Recent research has now defined how the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) is growing both the use and understanding of new strategic tools, particularly Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). And, for the most part, CDOs show the same erratic and slow-build knowledge that affects most non-tech business leaders.

True Blue Inclusion, a leader in diversity management counseling, commissioned and managed the research. More than 130 professionals in top diversity jobs across the US and the world were asked to respond to the on-line questionnaire, in the most substantive and in-depth probing of the CDO community ever.

Catherine Cornelius Smith, CEO of True Blue Inclusion, said, “We were not surprised that CDOs saw Artificial Intelligence bringing – and predicting more – solutions to everyday practices in diversity and inclusion. But we were expecting that there is already a considerable degree of CDO urgency to link what A.I. does with social equity and ethics, and this is heartening. It shows some CDOs are getting it.”

Questions documented how diversity leaders see A.I. affecting their world. “Right now, CDOs see A.I. in risk-mitigation clothing. A.I. seems to be bringing a suite of solutions to practical challenges in diversity and inclusion work. People responded with examples particularly in talent selection, resume’ vetting, metric assuredness and similar solid business activities. On a positive note, some 38% of respondents see new and advancing technology reshaping how diversity and inclusion is executed.”

“The work to do,” continued Smith, “has to do with seeing beyond the daily practical values A.I. openly delivers to forging the strongest link to continued ethical behavior in every aspect of the technology. We endorse ways to codify this in business practice appropriate to each company. For instance, CEO’s have endorsed a ‘ground rules’ approach, according to the Wall Street Journal, that includes incorporating transparency, disclosure, privacy, diverse inputs, bias protection, trust, accountability, collective governance and regulation for A.I. within corporate organizations. CDO responses to the survey would endorse codification as both great assistance and necessary oversight.

“To move further on this road, our Master Class workshops for diversity leaders are addressing these needs in their entirety all through 2019. Getting diversity and inclusion managers to participate in A.E. deliberations is essential.

Note: The True Blue Inclusion research was conducted in November, 2018. More information about the study and its results are available through CEO Catherine Smith at catherine@trueblueinclusion.com

Carlton Yearwood is currently Senior Partner at True Blue Inclusion. He supports senior diversity executives, practitioners and staff in the design, development and deployment of next practice D&I initiatives.

Black History Month 2019 creates an opportunity to reflect on the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the year he would have celebrated his 90th birthday.

At the core of King’s approach to address racial inequality, poverty and war was the concept of the Beloved Community, a global vision of brotherly (agape) love in which all people share in the wealth of the earth. Dr. King understood agape love plays a fundamental role in building healthy communities that benefit all people and should operate as a centerpiece of our social interactions.

Today’s increasingly diverse workplace is a positive step towards King’s dream of a world free of discrimination. But many companies still struggle to create a healthy culture where conflict born from differences of opinion, heritage and gender do not prevail over the sense of community and collaboration.

This fundamental business challenge merits further examination and begs the question of how would Dr. King’s nonviolence philosophy apply in modern-day companies? How can companies manage conflict and flourish by fostering a culture that emulates the broader Beloved Community championed by Dr. King?

Dr. King described a series of six actions (stages) that can be applied to issues of conflict.

Information Gathering: To understand and articulate an issue or problem facing a person or group in the workplace, do your research. So many disagreements are born from a basic misunderstanding of the facts. Companies should encourage employees, leaders and teams to be curious and take the time to be clear on both sides of an issue.
EDUCATION: Make an effort to inform others, including your “opponent,” about your issue. Speak in terms of the basis of your position first and foremost. Doing so creates clarity about why you should be supported without centering the conflict around why another party or colleague is in the wrong.

Personal Commitment: Accept that addressing conflict can be uncomfortable. Addressing conflict without hostility or violence requires patience and compassion. Keeping an open mind and heart can mean we all must prepared for the possibility we may not get the immediate outcome (justice) we seek.

Negotiations: Understanding both sides of issues of conflict combined with a commitment to compassion, positions us resolve the situation. Consider win-win strategies that acknowledge the positive aspects of the other party. Look for the good in others without humiliation. Dr. King’s philosophy specifically called for us not to personally attack others. Focus on the change you seek without causing undue harm or shame to others.

Direct Action: If negotiating the issue reaches an impasse, Dr. King called for direct action in the form of protests, marches and strikes. Obviously, those forms of direct action would in most cases be extreme in a workplace environment. That said, companies can establish approaches and practices where employees can have a “safe place” where their issues are heard without fear of retaliation or threats to their employment. We encourage companies to support and invest in helping employees resolve seemingly intractable issues that materially impact their experience and/or performance.

Reconciliation: Ultimately, Dr. King sought friendship and understanding with the “opponent.” He did not seek to defeat the other side. Again, because he focused on changing unjust policies and acts, he desired to find ways for his opponent to “save face” by way of reasoned compromise. Through joint reconciliation both sides are empowered to move forward in friendship (as was demonstrated by Nelson Mandela in South Africa) to the benefit of the entire community.

More than 50 years later, Dr. King’s teachings and achievements still stand as an inspiration for all companies. His approach to building community through “love in action” is a way to manage workplace conflicts by creating a culture of engagement, respect and support that embraces differences – achieving positive change, peace and a path to organizational success.

Chance Patterson is a Strategic Advisor with True Blue Inclusion, providing counsel to leaders of corporations, social impact enterprises (including The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change) and public figures on a wide range of diversity, culture, reputation management, crisis communications, legal and organizational growth issues.

In fact, the marketing profession could be a cheerleader for diversity and inclusion. You own so many strategic data points as part of what you do. So I’m always surprised when someone in the marketing game asks whether diversity means bucks, whether there’s a business case for diversity.

Let me give you five bam-bam data points, all from validated studies over the past three years (and shame on you if you don’t already know a few of these):

• Companies that move women to top management jobs have above-the-norm industry profitability, with annual increases up to 30%, according to a study from the Peterson Institute for International Economics and EY.
• Ethnically diverse companies, with no single group dominating the workforce, are 35% more likely to outperform, according to a McKinsey & Company report.
• Gender-diverse companies, having at least equal representation among workers at all levels, are 15% more likely to do better than the average (McKinsey).
• There’s virtually a linear relationship between racial/ethnic/gender diversity and better financial performance: earnings rise close to 1% for every 10% increase in senior team diversity (McKinsey).
• Internationally, companies in the top quartile for gender/racial/ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above industry medians (McKinsey).

Apart from the intuitive argument that diversity results in better decisions and a more stimulating culture, there’s hard evidence.

In our work with top global companies, we’re exploring some remarkable aspects of how diversity and inclusion best work in business. What we see is that companies viewing diversity as numbers or percents simply run with the pack. Those that integrate diversity and inclusion into the corporate soul and culture excel.

Our own research on this was eye-opening. We recently completed an explorative study – Identity, Colorism and Labels. Of many revelations, one is that self-identity is at the core of many, many issues in the diversity and inclusion mix. Self-identity is a changeling: it varies from situation to situation, from conversation to conversation, from meeting to meeting. It is the sum of a person’s experiences: in family, in play, in music, in school, in community, in work, in society as whole.

Identity is a prime driver in decision-making. It shapes how one defines the playing field, the alternatives and the approaches to analyze problems and opportunities, solutions and partnerships. Individuals with diverse background as part of their identity – who already understand the market because they lived it – are truly a competitive asset for any company. They inherently see the larger dimensions in most every situation. They understand both the formal and the unspoken conventions in solving problems. They are uniquely in a position to be an asset for their companies, to drive more revenue to the bottom-line.

There are up-to-the-minute case histories that solidly illustrate this, on scale large and small. If you’re from the Southwest United States – Texas in particular – you may know about the H-E-B grocery chain. It’s a privately held company that prospers amid intense retail supermarket competition regionally and nationally. Since its start as family business in 1905, the company has a policy of hiring the diverse people who are their customers. The marketing theme is, in a remarkable statement of company strategy, “Our Customers Make Our Company.” It is a simple business philosophy, perhaps, but one that largely escapes most enterprises, large or small. It also assures that diversity has a voice in every marketing decision.

H-E-B stores have a remarkably loyal customer base, not only the Anglo-Texas population, but among Mexican-Americans, Vietnamese, Central American groups and now others. Stores individually stock food items with appeal to customers by local market locations. Three or four languages are uniformly spoken by staff in the grocery aisles, and reflected in signage. Special shopping opportunities coincide with ethnic calendar holidays. The company supports and celebrates population-specific community events. Customers “see themselves” everywhere in the stores. It’s all done as a natural extension of the identity of the people who manage the business, without second thought. And the marketplace rewards this diversity-sensitive approach with continuing allegiance and dollars at the cash registers.

Here’s another example. It highlights how a strong diversity voice can affect even a large company’s C-suite dynamics when the brand and revenues are at stake. Last year Intel, apart from its many Silicon Valley cohorts, stepped up to the challenge of increasing women and minorities in heavy tech positions with special energy. With full disclosure and accountability, it established a specific, reviewable timetable to improve workforce gender representation, supported with a $300-million commitment in corporate funding. By every measure, it is a uniquely strong and innovative venue, one already bringing in a more diverse population to qualify for open positions.

It did not happen by chance or through a lightning bolt of inspiration. For years, Rosalind Hudnell, now Global VP-Human Resources and Communication at Intel, drew on her background as a Black woman in business to shape and seize opportunities with the leadership circle to link improved diversity results to a more robust brand. Filtered and refined though the lens of her own experiences as a minority and as a woman, she helped engage Intel managers in ways that, incrementally and over time, opened doors to new thinking about the gender equity challenge. Steps along the way included something as small as a minority-centered intern program, as simple as college student visits by senior executives – and also as substantial as a redeployment of corporate contributions. And it all happened because she – a person who understood identity challenges because she experienced them – was embedded in leadership and the corporate culture.

I hope the message by now is somewhat clear: Diversity is not something you add to the marketing plan. It’s achieved when people with diverse experiences do the marketing plan. The fun is getting to that point in organizations.

Along with identity, Am I touches on the unique experiences of dating, going to work and school, visiting ancestral homelands, and code switching (when one changes the way they speak to what they feel is appropriate for a particular social setting) among other things. Seeing the film, one definitely gets the sense that the first generation identity is a complex, in-between identity where the individual grows up with a foot firmly planted in two different continents. The story begins with a familiar narrative, where the child is raised in their parents’ culture. When they begin going to school, they often seek to fit into mainstream American society so as not to stand out amongst their peers. When they return home they return to the familiarity of their culture including the language, food, clothing and religion. It is truly a life of dual experiences.

Growing up in this dual life can make things complicated and play an important role in how one’s identity is shaped in the future. Some first generation kids become adults who embrace either more of their African heritage or more of the American culture and yet others successfully balance both of those cultures with pride. As an African American this context is new for me, though some of the struggles of fitting in are familiar. Growing up, I attended many different schools in several different cities and states; sometimes I was the only Black student in the class and even in the school. I often found myself hiding aspects of my identity and culture from peers rather than trying to explain my differences. My skin color in many cases shaped the way I was treated before I even spoke, so why worsen it by embracing my heritage or unique interests? As most of us know, growing up and deciding to “be yourself” takes a lot of courage. I know now how important it is to encourage authenticity; that’s what creates the magic of diversity.

Unlike Nadia and other first generation children, I was privileged as an American who more or less adhered to American mainstream culture and went home to a typical American suburb to live in a typical American household, with just a hint of the African American heritage that I belong to. I don’t have the privilege of knowing where my African ancestors are from; as far as I know my ancestors are from Georgia, Texas and Delaware. I may have been teased about my braids and barrettes, but never my clothing, accent or food on top of that. That being said, there are enough similarities across the African diaspora to facilitate positive discussion. For some reason that’s not really happening, and there are tense divisions between people of African descent all over the world. It is Nadia’s hope that her film and future projects will assist in creating effective dialogue.

When the film ended, a Q&A session commenced where attendees thanked Nadia for making this film and shared their own personal experiences as first generation kids before asking questions. Some of the questions touched on:

• How first generation parents can raise their children in a way that keeps their African heritage alive;
• Nadia’s choice to study Africana studies as a means to get a full picture of the global diaspora;
• The terse relationships between Africans and African Americans and what makes one truly “African” American.

Nadia and one of her cast members answered their questions as best as they could, using insight from their own personal experiences. Nadia’s young daughter even jumped in once in a while, making for a more entertaining evening. Answering the final question became a battle between a man in the audience who was an African immigrant and African American audience member. It was all in good fun, but this volley, as deep as it was, threatened to take over the rest of the evening so I encouraged everyone to continue such discussions amongst themselves during the reception. Everyone paired up and grouped up to continue conversations brought on by the film and Q&A session while others started new ones.

As guests left, they thanked True Blue Inclusion for providing an evening of connecting and thoughtful dialogue. We look forward to further engaging people in conversations surrounding a number of aspects of identity in society and in the workplace.

Many years ago as a kid growing up in New York City, I recall engaging in what was at the time a harmless pastime of double-dutch, a jump rope game where two ropes were turned, you jump in the middle and depending on your skill demonstrated fancy footwork like spins. I recall this kid’s game because we usually sang songs as we jumped. My favorite, at the time, was “If you’re white you’re right, if you’re brown stick around, if you’re black get back.” What is old is now new again as we confront similar issues with a more sophisticated and educated inquiry and response. I was a naïve black child who grew up to be a naïve black man in the sophisticated racially marginalized and seemingly integrated city of New York. Through the early part of the Civil Rights Movement I wondered why sitting at a lunch counter was such a big deal, along with being denied access to schools, movie theaters, and the like. I came and went as I pleased to anywhere I wanted to go…or so I believed. We had unknowingly carved out safe places, ignorantly chalking up fights and racial and ethnic name calling as we traversed the city as normal and sometimes fun. I spin this background to explain why I believe we must engage in a conversation that includes race but where race is not the be-all and end-all, because it is not an all-inclusive debate of who is treated fairly or not, who is denied access to education and opportunity or not or potentially who gets hit in the head or shot by police or not. Colorism (discrimination based on skin tone) is alive and well in the US and around the world. One only needs to look at the skin lightening and bleaching creams and their success around the world to see that light or lighter continues to be the standard of beauty, or that darker skinned kids receive harsher punishments than lighter ones for the same infraction, or that it’s likely corporate talent pipelines have a bias or tendency to be disproportionately light skinned. Recently a good friend and colleague updated my song; “Black may be beautiful – and Tan may be grand – but White is the color of the big boss man.” Dare I say, what was old, is now new again. In an interesting, unobtrusive online study, our organization looked at over 2000 photos of Fortune 100 companies representing 17 business sectors. We did a lot of boring things like adjusting for light and shading, but we also determined, as you might suspect, that there was a significant representation of skin color pantones that could be attributed to white but could also include light skinned minorities.

This info graphic more accurately portrays the various skin pantones used in the comparison analysis portion of our study. What is shown here is the 86 skin color pantones that correspond with the family of pantone colors associated with the 2000 hi res photos we reviewed. While someone might associate a particular pantone to a race (labeling) our association was to see if there was a corresponding pantone bias (colorism) when compared to the 2000 senior level executives in a corporation. Not surprisingly, the pantones associated with lighter skinned individuals overwhelmingly dominated the study.

Also not unexpectedly, the pantones that were least represented among executives in the study, shown below, were darker skinned.

While large scale conclusions cannot be drawn from this research, I do believe it begs the question regarding what’s in, and what’s not, within the talent pipelines of corporations. During a discussion with a group of corporate chief diversity officers, we both laughed and grimaced at the fact that as Blacks and Browns we applaud the success and advancement of minorities in our respective organizations. But the water cooler talk focuses on the observation of “another light skinned or damn near white skinned” making that advancement. What are the courageous conversations that need to take place and who needs to lead them to ensure talented people of all hues have
access to opportunities and corporate talent pipelines? After all, this is a conversation about talent and in some ways race, labels and color. The issue is creeping into the workplace as we look at a recent case, ‘Too Dark to Handle Money’ Etienne v. Spanish Truck & Casino Plaza LLC (5th Cir., 2015), a rare instance in which color discrimination is spotlighted. In this case, a dark complexioned African American waitress was not promoted to supervisor. The majority of supervisors and managers were African American, including the person who was promoted. So “race” was not a factor. However, there was evidence that the general manager made ongoing comments that certain employees were “too black” to be promoted, or “dark skins” should not handle money. A former manager stated that the GM had a practice of deciding job duties based on skin tone. The overtness of these statements and acts are both troubling and hard to believe, but as I think back to my own naïve past I have to wonder how much this is playing out in the real world of work and how much implicit or explicit bias is playing a role in decisions that result in an underutilized talent pipeline.

The diversity and inclusion field is complex at its core and most, if not all, of the leaders in the field are looked to for engaging its leadership in uncomfortable conversations regarding talent optimization which leads to business success. Examining your workforce and workforce practices to ensure color inclusiveness is not a solution looking for a problem, but a reality check. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. Winning in the war for talent is first and foremost a leadership imperative where skin color cannot be allowed to be a barrier to your success.

This post is designed to provide an introduction to the intersections of Identity, Labels and Colorism and the possible implications they have on workforce and talent pipeline optimization. The Pantone Skin Color research that is referenced in this essay was completed by myself and a part time diversity fellow from the University of Arkansas. The research titled, Does My Skin Color Matter – You Bet It Might, is taken from the general findings of the research when race was unknown. Additional information about Labels, Identity and Colorism can be found at trueblueinclusion.com

For the full True Blue Inclusion research, ‘True Colors’: Identity, Labeling & Global Colorism – Putting Identity, Labeling and Colorism on the Map, go to http://trueblueinclusion.com/how/041515/

For decades violence (gang related and police related), lack of access to fresh food (food deserts), and a lack of opportunities (job related and otherwise), have plagued the area. Companies who seek to address some of these challenges by establishing mentorship programs or investing in local schools would do well to consider solutions that improve the communities holistically as well. Better yet, companies can invest in the people that have possible solutions to the daily challenges in their neighborhoods. That’s what Allstate is doing.

After being introduced by a local radio host, who described the students as “intelligent and hungry for change,” the teams presented projects representing various issues. These projects were united in the pursuit of safety for the youth including: Safe Opportunities, Safe Spaces and Safe Mobility. Each team was led by an advisor from a local design firm. The Safe Opportunities team presented the following ideas:

• Micro Jobs. This would consist of using local venues to offer spaces and laptops for youth to do quick, paid online tasks. This is something that they can collaborate on with their friends.
• Local Bucks. Local businesses would offer gift cards or cash in exchange for young people doing small tasks in and around their property.
• Tag Team Mentors. Connecting youth with local business leaders and creating an online network that connects young people with mentors based on skill sets and interests.

The next team, presented on Safe Spaces and offered these options to help everyone feel safe in their community:

• Urban Oasis. Young people would work together in the area’s many vacant lots to transform them into fun places to hang out, like parks or seating areas.
• Peace Circles. Renovating a bus and using it as a place to have discussions about what’s going in different neighborhoods and connect residents with one another in a positive way. The youth in these communities would be trained as “Peace Leaders” to guide and mediate these discussions.
• Pop-Up Picnics. These gatherings would bring together Southside residents, city officials and local police officers to break bread and connect residents with one another meaningfully. This is meant to bridge the gap between city law makers and enforcers and those living in their jurisdiction.The food would be donated from local restaurants so that low-income residents are also included in these gatherings.

Lastly, the third team addressed Safe Mobility, an issue that contributes to daily fear. From walking to taking the bus, the chances of being attacked and even killed are high, so students often take elaborate routes to get to school safely. Ideas they offered for this problem were:

• Neighborhood Network. Setting up better lighting on frequently used walking routes, adding security buttons so that people can press them in emergencies, and having residents volunteer to be “watchers” of the routes are all part of this particular plan.
• City Rides. A network of mentors and elders using their own cars or cars they borrow through car sharing programs to pick up young people and to help them get to fun events and activities without harm.

After each presentation, a panel of four from local startups, government offices and nonprofits gave their opinions on the ideas as well as encouragement to the students involved. They provided very positive feedback, with each panelist expressing their excitement and agreeing that these ideas were all simple and interconnected.

Tom Wilson, the Chairman and CEO of Allstate, stepped up to close out Youth Shout Out, after also introducing the event. The brilliance and ingenuity of the students gave him a lot of hope. The night’s presentations were just the beginning, initiating work that will be done all summer to make these ideas become reality. It’s also the first time that Allstate has organized this project, and is something the company plans to continue annually. Wilson stated very plainly that “these are all our children.” Those in the city with resources to do so must take care of them and listen to them, something that he admitted adults have a hard time doing. There were many in the room, like myself, who were not surprised by these bright students’. What surprised me most the dedication not only of Allstate, but of its CEO. His recognition of everyone’s inherent humanity is very refreshing. His commitment to the approach of treating young people like “customers” rather than “projects” is revolutionary in the corporate world. But it is savvy business thinking. A company or organization truly dedicated to change in their surrounding community will work from within, connecting with those living there to come up with concrete plans for change. I’m excited to see what the youth achieve in the Southside this summer and in the future and I hope it becomes a model for companies and cities nationally.

The Brussel Forum activities started with the Young Professionals Summit, an impressive contingent of young people ranging in age from their mid-twenties to mid-thirties. They represented political, legal and activist circles and a variety of particular social issues. The young professionals were from across the United States and Europe, coming from many different racial and ethnic backgrounds. We had the pleasure of meeting this talented group during a dinner we hosted at a restaurant in the heart of Brussels.

During the dinner, our members discussed the work that they do along with the importance of diversity and inclusion, not only at their companies but in all spaces. Janice expressed how appropriate it was for her to be in Brussels as McKesson is expanding globally, having just acquired a German pharmaceutical company. After Roz introduced herself and described the nature of her work, one attendee from the States declared that diversity had always been a “fluff” word to him and that Roz’s insight and description of her work helped him to see it in a more positive light. After that, our three Diversity leaders sat at different tables and talked with the youth. The conversations were lively, with an exchange of passions and plans to make the world a better place.

Throughout the main sessions, our small group of True Blue team members and chief diversity officers was exposed to a wealth of perspectives arising from national, racial, ethnic, economic, religious and political diversity, among other different aspects of identity. Throughout the Forum, the excitement of being in a space full of intelligent people coming from many different experiences was palpable. It was pleasing to see how Trevor, Roz and Janice held their own, impressing the Young Professionals during a panel on diversity and inclusion in the private sector, with Trevor also contributing to a discussion on inclusivity and Roz moderating a breakfast panel on gender equality.

I truly enjoyed being in this space. It was my first time in Brussels, a city with more racial diversity than I expected, and I found it to be very charming. As an observer during the Forum, I was pleased to note that I never felt intimidated by the amount of power everywhere. On the contrary, I was motivated by humble leaders who saw needs in their communities and simply dedicated themselves to addressing the needs. I had many lovely conversations with people, both old and young, who are doing amazing things. I left with ideas swirling in my head, and no doubt our CDO’s as well as Catherine are considering new ideas and collaborations.

Keep an eye out for True Blue Inclusion’s white paper on the 2015 Brussels Forum, which will provide you with more details about the event. It will be available in the next month.

“Why?” That’s still the big question about diversity recognition lists. And that question still needs soul-searching, individual answers . . . maybe more than ever.

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of “best of” lists for corporations. And the more there are, the more pressure there is to at least be on some of them. While some lists truly do measure qualities that reflect diversity and inclusion in a corporation, many merely scratch the surface. They may highlight the percentage of people of color in leadership positions, for example, or laud family-friendly policies, while not uncovering the on-the-ground, day to day culture experienced by managers who are, in subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) ways discouraged from going after a promotion or using family leave.

Instead of using scarce resources to invest in truly transformative change, corporations are pulled into an endless “list chase”. Instead of probing those facts or behaviors that drive strategic, relevant change for a company and its diversity work, the “measures simply measure what’s getting measured”!

I’m not suggesting that every list is unworthy of the time or money. Rather, it is my hope that corporations can become more savvy consumers of these lists, and look beyond simply getting on a list – toward a goal of using lists to see where they are succeeding in their D&I efforts, and where they have room to improve. And that creators (and promoters) of lists begin to think of their work as that of both measurement and transformation. There is a tremendous opportunity inherent in this process and, right now, the opportunity is unrealized. It’s buried under the pressure of getting on a list at all cost, the maze of too many lists, and processes that place more emphasis on the score than what is behind the score.

A good list should measure things that matter, and make sure that what matters is measured. A great list should help companies see where they are excelling and help them excel where they are not. If a list doesn’t do these things, ask the big “why?” Why am I doing this when there are so many more important challenges for my time?

• To build “a ladder” to the middle class for those in working class positions
• To put policy in place to ease student loan debt , encouraging graduates to pursue more desirable careers
•  To raise the minimum wage limit to $10.10, a “living wage,” so that everyone can afford to support themselves and their families
•  To make sure that tax protections for companies are not put above efforts to protect employees
•  To ensure that no one, despite race, gender or sexual orientation, is discriminated against in the workplace
•  To ensure that those who pursue justice for sexual assault or civil rights violations are allowed to do so without risk to themselves or their jobs

Diversity and inclusion were clearly important factors for the creation and signing of this document. Reminding us that pay disparities between women and men are still a disturbing reality, President Obama stated that “when women succeed, America succeeds.” He continued, saying women are encouraged to do their absolute best when they are paid and given benefits in accordance with the work that they do. Their perceived “inferiority” or desire to have a family must not remain a hindrance to equal pay. At another point, the President stated that no one should be “fired because of who [they] love,” and that no one should be dismissed from receiving health benefits for themselves or for their significant other because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Right on to all that! Great progress, I’d say, in the face of so many hurdles. The roadblock tension between President Obama and House Speaker Boehner and many Congressional Republicans was heavy in the air. The President’s frustration was apparent as he joked about his willingness to do anything, even wash the cars and walk the dogs of congress members, to make some leeway on bills that have been on the table for months. It’s wonderful to be part of these candid sessions of policy-making, and to be able to share with you some under-the-table insights about how progress moves forward. What’s frustrating to me, of course, is how tediously difficult it is, what with so many deeply entrenched positions . . . not only between parties, but within parties. It is, sometimes, amazing that anything gets done. Luckily, on Fair Pay and a Safe Workplace, the President carried the day.

To my amazement, we were joined personally and in depth by members of the Mandela family. Across the table were Zondwa and Lindo Mandela from the Mandela Legacy. With them were George Monyemangene, South Africa Consul General to the United States and Bernard Legodi, South Africa Consul to the United States. Rounding out the stellar group was Sello Hatang, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

What they communicated to us was challenging.

In its 20th anniversary this year, the democracy of South Africa lovingly crafted by Nelson Mandela is at a crossroads of significance. The enormous promise of a fully diverse culture where everyone participates is, at many turns, in a compromised reality. Much of this will play out in the coming national elections in May. Citizens across social and economic bands are expressing concern about how to deliver prosperity more evenly, especially to the country’s enormous, mostly black, underclass.

Consider these few wide-ranging facts about South Africa’s Black population after 20 years as a diverse democracy (taken from New York Times and Wall Street Journal reporting):

• Close to 53% remain below poverty level vs. less than 2% for Whites
• Only 15% have a high school diploma or better vs. 75% for Whites
• 10% have private health insurance vs. 75% for Whites
• Some 32% have in-house tap water vs. 97% for Whites
• Unemployment is some 26% vs. about 7% for Whites

One widely used measure (the GINI coefficient) ranks South Africa today – with a most diverse culture of Blacks, Whites, Indian/Asian and Mixed Race – as one of the least equal nations in the world.

A lack of even and equal opportunity is at the heart of this. And that is something that corporations know how to address collaboratively with success, for their own betterment and for nations, too. I am keenly looking forward to our Chevron-sponsored time together as we push the Mandela mandate forward.