Category Archives: Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion

Advisors, Authors A-H, Gender

Renewing Diversity Part 10: Unpacking the Inclusivity Dilemma in Health Care – by Carlos Cortés

I recently received an invitation to attend the national conference of the Society for Intercultural Education, Teaching, and Research.   The conference theme was “Inclusive Interculturalism.” The implicit message was simple: in order to be inclusive, interculturalists need to make a conscious effort .  Inclusivity doesn’t come naturally.

In my last month’s ADR column I addressed a similar issue about the development of multicultural education. I argued that multiculturalists need to be cognizant about whom they may be excluding as well as including. The more that you exclude categories of people, the less inclusive the curriculum becomes. 

Continue reading Renewing Diversity Part 10: Unpacking the Inclusivity Dilemma in Health Care – by Carlos Cortés →

Advisors, Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

The little known life of Willis Carter – by Terry Howard

I could be wrong (and hope that I am) but the guess here is that those about to read this column are probably unfamiliar with the name Willis McGlascow Carter. (How about a show of hands by those who do and are anxious to prove me wrong.)

But for those who don’t, no worry since until recently, neither did I although he spent most of his life as a teacher, newspaper editor and activist in Staunton, Virginia, which happens to be my hometown.

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

Mr. and Mrs. President, tear down those border walls – by Terry Howard

In case you didn’t know, September 12 is the start of HHM (Hispanic Heritage Month). And I’ll be completely honest with you, readers – I missed writing something uniquely significant and celebratory about HHM and other heritage months over the past few years. To be clear, I’m not Hispanic by birth, although that doesn’t matter, nevertheless I still regret missing that annual opportunity. 

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Education, Inclusion

Renewing Diversity Part 9: Rediscovering My Professional Journey – by Carlos Cortés

For nearly a year I’ve been going through an out-of-body experience. It was launched by a simple request that has turned into a not-so-simple journey.  Here’s what happened.

In the fall of 2024, Steven Mandeville-Gamble, Director of the University of California, Riverside, Library, asked me to donate my professional papers to the library’s Special Collections.  Feeling quite honored, I agreed.  Since then I have been preparing my papers for delivery.  This has involved months of wading through file cabinets, bookcases, and stacks of boxes crammed with books, articles, correspondence, course notes, past public lectures, workshop outlines, video and audio tapes, and published and unpublished manuscripts. 

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Advisors, Authors R-Z, Gender

Survival Matters: Cross-dressing – by Julia Wai-Yin So

Cross-dressing has a Different Meaning at a Different Place in a Different Time

In recent years, with more and more social acceptance of multiple variations of gender identity, cross-dressing has become an empowering tool for transgendered individuals who are out, proud, and loud to assert their gender identity. Notwithstanding, we have to be cognizant of the fact that cross-dressing validates the practice of the binary system of gender. We also have to remind ourselves that the binary system of gender is a social construct and that it is built on a medical model using the binary system of sex. More importantly, cross-dressing carries a different meaning at a different place in a different time. Here, I will describe three specific examples of females cross-dress as males.

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Advisors, Inclusion, Social Issues, Teams & Leaders

Confessions of an unashamed DEI Hire – by Terry Howard

BREAKING NEWS: Recent Department of Labor statistics show that nationwide, Black women lost 319,000 public and private sector jobs from February to July this year compared to 142,000 and 176,000 increases, respectively, by white and Hispanic women. White men saw an increase of 360,000 over that same period of time. 

Now that I got your attention, denial, urge to fact check me or fire off a letter to the editor look, just chill out as we turn our attention to all those unqualified “DEI Hires” we’ve been hearing about. If you believe the pundits, those “DEI Hires” have infiltrated every organization, taken over our nation and taken our jobs, that is except the thousands of (“DEI Hires”?) who, out of fear of deportation, have abandoned the backbreaking jobs picking fruit and vegetables in California, mopping floors in hospitals and putting in long hours in restaurants and on construction sites leaving their employers desperate for new workers.  

Okay readers, let’s peel back the onion on the who and why behind all the “DEI Hire” shenanigans, shall we? 

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Advisors, Advisors, Authors A-H, Of Women, Race & Ethnicity

The Realities of Dark-Skinned Black Women – by Terry Howard

I begin this piece with a test on your ability to immediately recognize the names of the following  five prominent Black women in the United States. Any luck? 

Lisa Cook, Federal Reserve Board member
Latitia James Attorney General, New York
Ketanji Brown-Jackson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Stacey Abrams, former Georgia State Representative
Jasmine Crockett, Texas State Representative

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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”. 

Authors I-Q, Disability

How Employers Support New Hires with Disabilities -by Julie Morris

Building Opportunity

You might think hiring’s just about resumes and references, but that’s a short-sighted view. Especially when it comes to hiring people with disabilities, the structure around the job can be just as important as the job itself. Too many employers still fumble when it comes to building inclusive environments that actually work. Not performative stuff—real supports, thoughtful incentives, and systems that don’t condescend. You’re hiring talent, not checking a box. So let’s get into what real support looks like when you’re serious about building a team that reflects the full spectrum of human potential.

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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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