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 21 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.
About Deborah Levine, Black-Jewish Dialogue

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

DL Opinion columns

Pandemic futurists wanted – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

 “Yellow Terror” arrived in the mail out of the blue. I opened to the first page and I’m sure my face turned pale as I read, “Poor Shreveport! Woe-stricken Memphis! How afflicted, how lamentable you are… Friends, dearly beloved have been laid low, and the very air is ripe with lamentation.” Those words were written in an 1873 opinion column  by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. The language sounds old-fashioned, but as noted by the booklet’s writer, American Jewish Archives director Gary Zola, they are echoed today.

Infectious diseases have haunted us historically, and I take their misery and devastation personally.  When I first came to America from Bermuda as a young girl, I came down with chicken pox, measles, German measles, pneumonia, and scarlet fever all in my first year here. Antibiotics saved me and I’ll be forever thankful to the scientists who invented medications and vaccines. But I’ll never underestimate the power of transmissible diseases.
Continue reading Pandemic futurists wanted – by Deborah Levine →

Workplace Strategies 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

 

Editor-in-Chief, Uncategorized

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 →

Workplace Strategies Podcasts

Rayna Edwards: Workplace DEI Strategy & Analytics

Rayna EdwardsRayna Edwards is a principal consultant in Mercer’s Workforce Strategy & Analytics practice, where she specializes in DEI analytics, including pay equity analyses. She will address 1) The importance of understanding how the employee experience differs by race and gender. 2) (for business/HR leaders) How to pull meaningful insights from data that is typically housed in a company’s HRIS system. 3) (for business/HR leaders) The importance of a statistically rigorous pay equity analysis in closing pay gaps.

CLICK to hear Rayna Edwards Podcast

Black-Jewish Dialogue, Levine articles

Black-Jewish Dialogue: February 2021

HISTORY, ARCHIVES & MUSEUMS

The monthly Black-Jewish Dialogues began in Chattanooga virtually in July 2020 and quickly spread across the USA and internationally. As our communities progress in understanding each other,  we explore new topics each month. History is frequently an underlying theme.

Many thanks to our February Presenters:

John Edwards: Chattanooga historian working with the Bessie Smith Cultural Center and President of The Chattanooga News Chronicle.

Dr. Dana Herman: Managing Editor and Director of Research & Collections of the American Jewish Archives.

CLICK to hear the February Black-Jewish Dialogue

CLICK for background information and links to earlier dialogues

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

DL Opinion columns

The mind-numbing siege – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I should write about the siege of our Capitol but my brain has oozed out of my ears. I’m rendered speechless at the gallows and chants calling to hang Vice President Pence who refused to illegally overturn the election. My loved ones hid under the covers seeing the nooses, Viking-like horned helmets, Confederate flags, Auschwitz T-shirts with skull and crossbones and 6MWE (6 Million Weren’t Enough) signs referring to Jews killed during the Holocaust. Not surprising that people wondered if America, not just Trump, lost its mind.

Continue reading The mind-numbing siege – by Deborah Levine →

Workplace Strategies Podcasts

Andrea Simon Podcast: Changing Corporate Cultures

Andrea SimonAndrea J. Simon, Ph.D. is an international leader in corporate anthropology and CEO of Simon Associates. She is an Axiom 2017 Best Business Book author of On the Brink: A fresh lens to take your business to new heights, and author of the new book, Rethink: Smashing the Myths of Women in Business. Dr.  Simon discusses corporate culture and changes needed to be diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

CLICK for Podcast Interview:
Dr. Andrea Simon

Go Green, Levine articles, Of Women

Greenpeace, Matriarchs, and Me — by Deborah Levine

2 Comments

I’ve always included articles on the environment in the almost 20 years of the American Diversity Report.  When I considered doing an article on the iconic Greenpeace movement which started much of our environmental activism, I thought it would be an intellectual and historical project.  But,  my 93-year old Aunt Polly informed that Green-ness runs in the family. Greenpeace is just a cousin away,  including one of the movement’s matriarchs.

Continue reading Greenpeace, Matriarchs, and Me — by Deborah Levine →