Category Archives: Advisors

Advisory Council

DL Opinion columns

Antisemitism Knows No Bounds – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

After 2 Israeli Embassy staff members were shot and killed in Washington, DC, I got emails asking if I was OK. Friends sent prayers for my safety even though the shooting happened almost 600 miles away. The murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim goes beyond geographical boundaries. A Chicago man shot them “for Gaza” outside the Capital Jewish Museum. I won’t give his name because that visibility motivates copycat crimes as noted in my co-authored book, When Hate Grows March Down Main Street.

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DL Opinion columns

Instruct and inspire with our stories – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Are you thriving? Do you even know what that means? When I ponder the word “Thrive”, my brain immediately goes to Thrive #1: flourish and prosper as a successful entrepreneur. And then I go deeper and imagine Thrive #2: live a life of abundance, courage, and purpose. How to choose which Thrive during these difficult times when both versions are hard to come by? I couldn’t decide, so I was excited to see that Thrive 2025 was coming to Chattanooga. Both Thrives would be combined, something we all need. Continue reading Instruct and inspire with our stories – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

Douse Fireworks; Embrace Laser Light Shows – by Deborah Levine

Originally published by the Chattanooga Times Free Press

The July 4th fireworks wonderful! We drove around the neighborhood to check out what’s happening. Folks down the street have been doing a family light-up every night over the weekend. And then was there’s Camp Winnie, one of my all-time favorites. Best of all, was watching the sky explode over the Tennessee River. Of course, we’re sad for everyone living near Canada where smoke from across the border forced some cities to cancel July 4 fireworks. I was grateful not to have their pollution levels – until I coughed and wheezed driving by a house surrounding us all in smoke from fireworks lit up in the driveway. Mother Earth whispered that our gratitude should come with a grain of salt, or saltpeter.

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Levine articles

July 4th Prayer – by Deborah Levine

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As we gather together virtually for the July 4th celebration, my first thought is to ask for the blessing of our Creator who has placed us all on this precious planet. Our faith leads us to a shared hope for a future where we can harmonize, not homogenize, at the intersection of race, ethnicity, religion, generation, and gender represented in this country. That hope was not a conscious one growing up in British Bermuda as the only Jewish little girl on the island. But I’m honored to now be recognized as a top Diversity & Inclusion Trailblazer by Forbes Magazine. And I’m both honored and astounded to be an Award-winning author of 20 books on cultural diversity and the founder of the American Diversity Report where I’ve served as editor for 19 years.

I’m astounded because my early dream was to be a ballerina, forever in pink ballet slippers. But God had other plans for me. Perhaps that’s why, even as a youngster, I was surrounded by diverse cultures and appreciated their artistic expressions.
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DL Opinion columns

Libraries are treasures, don’t put them at risk – by Deborah Levine

(originally published in The Chattanooga times Free Press)

Public libraries are huge community assets. They not only house books, but provide educational programs, arts classes, computer access, archives, and more. Even in my childhood in Bermuda in the 1960s, the library was growing into an island asset. No wonder my grandmother donated her Encyclopedia Britannica to it, ensuring the education of future generations. But now, the federal government proposes defunding libraries, including a potential $435,000 to our Chattanooga library.  

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Levine articles, Religious Diversity Kit

Religious Diversity Kit – by Deborah Levine

Religion plays a major role in our increasingly divisive world and expertise is needed if we are to achieve inclusive, productive and collaborative dialogue. The lack of expertise across a variety of communities and organizations is reflected in the tendency to not get involved. The resulting silence may only intensify religious conflicts and add to a paralyzing sense of being overwhelmed. 

The ADR Religious Diversity Kit provides articles, books, and podcasts for leaders who deal with diverse communities, employees, and clients. It’s designed to empower Religious Competency and lead to collaboration in our current environment that often demonizes “The Other”. 

AI, DL Opinion columns

Take the ‘Age of AI’ seriously – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I didn’t take it seriously when a friend in the internet security business told me that AI is reshaping the world and our future. Surely that was an exaggeration. Or so I thought until I was recruited to speak about intercultural leadership in the ‘Age of AI’ during a 3-day virtual symposium for SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research). It was an honor, but also a vital opportunity to learn about AI from researchers and educators around the globe. 

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DL Opinion columns

Harvard and the Future of Universities – by Deborah Levine

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originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Reading the emails from Harvard president Alan Garber that accompanied my various 55th reunion invitations was enlightening. It looks like there’s a movement to take Harvard back to its origins in 1636 when Harvard catered to wealthy, White Christians. DEI didn’t exist then, or in the 1900s when Harvard’s president tried to suppress the number of Jewish immigrants like my dad. Fortunately, diversity became an asset with Harvard’s merged with the women’s Radcliffe College in 1967. The bans on Cliffies from campus areas like Lamont Library were lifted. Exciting! But an equitable presence wasn’t easy given the signs defacing library walls: “Cliffies Go Home!”

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

Legacy Museum and the Institution of Slavery – by Terry Howard

Let this sink in before you move on!

Call me stuck in stereotypes, a time warp, “la la” land or whatever, but when I peered out the windshield at the sign “Welcome to Montgomery,” well the truth is that my racial anxieties set in, emotions no different than those when we first approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge crossing into Selma a few years ago. My knowledge of history and caution kicked in so I decided to make sure we adhered to local speed limits.

Okay, to be honest, when I think about Montgomery, Alabama, I think about Rosa Park and her refusal to take a back seat on a bus that led to a yearlong boycott and the rise into preeminence of its chief architect, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I thought about Governor George Wallace’s “segregation now, segregation forever” failed promise. Now all that doesn’t make me delusional; no, it makes me wary. 

So, with that as an entre, this narrative is about our recent visit to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery and the nearby Freedom Monument Sculpture Park and National Museum of Peace and Justice. 

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Make a Difference

The Difference Between Good and Nice – by Deborah Ashton

It is important to know the difference between being good and being nice. Good people are not always nice. And nice people are not always good. Being nice is easy and being good is fierce hard work. 

The question is, do you choose to be a good person or a nice person?  Pope Francis, who we lost on Easter Monday chose to be a good person he understood that which is preached in 1 John 3:18, good deeds make a difference, in the vernacular talk is cheap. We are what we do, and good people do good deeds.

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