Category Archives: Authors R-Z

ADR authors listed by last name R-Z

ADR Advisors, Authors R-Z, Gender

Misgendering: Is It a Big Deal? – by Julia Wai-Yin So

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I live in New Mexico—a liberal state where people respect each other’s gender identity.  It is also a state where everyone, including the members of TNG (transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse) community enjoy the privilege of publicly sharing their preferred gender pronoun or personal gender pronoun (PGP). At any given professional meetings, it is a common practice that people would introduce themselves followed by their PGP. I, on the other hand, rarely mentioned my PGP. I am not a member of the TNG community.  At the same time, I do not see the need to announce my PGP. To me, my gender is no one’s business. If I want others to know my gender, I will introduce myself as such and let others know. As for addressing others, I will respectfully ask when unsure and honor their individuality and dignity. 

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ADR Advisors, Authors R-Z, Teams & Leaders

Toxic Employees, Toxic Workplaces – by Mauricio Velásquez

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Toxic employees are trying to “take over” and create toxic workplaces.  As a diversity trainer, sexual harassment prevention trainer, consultant, executive coach, and expert witness, for twenty five years now, so much of my work points to one emerging phenomenon – toxic employees, toxic workplaces, are on the rise!  

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ADR Advisors, Authors R-Z

“EYES AND EARS WIDE SHUT”: THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING – by Mauricio Velásquez

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I have always specialized in hostile or militant audiences but from time to time even I have to step back and pause for a second.  Current events are always “fair game” in my workshops; it is what makes my sessions current, electric and never boring.  Recent moments of truth in my sessions lead me to pen and update the original article I wrote many years ago.  The rash of horrible racial injustices (some say pattern) of Ahmaud Arbery to Breonna Taylor to George Floyd to Amy Cooper to Jacob Blake had erupted into a national conversation about racial injustice, white privilege, inequity, diversity, inclusion, and more.

Comments like – “I don’t care about BLM – Black Lives Matter, I am trying to run a business” or “White Lives Matter” or worse “White Lives Matter More (WLMM)” when people mention “Black Lives Matter” have led many to the politicization and polarization of these horrible atrocities and these acts continue a horrible pattern of racial injustice.  You have to go back to “Rodney King had it coming!” and “Trayvon Martin, who cares.”  Today, you must be a “liberal” or a “conservative” – ouch!  

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Authors R-Z, Disability

Dismantling DEI and Special Education – by Diane Storman

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How anti-DEI initiatives
may impact students

We typically view Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs through the prism of race and culture. However, there is a profound connection between DEI principles and the progress made in Special Education over the past 50 years, especially in the context of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), passed in 1975, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), passed in 1990. Expanding rights and opportunities for students with disabilities is deeply intertwined with broader shifts in thinking about inclusion and access.

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Authors R-Z, Holocaust, Social Issues

A chance meeting – by Regina Sën

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Are there ever such things?
Or threads in the universe strumming, at just the right moment, to begin a new song? These were the thoughts floating through my mind, after connecting in a circle of grandmothers last weekend.

Enter stage right
A few hours pass with nine blessed souls: lives connecting for but a moment on the timeline of our lives. Yet profound, they rang as music to my ears, struggling to help loved ones understand the danger of our day, and the need to prepare.   I heard about a World War II veteran, one woman’s Father, whose study by commission during and after World War II was to find out, among the Nazis, 

“How did it happen? How did so many steer so far awry? And what was the state of mind of the German population by and large, immediately after?” 

Coincidence? Perhaps? 

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Authors R-Z, Politics

Why The Ultimate End of TikTok May Not Be On Our Horizon  – by Aron Solomon

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The Supreme Court delivered what many believe will be a fatal blow to TikTok in the United States, paving the way for a nationwide ban of the app. But while this decision appears to spell doom for the platform, I strongly disagree with the notion that TikTok’s days in the U.S. are so finitely numbered.

The larger picture here is that TikTok has become an economic and cultural force in the United States. It supports millions of creators, influencers, and small businesses who depend on the platform for their livelihoods. Its ban would ripple across industries tied to digital marketing, e-commerce, and content creation, causing significant economic disruptions. This isn’t just about an app—it’s about the ecosystem it supports, the lives it impacts, and the broader implications for American competitiveness in technology.

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ADR Advisors, Authors R-Z, Trends 2025: Chaotic Times

TRENDS 2025: Inclusive Excellence – by Julia Wai-Yin So

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My 1,2,3 ANALYSIS

) 1 or 2 issues that are personally most vital to me in 2025.

For decades at the end of the Fall semester, faculty, staff, and students from colleges and universities in the nation leave the campus to enjoy the winter holiday. This year, many of them left with a sense of uncertainty, unsure how lives would be when they return in the spring.  I live in New Mexico—an immigrant and woman friendly state. I work for a public state university that, for over a century, has proudly opened its campus to faculty, staff, and students of various backgrounds. Most meaningfully, I work for the Division for Equity and Inclusion that runs programs to ensure everyone is treated with respect and dignity. My personal motto–Inclusive Excellence—aims to understand, respect, appreciate, and value each individual’s background and what they bring to our community. Inclusive Excellence is not just vital to my wellbeing as well as my professional growth, it is vital to our nation’s strength and world leadership.

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Authors R-Z, Trends 2025: Chaotic Times

Companies not backing down on DEI – by Nancy Levine Stearns

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Last week, the New York Times published a story, headlined: “D.E.I. on the Ropes Ahead of the Next Trump Era: Corporate policies concerning diversity, equity and inclusion, already under pressure from conservatives, are facing greater threats from allies of the president-elect.” 

What the Times and other media outlets are largely neglecting to report is that far more corporations are standing strong on their DEI initiatives than the handful that are caving to pressure ahead of the next Trump era.

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Authors R-Z, PSK, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

Letting Go of Perfectionism: an Act of Antiracism – by Janelle Villiers

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I’ve attended the Undoing Racism Workshop offered by The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, twice. I’ve gone on to facilitate several DEI workshops and I am also  the co-creator of an Intra-Professional Antiracism Dialogue and Discourse Series (IPADDS). While preparing for and facilitating all of these workshops and IPADDS events I was always reminded of a foundational tenant of the Undoing Racism Workshop and that is “Racism de-humanizes us all.” It doesn’t matter what race, Black, White and everything in between, we are all de-humanized by racism.

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Authors R-Z, Politics

Glee, Anger and the Unprecedented State of National Affairs – Elwood Watson

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For some people, November 5, 2024, was one of the greatest days in American history. Others may well remember it as a day that will live in political infamy. The 2024 presidential election is over, and Donald Trump has been reelected as the forty-seventh president of the United States of America. One can only imagine what Grover Cleveland would think of this chain of events. Cleveland was the only other president to serve nonconsecutive terms — he was the twenty-second and twenty-fourth US president from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897.

If most people are honest with themselves, they would probably admit that Tuesday’s results shocked but did not totally surprise them. Trump went on to win both the popular vote and the Electoral College. The latter ultimately determines who wins the presidency. In all fairness, despite what many pundits, critics, radio hosts and numerous other commentators assessments, the election was not a blowout as opposed to the democratic presidential elections of 1972 between presidential-election-of-1972 Richard Nixon and George McGovern and 1984 contest between presidential-election-of-1984 Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale. These elections were indeed BLOWOUTS!

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