Monthly Archives: September 2021

Workplace Strategies Podcasts

Keilon Ratliff Podcast: 2nd Chances

Keilon 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 Rarely challenged, these obstacles – such as outdated degree requirements, biases against candidates with criminal histories and discrimination of neurodiverse talent – leave capable talent excluded.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:

  • How to knock down unjust barriers to work that hold millions back.
  • How ex offenders are a hidden workforce that can help companies address labor shortages.
  • How everyone deserves second chances and the dignity of work.

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Healthcare

Diversity and Speech Part 23: Health Equity – by Carlos E. Cortés and Adwoa Osei

In July, 2020, the two of us met for the first time as inaugural co-directors of the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine’s new Health Equity, Social Justice, and Anti-Racism (HESJAR) curricular initiative.  The school handed us those six words.  The rest was up to us.

We started by looking and listening.  We looked at what other medical schools had done.  While we found some useful ideas, this strategy had built-in limitations.  No other medical school that we encountered had triangulated those three intersecting but disparate ideas: health equity; social justice; and anti-racism.  We had to address all three and integrate them into a coherent curriculum.
Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 23: Health Equity – by Carlos E. Cortés and Adwoa Osei →

DL Opinion columns, Editor-in-Chief

Armageddon gets personal – by Deborah Levine

 Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

These days, everyone I talk to sounds anxious, scared and miserable. My first reaction is sympathy and empathy, the way my mother taught me. My second reaction is relief, since misery loves company.  And when I feeling a bit guilty for that, I say to myself, “How can we not be?” Every time, I turn on the news, there’s another calamity. It feels like our world is  imploding and none of us will escape unscathed.

First there’s a sense of world disintegration with the mess in Afghanistan. Seeing thousands of folks trying to cram into the airport to leave – scary. Watching people clinging to planes to get out – horrifying. Hearing the fears of women for the future – words escape me.

Continue reading Armageddon gets personal – by Deborah Levine →

Authors A-H, Authors I-Q, Education

Equity, Social Justice and Education – by Godson Chukwuma, Joseph Nwoye, Katina Webster

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As the debate rages on the extent of equity and social justice for all, two perspectives are emerging. On the one hand, the traditional school of thought represents people who believe that things are going well and that the system operates well based on their conception of equity and social justice for all. These traditionalists assert that our system is fair and that it works as it is supposed to do. They further claim that the system’s operation aligns with the founding fathers’ statements in the 1776 Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that their Creator endows them with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Continue reading Equity, Social Justice and Education – by Godson Chukwuma, Joseph Nwoye, Katina Webster →

About Deborah Levine

Chattanooga Award Program Honors Deborah Levine

Deborah Levine Receives 2021 Chattanooga Award for Management Consulting

CHATTANOOGA August 22, 2021 — Deborah Levine has been selected for the 2021 Chattanooga Award in the Management Consulting Services category by the Chattanooga Award Program.

awardEach year, the Chattanooga Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Chattanooga area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2021 Chattanooga Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Chattanooga Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Chattanooga Award Program

The Chattanooga Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Chattanooga area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Chattanooga Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

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DEI Design/Consulting Services

Levine articles, Race & Ethnicity

Hispanic Heritage Month: Nurses, Education & Scholarships

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Hispanic Heritage Month

This is a the time to educate about the US community:

On average, this community is 6 years younger than the median and 6 out of 10 Are millennials or younger. They are currently 40% of the labor force growth and 8 out of 10 new businesses are Latino-owned. They are 54% of projected population growth (2017-2027) and 74% of new US workers are Hispanic. They are a vital part of the US making up 18% of active enlisted military and 19 million are essential workers.

Continue reading Hispanic Heritage Month: Nurses, Education & Scholarships →

Authors I-Q, Teams & Leaders

How to Spot Performative Diversity – by Pearl Kasirye

You know how it goes, every Black History Month, Juneteenth, or special holiday, companies around the world publish media about diversity and inclusion. At times, it can feel like they are obligated to do so, and they just plaster a generic diversity and inclusion sign on their website or social media page.

This is common to see with companies that desperately want to be portrayed as inclusive, when in reality, they are far from it. When you visit an educational institution that has 98% white faculty, but they are very vocal about the importance of diversity, it makes you wonder…am I missing something?

Here lies performative diversity, which is the subject of this article.

Continue reading How to Spot Performative Diversity – by Pearl Kasirye →

Transformation Podcasts

Carmelo the Science Fellow – Podcast

Carmelo 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.

The Brooklyn Preschool of Science is an inquiry-based interdisciplinary school that uses play to holistically connect subject areas. The school aims to excite young kids about learning and engage their innate curiosity about the world. The school features a living wall of plants, a 300-gallon fish tank, and a multitude of living creatures that reside in the classrooms.
Carmelo talks about the  value of teaching preschoolers math/science as early as 2-3 years old and discuss how science is the only true way to bridge the gap of inequality in education.

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Workplace Strategies Podcasts

Deepak Shukla Podcast: D&I in the PR Industry

DeepakDeepak 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:

  • How to develop an inclusive recruitment process that levels the playing field for people of different backgrounds.
  • How to manage employees in different parts of the world and a global clientele.
  • How to make diversity and inclusion a part of your company culture and not just a cute slogan on your website.

CLICK for Podcast Interview

Authors A-H, Education, Race & Ethnicity

Diversity and Speech Part 22: The Critical Race Theory Donnybrook – by Carlos E. Cortés

A year ago, who would have predicted that Critical Race Theory (CRT) would have become a 2021 national buzz word?  A buzz word for those attacking it.  A buzz word for those defending it.    Probably with relatively few of those attackers and defenders actually having read much of it.

I have, but it’s not easy going.  Lots of ideas.  Lots of jargon.  Lots of obscurantist legal analysis.  But if you stick with it, CRT can be very thought-provoking.

CRT is based on a simple premise: the law is not neutral.  As a result, institutions and systems that arise from the law will not be neutral.   When Mark Twain asked a friend to explain his position on a controversial issue, the friend answered, “I’m neutral.”  To which Twain responded, “Then whom are you neutral against?”

Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 22: The Critical Race Theory Donnybrook – by Carlos E. Cortés →