As part of your DEI journey, it’s important to provide a forum for employees to ask questions and voice their concerns. Below, we’ve provided sample responses to common inquiries and pushback. We encourage you to engage in the difficult conversations and please reach out to HR if you require additional support or resources.

The Intent Versus Impact Training is a 90-minute training that can be leveraged by DEI practitioners as part of their training offerings. The Intent Versus Impact training will help participants more fully understand the dynamics and characteristics of a respectful workplace and the steps each of us can take to ensure the impact of our actions more closely matches our intent.

Despite what is being reported in the media, much of what we are seeing from organizations and hearing from DEI leaders is more of a reset or recalibration.  After the murder of George Floyd, many companies set lofty goals, increased the size of their DEI departments, and quite frankly bit off more than they could actually do.

Media headlines about the creation and then elimination of corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions at Big Tech companies have generated plenty of buzz. This kind of coverage can raise doubts about whether companies are committed to DEI in the long term. But these headlines aren’t telling the whole story.

The authors of this article identify three criteria that make DEI programs most risky and offer solutions to help organizations mitigate legal risk while maintaining the core project of building a more just future.

While managing DEI opposition can be challenging, CEOs and chief human resources officers (CHROs) can view this as an opportunity to reinforce their leadership roles by creating an inclusive and equitable culture linked to their business strategy.

Over the past year, corporations have grown more cautious about following through on DEI efforts as businesses cut costs and conservative activists, lawyers and lawmakers seek to purge the concept from workplace life. That caution, along with the Supreme Court’s ruling last year ending affirmative action in college admissions, has created more speculation over how DEI work might change – and what might be lost in the process.

The Understanding the Impact and Power of Micromessaging Virtual Classroom is a 90-minute training that explores micromessages, the impact they can have in our workplaces and what we as individuals can do to mitigate the impact of microinequities and contribute to a culture of inclusion.

Microinequities are those small, commonplace things we do or say that make people feel less-than, uncomfortable or hurt.  Because the impact of each act on its own appears minor, microinequities often go unnoticed by everyone except the target – and therefore can be difficult to address. As the name suggests, microinequities may seem small; but compounded over time, they can have a profound impact on the target’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being.  Here are some tips for addressing microinequities.

As individuals we need to be more aware of how the little things that are said or done on an individual basis impact overall corporate culture and personal well-being. We must stop tolerating microaggressions in our workplaces.

We all have bias and although having bias doesn’t make us good or bad, we do have a responsibility to manage the effect of bias on our decisions and actions.

There are some basic standards we can adopt that can support a positive, healthy workplace culture. For starters treat your employees and coworkers with kindness and care. Recognize that we all have feelings and lives outside off work that can impact our lives in the workplace. A respectful work environment also acknowledges and values the different talents, skills, and experiences each of us brings to the table.

Respect is a prerequisite for a healthy, inclusive and professional workplace where all employees feel appreciated, valued and safe. We can help create a culture of respect by thinking inclusively with our heads, supporting respect and inclusion with our hearts, and acting respectfully with our hands.

How we treat each other in our workplaces matter. What are the benefits associated with a respectful workplace and what can you do to help create a culture of respect?

Intersectionality addresses the complexity of being an individual by recognizing that everyone has multiple aspects to our identity. “Intersectional Equity” is a term that was originally coined in 1989 by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. The theory behind intersectionality is that we cannot approach DEI with a singular lens because every individual encompasses many components of identity and cannot be reduced to just one-dimensional aspect.

In the workplace, an understanding of the intersectionality definition and the realities it produces helps us recognize the different ways in which people experience workplace policies.

Using intersectionality as part of common DEI language affirms the need to recognize employees for their whole selves.  It’s important to acknowledge all aspects of an individual’s identity because combined, each can shape how they experience the world and the workplace.

The theory behind intersectionality is that we cannot approach DEI with a singular lens because every individual encompasses many components of identity and cannot be reduced to just one dimensional aspect.

This short, interactive microlearning and discussion guide defines intersectionality and why it is important to understand why it matters.

Growing up in the US in predominantly white communities, Canwen Xu struggled to reconcile her American and her Chinese identities. She explains the unique ways that racial bias affects Asian Americans — and shares how she has learned to embrace all of the different parts of her background.

In this touching talk, Ash Beckham offers a fresh approach to empathy and openness. It starts with understanding that everyone, at some point in their life, has experienced hardship. The only way out, says Beckham, is to open the door and step out of your closet.

When journalist Mariana Atencio was seven, her father sent her from her home in Venezuela to a summer camp in Brainerd, Minnesota. Unsurprisingly, she was treated like an outsider. Over the course of many more such camps and a senior year in an American high school, she discovered that the best way to belong was to embrace the qualities that made her different. In this deeply personal talk, Atencio describes how these early lessons helped her succeed as an immigrant and as a journalist.

Research shows that most people tend to feel greater empathy for people that are most like themselves and may feel less empathy for those outside their family, community, ethnicity, or race – suggesting that addressing the connections between empathy and inclusion in DEI strategies could lead to more favorable outcomes.

Over the last few years, the pattern of divisive issues pushing people apart has only become more prominent. Politics, climate issues, equity, and much more have divided people across a number of lines. Elizabeth Lesser suggests a new strategy for bridging the gap between individuals and groups. Having lunch with those you may disagree with opens the door for productive conversation and growth. Understanding leads to a lack of contempt that breeds change and action.

Stella Young suggests that in our society disabled people are viewed as exceptional and “are congratulated for getting out of bed and remembering our own names in the morning”. She believes that we need to rewire our perceptions and celebrate their accomplishments for what they are, not as impressive because of their disability. Her unique perspective inspires thoughtful reflection on how we treat people with disabilities, and how we can celebrate them more appropriately.

Imagine a workplace where people of all colors and races are able to climb every rung of the corporate ladder — and where the lessons we learn about diversity at work actually transform the things we do, think and say outside the office. How do we get there? In this candid talk, inclusion advocate Janet Stovall shares a three-part action plan for creating workplaces where people feel safe and expected to be their unassimilated, authentic selves.

What do you think when you look at this speaker? Well, think again. (And then again.) In this funny, honest, empathetic talk, Yassmin Abdel-Magied challenges us to look beyond our initial perceptions, and to open doors to new ways of supporting others.

The Connecting Diversity to Improved Healthcare Outcomes Training Toolkit is an awareness-building workshop and addresses topics relating to the what, why, and how of diversity in healthcare. While some of the exercises require some diversity and inclusion competency and may result in heated debate, this workshop does not address particularly sensitive or charged topics.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

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