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.

STEM Women Storytellers – by Deborah Levine

Women GroundBreakers Storytelling

STEM storytellersThe push to attract women to STEM education and careers is gaining steam, but the impact is questionable. Young women have ample cause to be discouraged given the decrease of the number of women professionals in many STEM fields. Bucking the trend, efforts to encourage women to embrace STEM have increased dramatically. Those efforts span the country, including in Tennessee where Chattanooga’s Women GroundBreakers Storytelling featuring women in STEM.

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Hate and the cost of silence – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Many quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. were posted on line this week. A fellow Chattanooga colleague got my attention with, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”  Then I got an email from a synagogue buddy asking me why Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) was being silenced and suggested that I write about this for my TFP column. Interesting coincidence! But I was busy mailing a DEI book that I’d written. Holding the book in one hand, I picked up an unmarked envelope mailer only to find that there was something already in it. And that’s when coincidence became weirdness. 

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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!

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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.

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TEACHING GUIDE: Untold Stories of a WW II Liberator

Untold Teaching Guide 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?   

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A Jewish Perspective on MLK – by Deborah Levine

raceIt 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.”

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Trends 2025: Our ADR 1,2,3 Analyses 

ADR

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.

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Jerry Colonna Podcast: Ancestral History and Leadership

Jerry Colonna 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?
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.

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