Category Archives: Authors A-H

Authors listed by last name A-H

Intergroup Relations – by Debanjan Barthakur

Lessons from Life and the Classroom

This year, I had the opportunity to teach Intergroup Relations at the University of Toronto as a part-time instructor. It was a new and enriching experience. While at the University of Rhode Island, I once took a course titled Non-Violence and Conflict Reconciliation—at the request of a friend. Since then, I’ve been deeply interested in issues of social harmony and justice. The question of how we can build peace in our society has often occupied my thoughts. Initially, the plan was to teach a different subject. But quite unexpectedly, I found myself teaching this course at a time when divisions between groups—across the world—are becoming sharper. Conflicts based on ideologies, religions, and identities continue to shape current political realities. The urgency of improving intergroup relations is not just felt in North America, but equally in India and elsewhere, I was born in India and I closely observe the socio-political issues pertaining to both societies. 

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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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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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DEI Is Not an American Experiment – by Effenus Henderson

It’s a Global Imperative

The current assault on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) within the United States may dominate headlines, but it doesn’t define the future of inclusive leadership. DEI is not a political liability—it is a strategic necessity. And critically, it is not a uniquely American construct. As one of the architects of ISO 30415:2021 – Human Resource Management: Diversity and Inclusion, I can say with certainty: DEI is a global standard. Literally.

While U.S. politicians fan the flames of culture wars, the rest of the world continues to build more inclusive, adaptive, and resilient institutions. As Paul Klein’s recent piece in Forbes rightly underscores, companies in Europe, Asia, and beyond are doubling down on DEI—not abandoning it. The reason is simple: forward-thinking leaders across borders recognize that equity and inclusion are not just moral positions—they are business imperatives.

From U.S. Retrenchment to Global Resolve

Even as U.S. companies like Booz Allen react to Trump-era directives by gutting DEI programs, international firms such as L’Oréal, BMW, and Tech Mahindra remain steadfast. Their leaders understand what American politicians have willfully ignored: exclusion is expensive. In contrast, inclusion powers innovation, loyalty, market agility, and long-term value creation.

The backlash against DEI in the U.S. has sparked diplomatic pushback abroad. Nancy Levine Stearns points to European governments that swiftly rejected U.S. embassy efforts to discourage DEI programming. This echoes a powerful truth: you cannot export fear where justice is already taking root.

ISO 30415: Proof That the World Sees the Bigger Picture

The creation of ISO 30415:2021 marked a watershed moment: DEI principles are now embedded in the global business fabric. Developed by a multinational working group, the standard provides a consistent, practical framework for embedding diversity and inclusion into organizational governance, leadership, strategy, operations, and relationships.

It was not developed to appease regulators or activists. It emerged from a consensus among global business, labor, and human rights leaders that inclusion enhances performance, safety, innovation, and sustainability. It recognizes that DEI is not about guilt or grievance—it’s about balance, access, and unleashing full human potential.

A Shift in Narrative: From Compliance to Commitment

As the Forbes essay notes, leaders in Poland, Finland, and India are reimagining DEI through locally resonant language. They are shifting from performative checklists to strategic, values-driven engagement. They speak of belonging, barrier removal, and innovation, not just diversity quotas.

Their lesson to U.S. companies? Reframe. Reground. Recommit.

  • Start with why. DEI fails when it is a public relations veneer. It succeeds when rooted in purpose, values, and empathy.
  • Don’t chase consensus. Lead with conviction. As Adamska-Woźniak said, “Every DEI initiative seems like an act of courage.” That is precisely the point.
  • Globalize your lens. The world is not waiting for the U.S. to figure itself out. DEI is already thriving in cultures that see it as essential to their future.

The Real Threat Isn’t DEI—It’s American Exceptionalism

The danger in today’s U.S. DEI retreat lies not in its impact on the world, but in America’s self-imposed irrelevance. While some U.S. firms flinch, the global economy continues to evolve—faster, more diverse, and more interconnected. Companies unwilling to embrace equity and belonging will find themselves unable to recruit top global talent, reach emerging markets, or sustain innovation pipelines.

The dismantling of DEI in the U.S. is not a triumph of pragmatism—it’s a failure of imagination.

Conclusion: This Is Our Leadership Moment

As a global DEI standard-setter and practitioner, I’ve seen what’s possible when inclusion is treated not as a concession but as a catalyst. Let this be a call to action: to global companies with U.S. operations, to courageous leaders inside embattled institutions, and to DEI advocates feeling weary and isolated.

We are not alone. We are not losing. We are part of a larger, global movement.

And the world is watching. Let us rise to meet this moment with clarity, commitment, and courage.

 

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

Renewing Diversity No. 8: Updating the Classics – by Carlos Cortés 

To a great extent, popular culture is a series of remakes.  Remakes of classical theatre.  Remakes of children’s stories.  Remakes of old movies.

There’s nothing basically wrong with that.  Hamlet has been restaged thousands of times, sometimes preserving its original historical context, other times being modernized.  Film director Akira Kurosawa transported “Macbeth” and “King Lear” into Japanese historical reimagining with stunning effect in “Throne of Blood” and “Ran.”  Director John Sturges reciprocated when he repurposed Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” as a rollicking American western, “The Magnificent Seven.” 

But each remake occurs at a specific moment.  Times change and, with those changes, we get altered views of both the originals and the remakes.  Changing views of diversity have deeply influenced that process.

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Building Belonging at the Intersections of Identity and Leadership – by Khris Baizen

As industries evolve to meet the needs of a changing workforce, the value of diverse leadership has never been more clear. This is especially true during Asian American Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, which invites us to examine the intersection of identity and leadership. In navigating cultural expectations, neurodiversity, and generational shifts, leaders today are called not just to manage teams—but to create spaces where people feel they truly belong.

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The Mysterious Woman in the Polka Dot Dress – by Terry Howard

Dear readers:   Before you bid au revoir to this side of planet Earth, add Little Rock in Arkansas and, a few blocks away, the Little Rock Nine Museum, to your must-do bucket list. And if you get there, before leaving town take the walk down South Park Street – alone like I did years ago – in front of the imposing fortress of Little Rock Central High School. Hold that possibility until the end of this narrative and, with it, a recommendation.

But before the anti-DEI history erasing crowd comes gunning for my noggin, snatches me off a street corner and handcuffs me for a one way government expenses paid one way trip to a prison in El Salvador, I figured that I’d try to stay one step ahead of them with another little-known bit of history they’d prefer that you didn’t know about, namely that of one Grace Lorch. 

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Welcome to our Grieving Community – by Terry Howard

Silly me!  You’d think that I’d have learned by now that acting on a hunch can take you into uncomfortable situations, places that can leave you struggling with finding the right words.  I guess I’ll never learn.

You see, given the turbulent times of today – and acting on a hunch –  I called to check in on several longtime friends “Jimmy,” “Barbara and “Eddie” recently. Although I was primarily interested in their physical well-being, after reading an article about “grief” (I’ll get to it further down ) I’d hope to get their thoughts on that topic as well.

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Renewing Diversity No. 7: A Sliver of Bone – by Carlos Cortés 

“Do you have any religious or ethical reservations about what kind of bone we put in your mouth?”  That question both startled and pleased me.  As I answered with a simple “no,” I broke into a broad smile.

Some context.  My young periodondist was in the midst of trying to save my 90-year-old mouthful of teeth from the ravages of aging.  To do so she was giving them a thorough laser treatment and selectively rebuilding my dental structure through new bone.   

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Prof. Anita Hill: Significance of Seat-taking – by Terry Howard

“Are you a scorned woman?” 

That was the “brilliant” question asked to Prof. Anita Hill by Senator Howell Heflin, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 1991 confirmation hearing (comprised entirely of graying white men) there to determine the fitness of Clarence Thomas for a seat on the U. S. Supreme Court.

After a three second – “are you kidding me” – pause and throat clearing, the good professor calmly answered, “no I’m not senator!”

Now let’s fast forward 35 years later to a recent Sunday night when Prof. Hill sat stoically across the desk from her interviewer, CNN’s Jake Tapper, to recap the experience and her life since then. On full display during that interview was the sempiternal nature of her professional demeanor that’s seemingly unchanged by time, a steadiness Prof. Hill exhibited during eight hours of blistering grilling by senators, some of whom had questionable backgrounds with respect to their treatment of women. Her poise and unflappability during her interview were textbook. 

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