracuse U. and has a Master Degree in Media Ecology from NYU.
As head of automotive and oil, gas and energy staffing at Kelly Professional & Industrial, Vice President Keilon Ratliff spearheads Kelly’s efforts to provide job seekers with non-violent criminal records a path to employment. Under his leadership Kelly collaborated with an automotive manufacturer to hire second chance workers who had previously been disqualified from consideration. The Kelly33 initiative enabled the client to increase its talent pool, address critical staffing needs and improve retention rates.
Ratliff actively supports Kelly’s Equity@Work initiative that was launched in 2020 to remove barriers that make it hard for people to attain enriching work. Rarely challenged, these obstacles – such as outdated degree requirements, biases against candidates with criminal histories and discrimination of neurodiverse talent – leave capable talent excluded. Ratliff holds a key advisory role and develops strategies to engage clients and partners in Kelly’s efforts to build a more equitable workforce. He also serves on the company’s Inclusion Council.
Ratliff discusses:
Carmelo Piazza (Carmelo the Science Fellow) is the Founder of the Brooklyn Preschool of Science. He is a Brooklyn born educator who taught for the Department of Education for 17 years and is now the owner of three independent science based preschools.
Deepak Shukla is a British-Indian entrepreneur who founded the award-winning Pearl Lemon PR agency. He is a finalist for the International Diverse Role Model of the Year awarded by Diversity in Tech. This is in recognition of the groundbreaking work that he’s doing with his agency and international team to promote diversity and inclusion.
Deepak discusses:
Hear the conversation about equity in education from these experts based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This podcast is part of the ADR Black-Jewish Dialogues.
Ardena Garth Hicks: Education Activist
Ardena is a Hamilton County native and practicing attorney who is the 2020 Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. She is a member of the Hamilton County Partnership Network Board of Directors, appointed by TN Education Commissioner Candace McQueen. The Partnership’s charge is to “review the progress of the five schools in the Partnership Network- which have been deemed priority schools by the state…and make recommendations to the Hamilton County Board of Education and Network leadership to support students’ growth and development.”
She is President of Chattanooga Endeavors, Inc., a non-profit organization which advocates for the interests of citizens repatriating from incarceration. Ardena previously was Special Prosecutor for Child Abuse cases with the Hamilton County District Attorney’s office. She served as Hamilton County’s first elected District Public Defender from 1990 to 2014 (3 successive 8-year terms), having been appointed to the newly-created position by Gov. Ned McWherter in 1989. Ardena graduated as a Ooltewah HS valedictorian, earned her bachelor’s degree at Middle TN State U. and earned her Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the U. of Kansas.
Dr. Jill Keegan Levine: Education Administrator
Jill is the Chief of Innovation and Choice for Tennessee’s Hamilton County Schools, a district of over 45,000 students. Prior to this role, she served as the Chief of the Opportunity Zone, a learning community focused on turnaround of the twelve highest needs schools in the district, as well as serving previously as the Chief Academic Officer of the school district.
After graduating from Wellesley College with a double major in Music and History, Jill began her career teaching 3rd grade and directing musical theater productions in the New Orleans Public Schools. She was the principal of Normal Park Museum Magnet, a Chattanooga Pre-K through 8th grade school, for 14 years. She led the transformation of two low performing schools into award winning, innovative, exciting and challenging places of learning. In 2012, Jill was recognized as the National Magnet Schools Principals of the Year. From 2013-2015, she served in the Obama administration as the first full time Principal Ambassador Fellow at the US Department of Education. In that capacity, she worked closely with Secretary Arne Duncan to increase the department’s focus on the importance of school leadership.
Also hear: BLACK-JEWISH DIALOGUE PODCAST: POETS SPEAK
Mauricio Velasquez, CEO of Diversity Training Group DTG, speaks with Deborah Levine, Editor-in-Chief of the American Diversity Report, about his training, consulting, and coaching on Sexual Harassment Prevention. DTG’s serves a broad range of clients including small and large organizations, not-for-profit, professional service firms, local, state and federal governments, law enforcement, and the military.
Check out Mauricio’s other podcasts:
Tiffany R. Warren
Executive Vice President, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer
Sony Music Group
Founder & President, ADCOLOR
As Executive VP, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for Sony Music Group, Tiffany will expand equity and inclusion activities and policies across all Sony Music Group’s (SMG) global recorded music, publishing and corporate divisions, reporting directly to SMG Chairman Rob Stringer. Previously, as the Senior VP, Chief Diversity Officer for Omnicom Group, Tiffany oversaw a team of 25+ Chief Diversity Officers and Directors focused on Omnicom-wide change efforts through the award-winning Omnicom People Engagement Network (OPEN) for the support, advancement and retention of top performing talent inclusive of women, people of color and LGBT professionals.
Continue reading Tiffany R. Warren Podcast: Sony DEI and ADCOLOR
Corporate Responsibility in the Future
Joshua DuBois is the CEO of Gauge.ai. He is a multicultural marketing expert and the former Faith Advisor to President Barack Obama. Joshua will explain how business leaders can adequately engage in conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion, in ways that match the moment. Learn how businesses can engage with the communities in which they operate, and tap into the potential of their talent pool. Be introduced to Gauge.ai and NXTLAB work and why they are the future of corporate responsibility. Take advantage of DuBois’ tips and insights for how business leaders can “get it right” in terms of aligning themselves with marginalized communities.
CLICK for the Washington Post article featuring Gauge.ai
Todd Cherches is the CEO & Cofounder of BigBlueGumball, an innovative New York City-based management consulting firm specializing in leadership development and executive coaching. He is also a three-time award-winning Adjunct Professor of leadership at NYU, and a Lecturer on leadership at Columbia University. Todd is a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s “MG100 Coaches”; a TEDx speaker; and the author of VisuaLeadership: Leveraging the Power of Visual Thinking in Leadership and in Life, published by Post Hill Press/Simon & Schuster (May, 2020).
Website: www.toddcherches.com
