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 Bermuda Magazine, The Harvard Divinity School Bulletin.

Mirette Seireg Podcast: Diversifying Music Composers

Mirette SeiregMirette Seireg is the founder and owner of  Mpath LLC, the first woman-owned library of its kind to achieve gender parity. Changing the music world for females and other underrepresented composers, Mirette has scouted talent world-wide from nearly every continent on earth.

Mpath’s music library is represented by APM Music in North America and EMIPM in the rest of the world (both owned by Sony). In addition to managing Mpath, Mirette Seireg is an active member of the Production Music Association where she spearheaded the creation of and chairs the Inclusion and Diversity Committee, and she serves on the Mark Awards Committee. The renowned Berklee College of Music / Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Mpath have an on-going mentorship program to provide emerging composers hands-on experience.

​Mpath music is curated by two-term governor of the Television Academy (Emmys) and multi-award-winning Film, Television, Advertising, Game, composer/producer, Michael A. Levine who notes, “When music is created by composers who have different life experiences, they bring different musical ideas to the table.  At Mpath we feel diversity isn’t just the “right” thing – it makes the music better.”

CLICK for MPATH MUSIC

CLICK for PODCAST

Black-Jewish Podcast: Poets Speak

MAY 2021 BLACK-JEWISH DIALOGUE

Marilyn Kallet

Marilyn Kallet recently served two terms as Knoxville Poet Laureate, 2018-2020. She has published 18 books, including How Our Bodies Learned, The Love That Moves Me and Packing Light: New and Selected Poems, Black Widow Press. She translated Paul Eluard’s Last Love Poems and Benjamin Péret’s The Big Game.

 

G 100 Women LeadersDr. Kallet is Professor Emerita at the University of Tennessee and is a member of the TN G100 Women Leaders. From 2009-2020, she mentored poetry groups for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, in Auvillar, France. Her poetry has appeared recently in Plume and American Diversity Report.

Black-Jewish

Maria James-Thiaw is a poet, performer and an educator from Central PA. She has written three poetry collections and her poetry has been published by Cutthroat Journal of the Arts, Love Your Rebellion and other journals. Her choreopoem, Reclaiming My Time: An American Griot Project debuted in Summerdale, PA in 2018 to 6 sold out audiences. She won the Art of Protest Poetry Prize from Penn State for works from that production. In 2020 she created a Zoom version entitled RMT 2.0. This performance poet attended Marilyn Kallet’s workshops in France in 2011 and 2015. Maria is a graduate of Goddard College’s MFA in Creative Writing Program and she is the Program Coordinator of Creative Writing for CASA, Capital Area School for the Arts in Harrisburg, PA.

Dialogue Partners:
American Diversity Report,  Chattanooga News Chronicle, Mizpah Congregation, Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga, C.U.R.B. – Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda.

See October 2020 Black-Jewish Dialogue

CLICK for PODCAST

Aubrie Fennecken Podcast: Women in Innovation

innovationAubrie Fennecken is the Global Executive Director of WIN: Women in Innovation, a nonprofit organization built to close the gender gap in innovation. Aubrie speaks on why equity in innovation is so critical to breaking the cycle of inequity in our world more broadly. WIN is an amazing community of innovators across the globe innovation resources. She explains what her organization is doing to address the gender gap and support innovative women.

CLICK for Podcast

CLICK for the Women in Innovation website and see how you can get involved.

Nathan Regier Podcast: Personality Diversity

The Workplace: Personality Diversity
& Compassionate Accountability

Nathan

Nathan Regier is the CEO and founding owner of Next Element Consulting, a global leadership firm focusing on personality diversity and compassionate accountability. He is author of three books on compassionate workplaces.
Hear Nate explain this critical dimension of diversity. Learn how personality discrimination shows up in the workplace and what companies can do to include all personality types.

CLICK for PODCAST

UPCOMING RESEARCH: Participate in Nate’s survey of workplace personality diversity. It’s anonymous, but if you leave your email,  the results will be shared with you:    SURVEY

Black-Jewish Dialogue April 2021

 COMMUNITY ADVOCACY

Candy JohnsonCandy Johnson:  Before becoming President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga in January of 2021, she served as a senior advisor to Chattanooga Mayor Berke.  She led community-focused initiatives to create sustainable partnerships and external investments to advance the administration’s economic, racial and social equity agenda with the goal of improving community quality of life. Johnson also led the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Alliance in partnership with Bloomberg Associates and co-created the Styles L. Hutchins Black College Student Fellowship. A native of Clarksville, Tennessee, Johnson was the youngest member ever elected to public office for the Clarksville City Council.

DzikMichael Dzik: Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga since 2001.  Much of Michael’s work focuses on community relations, bringing together people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds to find common ground and understanding while building strong connections and friendships.  Through programs such as the Jewish Film Series, exhibits, speakers, and multi-faith panels, the Jewish Federation works to connect all of our Chattanooga community.

CLICK for APRIL BLACK-JEWISH DIALOGUE

CLICK for Urban League Racial Equity Workshops

CLICK for  “Why Black-Jewish Dialogue Now” & Links to previous dialogue sessions

Dialogue Partners:
American Diversity Report,  Chattanooga News Chronicle, Mizpah Congregation, Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga, C.U.R.B. – Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda.

Jorge Quezada Podcast – VP of Inclusive Diversity

Jorge

Jorge Quezada is Vice President of Inclusive Diversity at Granite, a century-old construction company with a diverse portfolio of roads, tunnels, highways, and airports.

Jorge is an inclusionist who focuses on our full intersectionality. Jorge  helps people unleash their uniqueness by creating an inclusive environment where people have a voice; belong and regardless of age, they know they can contribute.  Going beyond the numbers to inspire and develop an inclusive mindset in the workforce is his mission.

CLICK for podcast

The DEI Future: Old, New and Maybe – by Deborah Levine

A Diversity Futurist’s Perspective

DEBORAH LEVINE
Editor-in-Chief Deborah J. Levine

In my more than half a century dealing with diversity, I have seen multiple changes in the field of training, coaching, and consulting.  COVID presents an unprecedented mountain of changes in the DEI field that merit an overview of  the past, present and future.  As much as I appreciate some of you  giving me the title of Diversity Futurist, Diva, Matriarch and Fairy Godmother, I’m well aware of the many experts reading the American Diversity Report and welcome your comments on the future of diversity.

Continue reading The DEI Future: Old, New and Maybe – by Deborah Levine

Black-Jewish Dialogue at Harvard – March 2021

March 2021  Black-Jewish Dialogue
Women’s History Month

Women creating change as Harvard freshmen
in the 1960s and today.
Dianne Irvine Fleet: Former chief legal officer/ U. Of Louisiana system. Former Supervisory Attorney/US Dept. of Ed. Office for Civil Rights. Former Sr. Attorney/Harvard U.
Deborah J. Levine: Award-winning author. Founder/American Diversity Report. Former American Jewish Committee Executive/Chicago. Former Jewish Federation Executive: Rockford, Tulsa. Chattanooga.
Host: Rabbi Craig Lewis
The Jewish Federation, Mizpah Congregation and the American Diversity Report co-sponsor these monthly dialogs.

CLICK for MARCH HARVARD DIALOGUE 

Dialogue Partners:
American Diversity Report,  Chattanooga News Chronicle, Mizpah Congregation, Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga, C.U.R.B. – Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda.

CLICK FOR BLACK-JEWISH DIALOGUES AND PODCASTS

Jeremy Spake: DEIB Talent management solution provider

Jeremy SpakeJeremy Spake is a Principal on the Thought Leadership & Advisory Services team at Cornerstone OnDemand, a leading global SaaS-based talent management solution provider. In this capacity, he works to develop continuous performance management, data-driven compensation, and succession strategies to advise organizations on how to drive people theory into practice. Central to this work is providing guidance to embed talent management strategy with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) initiatives for clients.  Spake has led pay equity initiatives, Employee Resource Groups, advocated for inclusive benefits offerings and regularly leads talent management strategy workshops for Cornerstone’s clients around the world. He lives in Seattle with his husband David and cat Oliver.

CLICK links to Resources discussed by Jeremy Spake: 

CLICK for podcast interview
with Jeremy Spake

 

Art of Healing – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Of all the inauguration speakers, the one that truly hypnotized me was Amanda Gorman, the first National Youth Poet Laureate. The tiny young powerhouse joins the roster of famous inaugural poets like Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. Reading “The Hill We Climb”, she had us all climbing with her. It was a joy to see her energy, hear her inspiring verses, and be reminded that poetry heals the soul.

The words bring optimism about the future. A colleague messaged, “The seed of hope has been planted. It is up to each of us to build upon that hope in order to cultivate and strengthen the ties that bind us together as a People —one Nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all!”

Continue reading Art of Healing – by Deborah Levine