All posts by Editor-in-Chief

Deborah Levine founded the American Diversity Report in 2006. She is a Forbes Magazine top "Trailblazer" and award-winning author of 20 books. Her published articles span decades including: American Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Public Management & Social Policy, The Bermudian Magazine, The Harvard Divinity School Bulletin.
Podcasts, Transformation Podcasts

Christopher Johnson Podcast: Financial DEI

Christopher JohnsonChristopher Johnson is President of Global Financial Services at Pitney Bowes, where he manages the financing and lending businesses, as well as the consumer and merchant payments and risk management functions across the company. Christopher also holds leadership responsibility for Pitney Bowes Bank, a state chartered industrial loan company.

Hear Christopher discuss how this is the time to make changes to ensure inclusion in the future. The pandemic, super high inflation, and high interest rates are changing the dynamics of our economy. Economic prosperity will need leaders committed long term to their communities, customers and employees, including actionable DEI.

  1. Difficulties accessing capital continues to mount for SMBs, but especially with Black and minority owned businesses. How can we make access to capital more equitable? Is this possible to achieve?
  2. How do we use diversity to adjust to the changes in generations currently in the workplace and the growth of small businesses?
  3. How can we begin increasing participation for minorities in industries like financial services? What’s one thing business leaders can implement today?

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Editor-in-Chief, Uncategorized

CELEBRATE AND ACT ON BLACK HISTORY MONTH – by Deborah Levine

published originally in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Honoring Black History Month often comes with events that tell African American history through arts and culture, which resonate across cultural boundaries. For example: the National Center for Civil and Human Rights will display jazz music that “inspires movements, evokes revolution, and lightens troubled spirits.”

Corporate celebrations may elevate Black artists, creators, entrepreneurs through storytelling, content and products. But as memorable as these celebrations are, they may be considered once-a-year, check-the-box events.

Continue reading CELEBRATE AND ACT ON BLACK HISTORY MONTH – by Deborah Levine →

Holocaust/antisemitism, Levine articles

Propaganda and Re-education: Ritchie Boy Lessons – by Deborah Levine

How do they hate us? Let me count the ways. There’s Holocaust denial, Nazi memes, attacks by Supremacists, far-right conspiracies,  and victimization appropriations. Ironically, Russia which was the source of a favorite Nazi propaganda, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, recently joined that list. Russia’s Foreign Minister, furious with their isolation and Ukraine support, compared Western leaders to Hitler who “wanted a ‘final solution’ to the Jewish question.”

Continue reading Propaganda and Re-education: Ritchie Boy Lessons – by Deborah Levine →

Leadership Tips Podcasts, Transformation Podcasts, Workplace Strategies Podcasts

Daphne Jones Podcast: Win When They Say You Won’t

Daphne Jones Daphne Jones serves on the Boards of three public companies—AMN Healthcare, the Barnes Group, and Masonite International—where she offers critical business savvy, cyber security expertise, and digital insights. Previously, she enjoyed a 30+-year corporate career at some of the world’s most recognizable companies, such as GE, Johnson & Johnson, IBM, and Hospira (now Pfizer).
Daphne has presented strategies to CEOs, boards of directors, and corporate officers, led global teams, and generated hundreds of millions of dollars of value. At GE Healthcare, she became the highest-ranking African American woman in GE IT. She was the first woman and person of color to report to the Chairman of the Board and CEO, shattering the glass ceiling at Hospira.

Daphne Jones

Daphne shares her insights and experiences in her book, “Win When They Say You Won’t,” launching in Fall 2022 from McGraw-Hill. It equips  women leaders to take ownership of their careers and overcome critics to win.

Questions Daphne Jones will answer:

  • When you started your career as a secretary, did you ever imagine that you would someday become a CIO and a board member at major global companies?
  • Why did you title your book Win When They Say You Won’t?
  • What was the hardest part of rising up the ladder as a black woman in STEM.

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Uncategorized

Social Media Insanity – by Deborah Levine 

(Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press)

I was transfixed when Elon Musk first took over as Twitter’s CEO. It was like watching a massive highway car pile up as folks headed for the hills as Musk cried, “No, we’re not dead!”. I was tempted to exit, but was persuaded to stay and fight the good fight. So when the GOP first tweeted their intent to tear apart Hunter Biden, I responded, “How about the $2 billion Kushner got from the Saudis… Are you going to investigate that?” The support was beyond anything I’d experienced from Twitterers. 

Continue reading Social Media Insanity – by Deborah Levine  →

Workplace Strategies Podcasts

Ash Beckham Podcast: Breaking Through Barriers

leadership educatorAsh Beckham is an inclusion activist, inclusive leadership expert, professional trainer, workshop facilitator, motivational speaker, business leader and author of Step Up: How to Live with Courage and Become an Everyday Leader.  Known for her unique voice, intrepid, relatable and intrinsically comic style, and powerful guidance, her TEDx Talk “Coming Out of Your Closet” became a fast viral sensation.

A popular speaker and leadership educator, she frequently addresses topics including embracing a different vision of leadership to create change in our workplaces, schools, places of worship, communities and more.  Ash has presented keynotes and workshops for more than 200 corporate, government and collegiate events and conferences including The Boeing Company, Bank of America, Microsoft, the Out and Equal Summit.  For more information, see her website.

leadership Hear Ash discuss…

  • What role does empathy play in inclusion?
  • Where do we educate ourselves about inclusion and engage more in inclusive leadership?
  •  What does allyship actually look like and how do allies engage inclusively?

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International Podcasts

Manu Smadja Podcast: International Student Support

ManuManu Smadja is CEO and Co-founder at MPOWER Financing. Manu is a former Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, where he focused on Global Financial Inclusion and U.S. mass-market banking. He has worked with top financial institutions in the U.S., Europe, and Africa. Prior to McKinsey he worked in marketing strategy and operations at CapitalOne and Vistaprint. Manu holds an M.B.A. from INSEAD, as well as an M.S. in Systems & Information Engineering and a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Virginia.

Hear Manu discuss:

  • What is the significance of international student enrollment in US universities?
  • How diverse is their enrollment in terms of gender, majors, and ethnicity?
  • What are the challenges international students experience in their journey on studying abroad?
  • The impact international students have on the economy, universities, and the workforce, especially as there is more diversity in the STEM fields on the horizon.

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Arts & Culture Podcasts

Tonya Todd Podcast: Diversity in the Entertainment Industry

Tonya ToddTonya Todd is a Las Vegas author, actress, and activist. Invested in fair representation, her continued involvement in the literary, theatre, and filmmaking communities provides a platform to champion marginalized artists and contributes toward an environment that embraces a variety of voices.

Hear Tonya discuss her biracial journey and ….

  • The importance of pushing yourself to make people feel included even when it feels awkward or uncomfortable.
  • The damage caused by dismissing projects as Black or Gay or Asian as if they don’t have universal appeal.
  • Why it’s important to consume media that is centered on people whose identity is different from ours.
  • How allies can contribute to an inclusive environment and assist marginalized artists.

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DL Opinion columns

Hate enablers should not prevail – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Have you heard that Kanye West might buy the self-styled free speech platform called Parler? Supposedly “conservative”, the app was used to organize and recruit for the Capitol siege. Parler continually enables hate with accounts that use swastikas as their profile pictures along with posts with Holocaust denial, antisemitism, and racism. Proud Boys, QAnon conspiracy theorists, anti-government extremists and white supremacists have all promoted their views on Parler.

Continue reading Hate enablers should not prevail – by Deborah Levine →

About Deborah Levine, Books

SoLit Award Acceptance Speech – by Deborah Levine

3 Comments

SoLitLocal Distinguished Author Award 2022

I’m deeply honored by this award from the prestigious SoLit Alliance. Literature is my passion and growing up in Bermuda’s 24 square miles, I explored the vast world through reading. You should have seen me with a pad of paper and a number 2 pencil while still in diapers. I published my first story at age 16 and wrote grants and newsletters for decades. But not until coming to Chattanooga did I blossom as a writer, and thought of myself as one.  

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