Category Archives: About Us

About the American Diversity Report

Advisors, Authors A-H, Disability

Why Disability Employment is Good Business – By David B. Grinberg

In case you missed it,  the 30th anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was not long ago. All employers need to remember that workforce diversity includes people with disabilities.

All savvy employers should know by now that providing equal opportunities to people with disabilities simply makes good business sense. This is especially true in an interconnected, global economy. Unfortunately, not every company has gotten the message.

As the ADA turned 30, there was good and bad news regarding people with disabilities (PWDs). The good news: The disability community can be found in virtually all aspects of modern society.

Continue reading Why Disability Employment is Good Business – By David B. Grinberg →

Levine articles, Politics, Social Issues

Tribalism and The Vote – by Deborah Levine

Some have called our “Me & Us First” politics as nationalism but I prefer to apply the label ‘tribalism’.  In this COVID-19 environment, racial lines, regional preferences, current events and heavy political advertising, are not shaping public opinion as much as the identity of a specific community and the resonance of a leader to that community. Communities are built on religious and ethnic values, family preferences, housing patterns, and health habits. Their political choices have always been shaped by those cultural traits. With the economic fallout and the growing disparities in jobs and  education, politics will become a complex mix of leadership styles that symbolize communities along with the body language, word choice, and facial expressions that resonate specific communities. Policy positions and biographical details will be less relevant as they are filtered through the lens of each group.

Continue reading Tribalism and The Vote – by Deborah Levine →

About Us, Uncategorized

Thanking our ADR Donors

ADROur virtual Town Hall, The Future of Diversity Amid Pandemic,   took place on Sept. 14, 2020 with help from multiple donors.  Your generous support of our mission to Promote Diversity, Foster Inclusion and Counteract Hate is much appreciated. I can’t thank you enough for joining me in these DEI efforts to make a lasting real-world difference – needed now more than ever.

  • Cindy Steede Almeida
  • Lori Strauss Bantz
  • Sandra Benson
  • Earl Berkun
  • David Blair
  • Bill Bond
  • Garnet Chapin
  • Stephen Crevoshay
  • Alnoor Dhanani
  • Lakweshia Ewing
  • Roslyn Gerwin
  • Vivian Hershey
  • Terry Howard
  • Janice Jacobs
  • Marilyn Kallett
  • Elizabeth Keenan
  • Martin Kimeldorf
  • Gene Konsavage
  • Miki Leischner Levine
  • Carole Long
  • Ronald Lake
  • Cathy Light
  • Sharon Riegie Maynard
  • Susan McCuistion
  • Frank Miller
  • Gay Moore
  • Janet Cooper Nelson
  • Jennifer Rose Norred
  • Nicole Sloane
  • Sandy Norris Smith
  • Janet Thal
  • Elwood Watson
  • Barbara Weitz
  • Richard Zachary
Black-Jewish Dialogue, Levine articles

Why Black-Jewish Dialogue Now? – by Deborah Levine

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Our Virtual Dialogue – Background

The online Black-Jewish Dialogues began in the summer 2020 and quickly went global. The monthly Dialogues were recorded, and placed on individual pages in the American Diversity Report as ongoing resources.

CLICK on video to hear the presentation by Deborah Levine for Chattanooga’s Mizpah Synagogue that initiated the  Dialogues.  Hear the video and see excerpts of the transcript.
Scroll down for links to the  Dialogues and related podcasts. 

TRANSCRIPT EXCERPTS: It’s a true challenge to talk about issues involving African Americans and Jews in these turbulent times. The murder of George Floyd and COVID-19 have put a spotlight not just on monuments and law enforcement, but also on festering issues of economic, social and healthcare inequities. The issues echo the 1960s civil rights era but with the internet, terminology, quotes, memes and comments are constantly morphing. And spreading. Two weeks ago, a Black-Jewish woman messaged me, worried about how the words of Louis Farrakhan were being blending with those of local White Supremacists. (See Farrakhan) Will the words of our nonviolent sixties icons, James Baldwin and Martin Luther King Jr., successfully counteract this trend? I hope that celebrating the life of the civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis will re-emphasize the impact of non-violent activism. (See John Lewis)

Continue reading Why Black-Jewish Dialogue Now? – by Deborah Levine →

Levine articles, Music, theater, TV, dance, Neuro-diversity

Music and NeuroCommunication: Part 2 – by Deborah Levine

Neuro Communication with James Brown

My musical neurocommunication with Ravi Shankar ended with his deep bow. The burst of applause was startling after the stillness, as was the quick dash of movement to the bathrooms. I turned to Cousin Sam, thanked him, and started to put on my coat. Sam didn’t move, ”We should stay for the next act.” I whined at that, “I’m tired and it’s a long schlep back to campus on the bus.” “Trust me. We should stay,” he said softly, but firmly. And so, mildly kvetching (complaining in Yiddish), I was still seated when the curtain re-opened.

Continue reading Music and NeuroCommunication: Part 2 – by Deborah Levine →

Levine articles, Music, theater, TV, dance, Neuro-diversity

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 →

About Deborah Levine, Books, Teams & Leaders

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.

Continue reading Un-Bias Guide for Leaders →

Authors A-H, Pandemic

Dear Ms. What’s your name – by Terry Howard

Okay, you don’t know me and I don’t know you. And maybe that’s a good thing because you may not like what I’m about to say to you Ms. “What’s your name?”

You see, I pulled up in my SUV the other week, parked, put on my mask and was about to head into the grocery store when I saw you and your three young kids – two in car seats if I remember correctly – in the parking space next to me. And by the way, your kids – all less than five years old I’d guess – are absolutely beautiful. You must be one proud momma.

Now there was nothing out of the ordinary for me until I saw you roll down your window and pluck out a still smoldering cigarette you’d been puffing on. Hey, I thought (and wanted to shout) “hey lady, haven’t you heard about the dangers of second-hand smoke on children?” as I walked towards the store.

Continue reading Dear Ms. What’s your name – by Terry Howard →

Inclusion, Levine articles

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.