I’d just driven into my parents’ driveway. I was time to pick up my toddler from the babysitting grandparents. And there was my little 3-year-old Rosie, rocking back and forth on her rocking horse without a care in the world. The horse squeaked and groaned on its springs, far too annoying to be allowed in the house.
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Let’s bag the ultra-processed food industry – by Deborah Levine
Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
If you’re like me and get what seems like 7 million reminders to do things better, you know that this is a self-improvement month .My inbox is full of suggestions for getting in shape, losing weight, eating better …you name it. Watch the news and you’ll see reporters give tips on what diets to follow to help you live longer and healthier. Ironically, those reports are interspersed with ads for the Ultra-processed food” (UPF) you’re being told to avoid. The processed food industry is spending big bucks to promote their UPF yummies containing high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar. Having learned long ago that UPFs contributes to my chronic inflammation, I’m determined to counteract the 14 billions of dollars spent annually marketing this crap.
Did you know that about 73% of our country’s food supply is ultra-processed and are about 52% cheaper than less processed alternatives. Further, of all the advertisements related to food or drink, almost 80 % were junk food ads. We’re being played!
Continue reading Let’s bag the ultra-processed food industry – by Deborah Levine
Combining Reason and Empathy in 2024 – by Deborah Levine
Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
Whether you resolve to get more exercise, learn new skills, or avoid doing stupid stuff, January has us thinking about the future. I began 2024 with good works, donating piles of clothing at Goodwill in Eastgate Mall. Driving there, I realized that the process begins with gratitude and humanity. That means being grateful for those who have come before us, who gave us life. We remember that we’re not only their beneficiaries, but also their legacy of how they made a difference.
Continue reading Combining Reason and Empathy in 2024 – by Deborah Levine
TEACHING GUIDE: Untold Stories of a WW II Liberator
This Teaching Guide accompanies the documentary: Untold, Stories of a Word War II Liberator. The Guide includes excerpts from the documentary’s letters as well as discussion questions for students and additional resources. It also includes section on the Nuremberg Trials and on newspaper journalists accounts of Holocaust death camps.
“Untold: Stories of a World War II Liberator proves that there are always new truths to learn and new heroes to celebrate when studying the horrors of the Holocaust. This work is arriving at a critical time; as the voices of survivors and liberators pass, those who teach history are confronted with increasingly loud cries of distortion and denial. A resource such as Untold allows students to both learn about and humanize the Holocaust.”
~ Dr. Rich Quinlan: Director, Holocaust and Genocide Education Center
Chair, History Dept./Saint Elizabeth University
“Deborah Levine’s work continues to be of utmost importance for students of all ages. The specific story of ‘UNTOLD’ must be told today and forever, so that the words ‘Never Again’ never lose their meaning!”
~ Avi Hoffman: CEO, Yiddishkayt Initiative, Inc.
“Many liberators such as Levine’s father kept their experience largely secret So the publication is an important resource for Holocaust education and research…and a very readable introduction to the journey of the Jewish community over the past century”
~ The Rev. Dr. John T.Pawlikowski: Founding member of the US Holocaust Center, Prof of Social Ethics/Catholic Theological Union
Note: Also available are Deborah Levine’s memoirs: The Liberator’s Daughter and The Magic Marble Tree, upon which the documentary is based. They include the wartime letters with eye witness accounts.
Finally, diversity programming is beginning to include faith – by Deborah Levine
Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
I could barely contain my excitement a few days ago when the Chattanooga Times Free Press published this article, “Businesses face calls to include faith in diversity program”. Do you know how many years I’ve been promoting the idea of competence in religious diversity? It began over 30 years ago when I created the DuPage/Chicago Interfaith Resource Network and got a call from the county’s police chief. DuPage County had acquired an amazingly diverse population as it developed into Chicago’s technology corridor. And law enforcement officers were struggling, especially when there was a death, like someone run over on the highway. Apparently they were asking all the loved ones if they should call a priest and were offending everyone who was not Catholic. Would I please wear a pager 24/7 so that they could call on me to help them with the correct language?
Continue reading Finally, diversity programming is beginning to include faith – by Deborah Levine
A Jewish Perspective on MLK – by Deborah Levine
It was an honor to share my perspective as a Jew and diversity professional at Chattanooga’s MLK interfaith service commemorating The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. That event was years ago but my passion for diversity is a lifelong legacy from my father, a US World War II military intelligence officer whose letters describing Naziism reside in Cincinnati’s American Jewish Archives. Having dedicated decades to tikkun olam, Hebrew for ‘repair of the world,’ I resonate to this day to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s words, “Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.”
Continue reading A Jewish Perspective on MLK – by Deborah Levine
Trends 2025: Our ADR 1,2,3 Analyses
The Trends category has become an annual theme for the January and February issues of the ADR. We set the tone for your articles with a preview article like this one. For many of us, including Advisory Board members of the American Diversity Report, the new year and incoming administration brings a level of uncertainty and concern. There are many questions about the impact on those actively engaged in the work of creating and fostering diverse and inclusive communities and organizations.
Anticipating 2025, several of our Advisors shared their innermost thoughts and concerns, plus their personal goals in continuing and building on progress during what portends to be challenging times. They have set the tone for your comments and articles on 2025 trends.
Jerry Colonna Podcast: Ancestral History and Leadership
Jerry Colonna is a leading executive coach who uses the skills he learned as a venture capitalist to help entrepreneurs. He is a co-founder and CEO of Reboot, the executive coaching and leadership development company, host of the Reboot Podcast, and author of Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong and Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up .He draws on his wide variety of experiences to help clients design a more conscious life and make needed changes to their career to improve their performance and satisfaction. He was a partner with JPMorgan Partners (JPMP), the private equity arm of JP Morgan Chase and earlier, he’d launched Flatiron Partners, which became one of the most successful, early-stage investment programs in the New York City area. He currently lives on a farm in Colorado.
Hear Jerry discuss:
1. What is the ‘Reunion’ process and its intended outcome?
2. How can acknowledging our ancestral history make us better leaders?
3. What is the best practice for dealing with shame or guilt surrounding our family lineage?
2. How can acknowledging our ancestral history make us better leaders?
3. What is the best practice for dealing with shame or guilt surrounding our family lineage?
Discussion questions for you:
1. Why is it now critical to question traditional definitions of leadership? While it’s always essential to investigate various forms of leadership, it’s clear that the ways leaders have been leading have failed. We see this in the dissatisfaction among employees. We see this in the double-binds business leaders face when social disruption hits home. When companies are boycotted for the slightest expressions of a celebration and welcome for those who might otherwise face discrimination, then it’s clear that new forms of leadership are required.
2. How is systemic othering impacting today’s work environment? How is it not? When we place people in separate categories from ourselves, we automatically think of them differently and treat them differently. We are less likely to value their creative processes, input, and presence. Wildflowers make a garden beautiful and are the key to an accepting culture.
CLICK for Podcast
TN Chapter of G100 Women Leaders – by Deborah Levine
Inter-cultural Dialogue for Equity
I’m honored to be the Tennessee State Chair of the Inter-Cultural Dialogue Wing of G100 Women Leaders / All Ladies League. I hope to bring together women making a difference in our state. It reminds me of when I founded the Women’s Council on Diversity and the Global Leadership Class more than 20 years ago. Let’s go again: Crosscultural boundaries Locally & Globally – Instruct & Inspire! (Let me know if this interests you.)
G100 is a huge action-think tank that comprises 100 wings/sectors, led by 100 Global Chairs like Dr. Aurora Martin who is Global Chair/Inter-Cultural Dialogue and Advisors like Global Advisor/Inter-Cultural Dialogue Shon Abegaz. The Chairs further nominate 100 country chairs in 100 countries for global reach and impact. Country chairs, like Monica Jaramillo who is the USA Country Chair/Inter-cultural Dialogue, then foster communities of 100 members directly or through further distributed leadership of region/state/city/district chairs.
G100 is a powerful Group of women leaders and achievers from all walks of life who wish to give back and move us all forward as architects of the future. It’s a league of luminaries of eminence and excellence including Nobel Laureates, Heads of States, Ministers, Businesswomen, Philanthropists, Investors, Entrepreneurs, CEOs, Corporate and Community Leaders – like me.
Continue reading TN Chapter of G100 Women Leaders – by Deborah Levine
Trends 2024: Navigating Our Divisive World
Join us! Instruct & Inspire
We are seeing the divisiveness in our world intensify and 2024 will increase that trend, especially given the U.S. presidential election. These issues of profound disagreement demonstrate the broad range of thought diversity that DEI must engage with in order to assist leadership in navigating future challenges.
The American Diversity Report has been a leader in anticipating trends and Instructing and inspiring strategy-making discussions. We will continue our much needed work with a special category for conversations about our divisive world throughout 2024. Unlike most of ADR conversations, Trends 2024 articles will focus on current and emerging hot topics. Your predictions, dialogue, and explanations are welcome.
Let’s demonstrate how diversity professionals can best facilitate robust conversations that improve understanding without exacerbating divisions. Keep in mind that the goal is to Instruct & Inspire – not to Advocate or Lobby.
Examples of topics include:
- campus protests relating to the war
- spike across the nation in acts of antisemitism and islamophobia
- book banning
- status of the voter rights act
- erosion of trust in the supreme court
- action on fossil fuel
- culture wars around gender
The ADR invites you to participate in this Divisive World project by submitting articles that add to these conversations. Note that these are discussions and not advocacy for specific groups or individuals. Our emphasis is on healing, not intensifying the divisiveness. Your articles should be designed to follow the ADR motto: Instruct & Inspire.