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.

Music and Neurocommunication: Part 1 – by Deborah Levine

Neurocommunication with Ravi Shankar

My cousin Sam and I escaped our Harvard dorms and were about to experience neurocommunication as we headed out to a Ravi Shankar concert in a small neighborhood theater in Boston. I was just seventeen, you know what I mean, and it was frostbite territory standing at the bus stop in Cambridge, Mass. Freezing almost took my mind off of being homesick for my family back in New York. Overcome with loneliness, I needed an attitude adjustment and Sam insisted on some music therapy. He thought that classical sitar music from India would distract and soothe  – reboot my brain.  I wondered why we were the only Harvard students who ‘d come to hear this relatively unknown musician from India. But it was the sixties and Shankar hadn’t yet been labeled by The Beatles’ George Harrison as “the godfather of world music”.

Continue reading Music and Neurocommunication: Part 1 – by Deborah Levine

Un-Bias Guide for Leaders

Un-Bias GuideThe Un-Bias Guide for Leaders is based on  Matrix Model Management System which involves the storytelling principles of cultural anthropology, the planning methodology of urban planning, and the team leadership of facilitation. The Un-Bias Guide is combination text / workbook customized for the workplace. The guide is an innovative tool for addressing unconscious bias and conscious choices.

Designed for team training in the workplace: business leaders, nonprofit administrators, and innovative entrepreneurs. CLICK at the bottom of the following short video to hear Deborah Levine share why the Un-Bias Guide is what today’s workplace needs.

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A COVID-19 Mother’s Day Gift – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Maybe you’ll get to hug your mom in person this weekend, but it’s likely that your Mother’s Day moment will be online or by phone. We’re not back to what we call normal and travel is still a luxury many of us don’t have. Especially if Moms are older and health-compromised. COVID -19 may have many of us disappointed over missing a warm embrace, but it should also make us plan the appreciation of the women in our families, and communities, more deliberately.

My daughter in New England announced weeks in advance that my Mother’s Day gift would be arriving soon. It doesn’t matter what kind of present she sends, I could feel her love bubble up through my cell phone. And she probably felt the mommy love I sent her way. We both know that feeling well. It just gets magnified thinking of Mother’s Day. Continue reading A COVID-19 Mother’s Day Gift – by Deborah Levine

My Lifelong Journey as a Trailblazer for Diversity & Inclusion – by Deborah Levine

When asked why I created the American Diversity Report (ADR), I’m tempted to answer that diversity is in my DNA. I was brought up as the only Jewish little girl on the 24 square miles of British Bermuda in a family that immigrated from Russian territories. When we moved to New York, I was bullied for my colonial British accent and found comfort in the music, dance, and folktales of diverse cultures. I played the violin, performed ballet, and wrote stories and poems to express my sense of exclusion. When illness prevented all other expression, reading became my world and writing became my voice.

Two decades ago, I had to resign my job as an executive director of a Jewish Federation because I’d almost died on a mission to Uzbekistan, diversity again surfaced as my passion. But this time, I wanted to leave a legacy that would change the world. I created the Women’s Council on Diversity along with a community Global Leadership Course and a Youth Multicultural video contest. But of all my creations, the American Diversity Report is closest to my heart.

I persevere in this endeavor despite ongoing health challenges. I’m now in my golden years and have endured major surgery resulting in my being unable to speak for years. Unfortunately, I’ve also suffered through mourning the deaths of every member of my nuclear family. May they Rest In Peace.

I’m grateful for my life and the ability to continue my father’s legacy as a U.S. military intelligence officer who liberated a Nazi death camp during World War II. In addition to being the founder and editor-in-chief of ADR, I have served as the executive director of Jewish Federations, created the DuPage/Chicago Interfaith Resource Network and the Southeast Women’s Council on Diversity.

While working in Tulsa, I was trained by the FBI in addressing and responding to hate groups after the tragic Oklahoma City bombing and destruction of the Murrah federal building by white supremacist domestic terrorists. I currently serve on the Tennessee Holocaust Commission and the Chattanooga Council Against Hate. My latest book is titled “When Hate Groups March Down Main Street: Engaging A Community Response”.

Deborah Levine at her book signing

In addition to being an award-winning author of 15 books — and being named by Forbes Magazine as a top “Diversity and Inclusion Trailblazer” — I am still humbled by the honor of giving people a voice through the ADR. It’s a privilege to engage every day with people of goodwill in tikkun olam (which in Hebrew means “repair of the world“).

The ADR has benefitted the workplace and communities locally, nationally and globally for the past 15 years. The ADR has always been free of charge as part of my lifetime efforts to help foster humanity’s understanding and acceptance of diversity, inclusion and related issues in our increasingly multicultural, multiracial and multiethnic nation — and, indeed, the world.

I’ve had no greater calling in my quest to shape a better future than the ADR. Not only does it deliver a vital message about the importance of diversity and inclusion, but it helps make our world a better place for all people. The ADR is needed now more than ever, as current events attest.

My goal is to ensure that the American Diversity Report will continue to provide a valuable public service as an educational and informational online media platform and training resource for a new generation of leaders — and for every generation.

The funds will be leveraged to expand the award-winning ADR platform, which hosts a diverse writers community of more than 800 articles, podcasts and community projects like ADR New Beginnings. The funds will also boost the ADR’s reach and readership of expert articles covering timely issues of race, color, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, generational differences, and thought leadership on diversity and inclusion.

The Fall edition if the ADR begins in September. Therefore, I hope to reach our funding goal by August 31 with your generous help and kind support. Please join me in my mission to Promote Diversity, Foster Inclusion and Counteract Hate. Together, we can make a real and lasting impact for the betterment of society during these troubling times and for all times.

I will thank all the ADR contributors in the September newsletter, but I can’t thank you enough for your kind consideration to make a lasting real-world difference by supporting diversity and inclusion efforts which are needed now more than ever.

Thank you and God bless you.

Riots & Race: Then, Now and Next? – by Deborah Levine

It’s been two years since the shooting  and subsequent riots in Ferguson. One year after that event, I wrote about having the dubious honor of witnessing three generations of protests related to race, inequality and injustice. In the 1960s, protest marches were televised nationally, inspiring many of us. Yes, some protests became violent riots, but some gave rise to long-term institutions promoting racial equality. Those of us deeply invested in the movement shared a vision and were committed to making a difference through advocacy, education, politics, and, as I did, urban planning. However, after the shootings of unarmed African American men in Baton Rouge and St. Paul, the killing of police officers in Dallas, the numerous street protests, and the ongoing threats, I am less hopeful than I was coming out of the sixties.

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Bridge Memorial in the Pandemic – by Deborah Levine

bridgeWe are still dealing with the Atlanta area shooting of African American jogger, and now the death of George Floyd by law enforcement. In the midst of this violence, Chattanooga announced progress in creating a physical space to remember the lynching of an African American more than a century ago. The memorial will be a contemplative space near the Walnut Street Bridge and despite the pandemic, the expectation is that people will come to learn, reflect, mourn and learn from history. And hopefully, to apply those lessons going forward

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Masking or unmasking America – by Terry Howard

I ask you this before we get to the story below: Which side are you more sympathetic – those who argue for protection of their freedom not to wear protective masks or those who insist that others wear mask to ensure the safety of them and others?

Let’s go to the story.

“I will not trade my freedom for your safety” – those are the actual words printed in large red letters on a poster carried by a mustachioed, pistol carrying protester with the American flag hovering in the background on Facebook.

Continue reading Masking or unmasking America – by Terry Howard

Leadership in Our Challenging Times – by Deborah Levine

I often hear that leadership is greatly needed in these challenging times. But what does leadership mean? Is it a matter of personality? Is leadership defined by mission and goals? Are leaders inspirational figures who leave the nuts and bolts to others? The more we try to define leadership, the more the concept undefinable. “There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept,” said Ralph Stogdill, a Professor of Management Science and Psychology known for his research and publications on the Personal Factors Associated with Leadership.

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8 Common Mistakes in Technical Writing

Want to improve your writing skills and keep on improving? Avoid these 8 mistakes by using my strategies for giving readers what they need and expect. Remember, technical writing is not about self expression. It’s all about clarity for the reader. As a famous writer once said …

“Easy reading is damn hard writing. ” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne