Personal Empowerment and Transformation: Season 10 Compilation

Jackie: You’re listening to Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox, brought to you by The Diversity Movement. I’m Jackie Ferguson—author, investor, business leader and human rights advocate.

As we approach the launch of Season 11, I’m taking a moment to reflect on the incredible guests from this season. I am proud of the conversations we’ve shared, the insights we’ve gained, and the diverse voices we’ve elevated. Season 10 has been a testament to the transformative power of dialogue, personal empowerment and connectedness. 

Join me as we revisit some of the standout moments from this season, and get ready for more inspiring content to come. Enjoy!

Tony Martignetti

Jackie: And Tony, let's talk about the significance of self awareness, right? So part of being that type of leader is to be self aware.  What tips do you have for developing this quality of self awareness?  

Tony: I mean, one of the first things that I always say is to start with, like, you know, um, start writing things, things down that you, you know, what are the values and things that you've ever, that you've recognized about yourself?

You know, what are the things that you truly believe in? And it's just writing things down starts with like, starts to have you think differently. You're like, Oh my God, hadn't thought about that because I'm writing it down. It has me forcing myself to really. Put pen to paper and get my thoughts out. If I only say, okay, think about it from time to time, it never gets codified.

It never gets really, you know, reflected back at you. So as much as people say like, Oh, that sounds like a pretty silly thing to do. Just writing it down. It's going to change things. No, it's not going to change things, but it's a starting point where you get something reflected back at you that says,  Oh, my values say that I value, you know, um,  You know, say like people, positivity or, you know, whatever.

And you say, okay, well, so if that, if that's what I say, I value, how am I acting in accordance with that? How am I acting in accordance with what I say I value?

Alison Taylor

Jackie: Tell us a little bit about what you're hearing in the classroom from your students about what's happening in society and how they're processing that. 

Alison: Oh, what a great question. So I think the first thing I hear is that young people want to be proud of where they work. They want to be work somewhere that is aligned with their values. They want to feel that they're having a positive and not a negative impact on society.  They feel pretty frustrated about politics.

So they're looking for their jobs very often, I think, to, um, fulfill, uh, some of those ambitions and frustrations that maybe they would have turned to their personal life before. I hear a lot about anxiety and depression and concern about mental health and then of direct relevance to this podcast. What I very often hear from students is. 

Before I take a job somewhere, I go and look at the senior leadership team. And I look at whether that senior leadership team looks like me and my friends. And frankly, if it is a bunch of old white men, I don't want to work there.  So maybe that's, uh, one of the most revealing and interesting things is we've got all this noise at the moment about the anti DEI backlash and companies dialing back on these commitments.

What I hear from my students is that there's nothing more important than in where that, when they're deciding where to work.  

Jackie: Alison, thank you for sharing that. You know, that's so important for leaders to recognize because so many leaders came into the workplace as Gen Xers, where you got in wherever you were hired and you didn't really research the company, they interviewed you.

Now these, uh, you know, prospective young. Uh, employees are interviewing the company as much as they are being interviewed.  

Alison: Oh,  100%. And I'd certainly, I mean, I'm Gen X myself. So when I started work, I was like, yeah, you sit at your desk, people yell at you, you do all the work. Maybe sometime, some point you get promoted and then you get to yell at other people. 

Terrible view of leadership  and a terrible view of work. But that was honestly what I thought it was all about. And I don't hear that in the classroom anymore. And I think that's a good thing. 

Absolutely. And then what leaders have to process today, Alison, is that's not the paradigm. It's shifted. And what the expectation is, is there's a more connection, more transparency, more alignment with values, as you mentioned. And that's so important. So important.

Jamie Love

Jamie: I had a bit of a negative time working for other people.

Um, I didn't do the whole traditional go to uni, get a grad job and all of that. So I think a lot of people had a, an issue with me being young and in the position that I was in. And there was a, uh, Yeah, like people looking down on me or being too gay to do stuff that I was very capable of doing.  So there was that kind of diversity element of I wanted to create a true home for diversity to thrive, regardless of who you like or what you look like or your age.

That you can succeed. Um, and through doing that, we created this insane team of super passionate and crazy experience and skilled people. Um, and on the other side, I think there was a real gap. This was in 2017.  There was a real gap of,  Marketing that delivered bottom line results.  I worked with some companies that were startups and scale ups and a lot of agencies sell this kind of smoke and mirror dream of everybody will know your brand. 

But that's not what those companies need. Those companies need sales. They need membership. They need people buying. And that's the kind of marketing I love to do. So I, I basically just blended those two things. The passion for diversity and the passion to, to drive real impact to brands that are doing incredible things. 

Jackie: I love that. And you know what's so interesting is  going back again to, you know, be your own hero. You needed to create something because, you know, like so many of us, you were underestimated for multiple reasons, right? Mm-Hmm. . And so. Being a CEO and an entrepreneur at such a young age is so incredible.

Jamie, tell me what gave you the  The courage, right? So many of us want to do something new or step out, but we're afraid. What gave you the courage to go ahead and do that, um, despite being underestimated?  

Jamie: Um,  I mean, I wish I had a really great answer for this, but like the simple answer is I had nothing to lose.

I was 21. I was broke. I got fired from my last job. Um, and it was like, well,  What can I actually lose right now? And I was thinking like I heard, I want, you know, I want to have a family. I want to have kids. I want to have time to, to do the things that are, you know, purpose led and value led in my life. I don't want to be burning out at 38 with three kids or whatever it might be.

So it felt like actually it made so much sense of like, let's do this young and commit my twenties to building something huge that's going to leave a legacy way into my later life. And in hindsight, I probably could have waited a couple of years and gotten a little bit more experience and  asked for more help and maybe have a mentor or two.

Uh, it definitely would have made the experience much better, but then. Um, I did burn out at 25 and I suffered the consequences of the physical and mental kind of burden that that has for two years. Uh, but off the back of that, I've built a podcast called Beyond Burnout, uh, Beyond Anxiety. And, um, that again has given me this kind of unique insight into like the importance of mental health and the importance of Balance and stuff like that.

So I'm, I'm a big fan of just taking something that maybe hasn't worked out too well and, and kind of using it as, as a fire to, yeah, to, to learn and to create a resource for other people in a similar position.  

Trier Bryant

Trier:  I think one of the things that I tell a lot of my friends and my mentees is, You can have anything, Jackie, but you can't have everything.  And there's a difference. And I tell people, you can have anything, but you can't have everything.

And so if you can have anything, then what is it that you want?  And it's okay for us to change our minds. So when you're in a role or what's next, what do you want? Do you want money? Do you want challenge? Do you want scope? Do you want impact? Do you want flexibility? Do you want to hide? Like there's a lot of things that you may want, but being honest with ourselves, what do you want? 

Because you can have anything and then go get that, but you can't have everything.  And people will say, well, I want, and then they'll name tentwenty things. That's great, but what are the top three things that you want and then go and make that happen? And if you're, if you hold this bar, if you're looking at a job description, like I look at a job description, right? 

To me, a job description is not what I need to bring to the table or what I have. It is what I can do.  And so if there's something technical in there, I could hire someone for that check, right? It lets me know what needs to get done, but specifically as a leader at that level where you're building a team. 

I don't look for everything in a relationship or a friendship, so I don't know why these workplaces think they're going to find everything in me. That's not how I look at it. But what I do understand is.  I have to be able to figure it out.  So I will look at that job description and say, okay, you need these things.

I know that I can handle these things. Got it. And these are these other things I'm going to have to build a team that does that. Let me start thinking about  what talent fills that gap. What will I need to do to go and find it or create it? 

Fiona Lloyd

Jackie: And it's, you know, I'm so interested in how you keep all of those things together. So any one of those things that you're doing is a lot, right?  Being a mother of two teenagers, working,  As, you know, an executive in a company, let alone this kind of hybrid role or this two part role that you've got, and then managing all those amazing animals at your home.  How do you keep it all together, Fiona? How do you manage it all? 

Fiona: You just gotta, first thing is to accept. You can't give everything a hundred percent of yourself at all times.  And you have to  reconcile that in order to live that amazingly fulfilled life. And I will say that my life is very fulfilled. I'm very happy with that. Wouldn't change anything for the world. 

It's just that, it's just that balancing and recognizing that you can't get, you can't give everything a hundred percent all of the time and knowing that, right. I chunk it up into weeks and say, right, this week  You know, maybe I'm traveling. Like when next week's a really good example, I'm going to be in Paris for four days next week.

So my job and what I need to get done next week is, is, is going to have the vast majority of my focus. So, you know, who can I lean on to support me? The girls are, you know, here in their, their holidays from school. So, you know, it's just pulling in and, and knowing that I can't do it all and knowing that there's a plan in place to make sure that everything else, and then accepting that some things just aren't going to be perfect  is a big thing as well.

That's something I've really had to learn to come to terms with over the years is that it's never going to be perfect all of the time. You're going to live with a bit of chaos.  

Jackie: Absolutely. Fiona, that's such good advice. And You know, that's one of the things that I've had to learn over the years. I think so many of us as women, especially feel like we need to be, you know, an A plus at work every week and A plus at home every week and A plus as, um, you know, a mother or whatever it is that we're doing, we have to be great at it every single day. 

Uh, and that's not possible. We have to understand that sometimes that mother piece needs to come first. Sometimes the work piece needs to come first and understanding and giving that good balance is what,  you know, makes us able to do all of the things. Um, but if we're looking for a hundred percent in everything, every day, we're never going to achieve that.

So thank you for that advice. That is good advice. Good advice.

Elaine Lin Hering

Jackie: What kind of tips or what advice do you give us for how we tap into that, how we  expect that for ourselves, and then how we communicate that to others as the expectation? 

Elaine: Yeah, well, it took basically an entire book to answer that question, so I'll try to go top level right now.

One is, I mean, I'm a big believer in double loop learning, so Chris Ardress Organizational Design, meaning so often when people see a result and they don't like the result, they look to change the action. That's a single loop. So don't like the result, change the behavior. But double loop learning says what actually drives our behaviors or actions is our mindset. 

So if you want sustainable change, you actually need to start from the mindset. So that's me going a little nerdy because I think it's useful. The mindset shift around this is to say, I am human, therefore I have needs, goals, hopes, and concerns.  It doesn't make you needy.  It doesn't make you mean that you're taking up too much space.

It doesn't mean that you don't care about other people. It just means that you are human. And if you are human too, not just superhuman, but human, then you have needs, goals, hopes, and concerns. And they're valid and legitimate because you are human.  So I'd start with that truth.  Because there's so much noise.

You mentioned being a woman, I would add motherhood to the mix, right?  You are supposed to be unflappable.  Unwavering in your giving, caregiving, do it with a smile, and it's all gotta look like an Instagram reel. That is not real life. That's right. That is not real life. And in that expectation, there is no room for what do I need? 

What do I want? Right? You think about birthing a child and those hazy newborn days. It's not about what do you need in recovery as a mother? It's like, there's this crying entity  that I don't know what to do with, but apparently I'm supposed to feed it, bathe it, you know, learn how to communicate with it. 

And there's very little room for what do I need? What do I want? So I'd start with the mindset that if we are human, which I'd argue we are, we all have needs, goals, hopes, and concerns. Don't need to debate whether you do or you don't. You just, um, are.

Sunaina Sinha Haldea

Jackie: Tell us from your perspective, why is representation so vital?  

Sunaina: Well, I think we've all heard that old adage, you can't be what you can't see. I hate to be hokey, but it's so true.  And yeah, I asked this morning, I really didn't want to get up at 4 45 for that 6 30 AM spot that one of these channels wanted me to take. I said, you know, I'm probably one of the only women guests that they have all morning. If I don't show up, um, I feel that I have  an, an almost a duty to show other women and girls that it is possible.

It is possible to be, um, have credibility, have gravitas, have presence just as much as any other guy. And I think that  it's the starfish model, Jackie, right? We can't save everyone and everything. But if one person takes inspiration from what I've done or seeing me on, on air or talking about finance and markets and technical things and says,  I want to do that too.

I can do that.  That's, you know, I would be deeply fulfilled that I could  get one additional woman to think about a career in this field, to believe in themselves and to show up.  

Jackie: I love that. I love that. And you know, it's, it's so important, as you said, Sunaina, to, to,  See people who look like us, who represent us in those positions, because sometimes you just never know that that's a field that you should consider pursuing, right?

If you don't know anyone in that field. That's not something that generally you open up for yourself. You emulate the people that you respect. And so I love that. 

Sunaina: I think that's one more thing, Jackie, because it's when you were talking, what you're saying is so true, but it just sparked this, this, this, um, thought in me, which I think is worth sharing that  I do it, not just for the women and girls that are watching and people of color, but also for the bosses out there. 

Right? That is for the CEOs in their C suite executives to think, Oh, she's, she's good. If she can be so good, do I not have a female star here who can go and do some of this for me?  Right? Cause that's majority. Let's be honest. That's the majority of the audience that's watching CNBC at 6 30 in the morning. So, that is important for them to see it too.

Valera Wilson

Valera: When I think of the word inclusive, I think of you're included. You're not the other. And so I, I believe leaders should be very intentional about engaging different perspectives.

That's one. So often  I've seen where, you know, and I'm sure you've probably seen it in listeners as well as you go into organization, maybe even if you're new and, um, the new ideas aren't accepted, or you've been there for a while and you have a difference of opinion than say, maybe someone else in the room. 

And it's not, it's not received or  everyone continues to do things status quo. And so. Again, going back to that concept of if diversity, which it really does drive innovation and unique perspectives, embracing different ideas that aren't the norm or the status quo, how we've always done it,  becomes really, really important in order to help people to feel even more empowered or confident to share their ideas.

Because who wants to share their ideas if they're already, they're always shut down or discounted.  At some point, you're going to take the path of least resistance and less stress, which is I'm just not going to say anything or contribute in this in this room or this space. And that's not the point.

You're missing out on great ideas. So that's one thing. The other thing that I think is huge. is to embrace risk taking and, and not count failure or mistakes as fatal for someone in the organization.  If, if people are  constantly nervous or afraid of making the wrong decision or making a mistake because, you know, they'll be caught out on the carpet or there'll be, you know, some type of negative results,  you're not allowing for creativity.

You're not in our critical thinking.  People will consistently be relying upon the leader to make all the decisions. That's not the point. The point is to empower people to make decisions and thrive and contribute in their own unique ways. And that's how you do it is to treat it as a cultural of, hey, I want your input too.

We can make, you can make a mistake, obviously.  We're not talking about mistakes that are catastrophic to the business, but things that are just,  that just happened because maybe you didn't know something or you didn't factor in something. That does happen. Those things are normal. And if those things are embraced by leaders and those mistakes are embraced, it just continues to  expand the creativity that that's brought, the energy, the engagement that's brought from everyone from different backgrounds.

Amber Cabral

Amber:  I have so many people say to me, like, yeah, I'm not cut out for entrepreneurship because like, I just like the security of a job. And I'm like,  what job is secure? Like you, you have, like, you are not safe.  The industry changes, you're going to get hit. You know what I'm saying? You got a boss that don't like you, they're gonna find a way to coach you out.

Whether they, you know, do it in a courteous way and you walk away with a severance package or, you know, they let you go for performance, right? So like, we have to be really, really, really clear that like,  Is this a thing I want to do and why? And so you don't end up in the situation where you're either clinging to staying in an organization or clinging to the idea of entrepreneurship based on these kind of like false ideas.

I do not think I am any less or more safe as an entrepreneur than I was when I was an employee.  In fact, some ways I feel more safe because when I need to pivot, I can pivot. It might take me some energy. I might spend a little time. I might even have to blow some money to make it happen. But I get a say on what that looks like, whereas in an organization that isn't always the case.

And like, let's be very honest, like we talk about layoffs and we talk about, you know, folks being impacted by attrition and all of those things. Like it's a very thoughtful process and sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's like, Hey, HR, you got to let 14 people go. 

Arjun Sharda

Jackie: Arjun, you talked about risk it for the big thing. What can we learn from you about trying new things and taking risks?  

Arjun: Yeah, great question again, Ms. Ferguson. I really appreciate that.  It's about taking risks is, I know it's gonna, it sounds like, it sounds like I'm saying it like generically, but it's, it's about like, hey, we have the average person has 80 years in their life, right?

80, 84 years. We need to make use of that time, you know, spend time with family, spend time with everybody, you know, it's about taking these risks. If you don't take a risk now, when will you take it? We are aging every single day. You never grow without taking risks.  When we were born, we had a chance to die from an infection.

We take risks that we don't even know we are taking. And that's the thing that we have to acknowledge, that if we can take these risks, We can even take bigger risks. Of course, don't gamble your money, but, uh, you know, take calculated risks. It's never too late or never too early and find a motivation and use that and take risks. 

Jackie: I love that Arjun. And I love that you've said it's never too late and never too early. I think that is fantastic. Thank you for that.

Coco Brown

 Jackie:  Coco, what are some of the key lessons that you've learned from your experiences with your previous startups that have shaped how you run Athena Alliance today?  

Coco: Oh, so many things.  You know, one of the things I  think about  and maybe, you know, I, I have a couple of different things. I, I just, Believe in general, like  as a precursor to my answer. 

One is that everybody's greatest strength is also their Achilles heel. And the other thing is, is that oftentimes with our greatest strength, we're never satisfied. Um, so with that in mind,  one of my great strengths is that I push through.  But I feel like in my early attempts, I gave up too quickly. I should have pushed through more. 

And I was maybe more feisty than I should have been, you know, like, I think that great strength and Achilles heel together, right? Like great strength is, you know,  You know, when you're like, I have the answer, I know how to do this, you know, build, build, build, and I could do it.  The other side of that is how do you bring people along and collaborate and make sure that  it's something that others not just go, okay, yeah, I can do that, Coco, but they own, you know, and, and so  sometimes slowing down to go faster. 

Those kinds of lessons were ones that took me time to really figure out. Um, some people are natural  team players, right? Some people are natural team creators and I was not a natural team creator. And so I've had to figure out how to be that. And sometimes I still struggle and I'll point it out and I'll say, I'm not the one on the team who remembers how to celebrate.

So who else can help me remember how to celebrate? 

Raquel Wilson

Raquel: The thing about coming out or inviting in, as some of my people say these days, um, is that it happens over and over again. It's really a lifelong process. And that first moment of coming out to my mom at 14, Cause I needed to try and encourage some favor and try and get somebody on my side before I told my father, honey.

Right. Um,  it was, oh,  earth shattering. It was scary. I had no idea what her response would be. I knew my parents loved me, but we didn't talk openly about LGBTQ experiences. The only times that I.  even knew there was a discourse or a dialogue around these experiences was through media. And there was a lot of media, particularly in the 90s, that was  Showing queerness as a joke or as a mockery.

You know, I think about shows like In Living Color and Martin with the Shanaynay character and, and so many others, you know, queerness and transness were definitely seen as detrimental qualities. So there was that. And then of course, In terms of religion, I knew the Catholic Church was not here for gay people or much less trans people.

And there was a political discourse at the time and sometimes I would hear from a traveling priest about the sanctity of marriage and how gay people were coming to destroy the institution of the American family. So those were the only things I had to glean from. Any kind of understanding of what my parents reaction could be, but I just, you know, I breadcrumbed a bit with my mom.

Sure.  And I told her, I don't want you to think differently of me. I don't want you to hate me.  And  then I just told her and I'm, you know, telling her through all of these tears. And she's so magnanimous. And. Graceful. And, you know, she just says, you know, I love you. This will just be something we have to get through.

Right. And, and even in that response, right? Like that was a very positive response for the time. But this idea that queerness was something to get through,  even comes through in that language. Right. That it, yes, very much as an obstacle, my child, but we'll figure it out.  

Jackie: Thank you for sharing that Raquel.

Charlotte Owens

Charlotte: And, and so this is an analogy and I don't want to offend anyone, but You know, imagine that there's a place where you could go for everything because it's convenient to shop. Okay? And I love those kind of stores because you can do groceries one minute, you can do clothes if you want in another minute, and then you can, you know, you can go and do household things.

That's great when you're 20 to have like a generalist, a general approach, one stop shop. So as you get older, as you pointed out, as you move through each decade, there are different screening,  different things that you need to try to guard against.  And at that point, you need to know what kind of specialist to go to.

I spend a lot of time with my friends going,  are you having the right eye exams?  Did you go and get your colonoscopy? Okay. Your blood pressure has been elevated for quite some time. Are you, do you need to see a different kind of doctor? Do you go to the dentist?  Do you do these preventative Thoughts  all the time and do you have a checklist because what I mean by that is preventative thoughts are None of us want to get the bad news When you know what the potential issues are that may affect you Then you know what to guard against and even if you get news you don't want You can develop a plan on how to approach that.

And, and I think that's just so important because the things you fear you tend to withdraw from, but it's actually the things that you fear that you should lean into when it comes to your health.  

Jackie: Absolutely.

Karen Baker

Karen: You know, it's interesting having conversations because I'm always pitching in business, you know, I'm talking to not only  chief of staff, CMOs, uh, chief of DEI, You know, in very large companies I'm having conversation with, some are saying a mistake that was made before was segmenting out  different cultures and that they need to get back to integrating marketing and understanding really what multicultural marketing means. 

Um, so I think that's, what's coming in 2024 is the understanding that don't segment out Latin, African American, Asian, Pacific Islander, and hire a firm to only do that. You know, can you hire firms that understand the gamut of all of them? Now what it's going to require is our marketing firms to show up that do understand all, that are actually going to hire  People within the organizations that sit within these segments.

Cause no one's saying all cultures are the same. We need to group them all together. That's not what's being said is that the understanding of marketing to more than just only that particular community has not necessarily done them well by doing that. So I think that is what the shift is. That's going to come.

And I think that that's going to really help us make more impact, particularly since we know a lot of those communities are connected. Right? They have some level of connection and how traditions,  rituals, their needs, you know, particularly in this political climate are, are, are going to be met. So I think that's, what's going on, start to shift some.

Jackie: Absolutely. And it's, there's so much to think about. You're thinking about needs, habits,  years, goals, right? And, and those all can be different based on. that particular group. But as our society becomes more and more diverse. Correct. Marketing and marketing professionals need to understand that diversity and be able to integrate that into those campaigns.

Karen: Yeah. I can't wait until people start using the term new majority.  People are hesitant in using that and that's not, it's not new, but you know, you keep hearing still minority population, right? But with the diversity. that we have amongst communities, there is a new majority. Absolutely. And so let's see when the new majority starts to be used as a term, particularly after this election.

Jackie: Absolutely. That's so true. That's so true.

Kellie Walenciak

Jackie: Kelly,  with the work that Televerti is doing in similar organizations, How does that affect the recidivism rate?

Kellie: Well, I can tell you that since, uh, Televerde launched in, well, as we came to be in 1994, we officially launched as an organization in 1995. So over that time, we've graduated over 4, 000 women and we have a recidivism rate of 5. 4%, which really kind of underscores the value of not only these kind of rehabilitative programs, but also the re entry.

services that the women receive through the Televerde Foundation. And I also want to kind of put some context around how dramatic of a number that is dramatically low, because nationally, the three year recidivism rate is 68%. So that means that within three years, 68 percent of the people who are released from prison.

We'll go back into prison. And as I said, about 700, 000 are being released every year. When you get to five years, that number jumps up to 80%.  So everything that we've been doing since 1994 has done nothing to serve. The public well and has not done nothing to serve their families. Well, I mean, we know for women, 80 percent are mothers.

So you have these children that are just being discarded, kind of like, well, collateral damage. No, they eventually, most of them will end up in, in our system. Um, the other thing I want to mention is the generational effect is what we found through a study with. The Seidman Research Institute through Arizona State University is that the graduates of our program, their children are 11 times less likely to wind up incarcerated and 11 times more likely to graduate high school and go on to higher education.

Um, so it's really kind of extraordinary, you know, we, we know what needs to be done. So now it's just getting Prison reform to be adopted across the country in ways that really kind of increase value. You know, um, I always say you fix the woman and you fix the family, right? And if women are able to kind of stand on their own and support their families, it's going to, you know, have a ripple effect that is really dramatic for their children.

Jackie: That's so amazing, Kelly.

Doris Bullock

Doris: Being in prison does not  only mean barbed wire  that will cut you,  heavy metal  locked doors and armed guards.  Being in prison also means that you can be in prison in life,  friends, Associates, Classmates, Family.

Yes, family.  In your job,  employees, supervisors, staff, colleagues.  In your sororities or fraternities or community organization, sisterhood, brotherhood, memberships.  In your marriage, your spouse, your partner, your significant other.  In your church, pastors, yes pastors, ministers, trustees, deacons, deaconess, members. 

All these will cut you like the barbed wire.  Keep the heavy metal doors locked.  where no one can get to you because of the armed guards.  You get the point.  I was determined to turn my adversity into triumph  and that's what I say to people about just as involved individuals.  If you're in one of those situations and you're not locked up behind barbed wire and overseen by armed guards, seek  help. 

Let folk help you.  Let anybody help you.  But for the population of women and men who are incarcerated, they are going to be released one day.  And what I want people to know is that as a community,  I ask that you embrace individuals, because if we were all  in a way,  Let's just say everybody who  have without saying cast the first stone. 

That's all of us.  And so we need the support of the community.  We need the support of family.  We need the support of strangers.  And if there are people in our communities that are returning that need resources and help, if we're unable to do it ourselves, then connect them with the resource to be able to successfully transition back into the community healthy. 

If we know that there are individuals that not only have justice involvement, but also have some mental health issues,  provide some resources and support.  Don't shun.  Help us to help them be successful like people helped me be successful.  Call me.  I will help them. 

Jackie: I love that, Doris.  

Joe Davis

Joe: The importance of quote unquote being a generous leader has grown in my own understanding of leadership over all those roles. And I'll talk a bit about more of that. But the other thing that is important, I think, to even start, and it's also about maturity and understanding your role as a leader, is that you still have to get things done.

You still have to get results. I mean, Joaquin Duarte, the CCO of J& J, I interviewed him for the book and he had one point, a very good quote that I put in there. He said, I don't get exactly right, but you see, you know, Joe, people trying, giving your best, that's all good. But leaders have to remember outcomes matter.

So, you know, the generosity is not just about, you know, rainbows and fluffly cows and clouds and unicorns. It is about outcome. But he also said the sooner you become mature enough to realize it's a get past yourself. And realize it's not all about you, but it's about you connecting to, listening to, engaging with your teams.

They said something about the sooner you will unlock the human traits and capabilities they bring to actually get the best results.  So yeah, it's very powerful because there's so much in there, but even to use, you know, to say the use, use the word human traits, not just their best skills or their capabilities, no, the humanity in them and leverage that.

I thought that, but, but there's two points. You still have to get results, But you're only going to get them through them, you know, I mean, of course, not just through them. But so I do think, though, your point about the evolution of the roles, and I even think you talked about, you know, newer leaders, you know, I think when you get your first leadership job,  and your mind is all about you, and maybe you only have a team of three people, and you even at that point might be able to get it done by yourself.

Um, you know, because it's those three, they just do their thing and I'll get it all done. But that doesn't work as the roles, you know, as you grow.

Lindsay LaBennet

Lindsay: It was the fall of 2016. Uh, and it was week four of the NFL season when Colin Kaepernick, um, took a knee. That. Completely shifted my career up until then I was on the NFL side of the business. I was supporting brand partners that were official partners of the NFL. And obviously when Colin Kaepernick, you know, was protesting, it was the moment.

It was the talk that everyone was planning around it. And I realized at the time I was the only black woman on my team. One of the only women that was in this room when we were discussing the issue. And I realized that there was a gap of education of what Collin was communicating with his action versus what the industry was understanding.

And I realized in that moment that as much as I loved the traditional consulting and on the sports side of the house, I. felt a pull, a real pull to say, I want to be part of a solution on this conversation, because this impacts me as a black woman. This impacts me as someone in sports who understands the importance of athletes being able to leverage their platform and not wanting to silence them.

So that was a pivotal moment for me where I knew that I needed to use all of the experience that I had. I needed to use, you know, the understanding of sport that I had and shift it to serve my community, people who look like me, other marginalized people. Um, because at the end of the day, sports is a microcosm of the world.

So if there are things that are happening in sport, it's happening, you know, in society in general. So I knew then after that happened, that I was not going to be able to approach my job with the same passion unless it was aligned with something around activism or education or just addressing inequities that people like Colin and myself face every day. 

That's amazing. Thank you for sharing that, Lindsay.

Jackie: Thank you for joining us for this special Season 10 Compilation of Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox. If these highlights resonated with you, please spread the word by sharing this episode, leaving a rating and review, and subscribing so you don’t miss any future episodes. Stay connected with us on Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube, or sign up for our newsletter at beyondthecheckbox.com. This show is sponsored by the Diversity Movement and edited and produced by Earfluence.

I'm Jackie Ferguson. Take care of yourself and each other.