Diversity & Inclusion
News
WDN digital news is your source for articles by expert contributors and acknowledged professionals in the field of workplace inclusion, as well as curated content relevant to the benefits diversity brings to strengthening a community. Last updated 6/16/20.
Community News
WDN Statements of Racial Equity
Guest Blog: For Your Consideration – and Action (By Michael Boucher)
Guest Blog: For Your Consideration – and Action (By Michael Boucher)
Our Members have made statements opposing racism in all its forms, aiming to draw more attention to the actions and commitments being made throughout our region and encourage others to do their part. As we unite in our efforts we, commit to the vision that our differences indeed make us stronger.
Guest Blog: For Your Consideration – and Action (By Michael Boucher)
Guest Blog: For Your Consideration – and Action (By Michael Boucher)
Guest Blog: For Your Consideration – and Action (By Michael Boucher)
One was a repost from Protest Therapist @ihategender (posted by Nanette D. Massey) that said: ‘Too many aspiring white allies think racial justice is about diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism. No, no, no sweetie. This is about overthrowing power that benefits you, disproportionately often exclusively. Are you ready to sacrifice access, entitlement, innocence?’ The other was Tre Johnson’s article in the Washington Post “When black people are in pain, white people just join book clubs”.
Local Author Publishes New Book on How to Be an Ally to the LGBTQ+ Communities
Local Author Publishes New Book on How to Be an Ally to the LGBTQ+ Communities
Local Author Publishes New Book on How to Be an Ally to the LGBTQ+ Communities
The Savvy Ally: A Guide for Becoming a Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate is an enjoyable, humorous, encouraging, easy to understand guidebook for being an ally to the LGBTQ+ communities. It is loaded with innovative and useful tools for creating LGBTQ+ inclusive spaces and advocating for change. It will surely jump-start even the most tentative ally.
Rochester Business Journal Diversity & Inclusion Mastermind Summit 2020
Local Author Publishes New Book on How to Be an Ally to the LGBTQ+ Communities
Local Author Publishes New Book on How to Be an Ally to the LGBTQ+ Communities
1 Remaining Online Sessions
July 14, 2020
Due to Covid-19 and social distancing requirements this event will be an online series in three sessions
Session 3: Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Panel Discussions: How to develop a culture of Diversity & Inclusion; How do we achieve success?
Member News
WDN Welcomes New Member
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes Appoints Jennifer Lake as CEO
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes Appoints Jennifer Lake as CEO
We are pleased to welcome ESL to the Workforce Diversity Network! ESL is the largest locally led financial services institution in the Greater Rochester area. With assets of $6.9 billion, ESL is one of the largest credit unions in New York State, and ranks in the top 1% of more than 7,000 federally insured credit unions in the U.S.
ESL has made the nationally recognized Great Place to Work® Best Small & Medium Workplaces list nine times since 2010.
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes Appoints Jennifer Lake as CEO
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes Appoints Jennifer Lake as CEO
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes Appoints Jennifer Lake as CEO
The Board of Directors of Goodwill of the Finger Lakes has appointed Jennifer Lake as chief executive officer, effective immediately. She replaces Dr. A. Gidget Hopf, who is retiring after 34 years.
Zoom Meetings?
COVID-19 Member Resources
COVID-19 Member Resources
We all miss the interactive opportunities our member meetings provide, and since we have been unable to conduct our meetings in person due to the coronavirus pandemic, please let us know if you would like us to set up our meetings via Zoom:
COVID-19 Member Resources
COVID-19 Member Resources
COVID-19 Member Resources
Our members have developed great resources related to COVID-19 and the workplace that we wanted to share so we have included a new section dedicated to this key information and articles. We will continue to update this page regularly, so if you have additional resources, links or articles you wish to contribute or share, please email us.
Career Opportunities
Check out WDN Members' individual career sites for a list of current openings.
WDN Expert Contributor Articles
Eyes And Ears Wide Shut – The Silence Is Deafening
Seven Questions You Can Use To Talk With Your Children About The Unrest In America
Seven Questions You Can Use To Talk With Your Children About The Unrest In America
By Mauricio Velásquez
Expert Forum Contributor
I have always specialized in hostile or militant audiences but from time to time even I have to step back and pause for a second. Current events are always “fair game” in my workshops; it is what makes my sessions current, electric and never boring. Recent moments of truth in my sessions lead me to pen an update to the original article I wrote many years ago. The recent rash of horrible racial injustices (some say pattern) of Ahmaud Arbery to Breonna Taylor to George Floyd to Amy Cooper has erupted into a national conversation about racial injustice, white privilege, inequity, diversity, inclusion, and more.
Seven Questions You Can Use To Talk With Your Children About The Unrest In America
Seven Questions You Can Use To Talk With Your Children About The Unrest In America
Seven Questions You Can Use To Talk With Your Children About The Unrest In America
By William Shackelford
Expert Forum Contributor
In 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated I was a college student in Atlanta Georgia and immediately thrusted into the middle of the movement that would change the nation. We had great leaders in the Black community in Atlanta – and in the nation – who helped us understand, process and react to the events around us. In 1992 riots broke out in America after the acquittal of the four police officers involved in the beating of Rodney King. My three kids were all teenagers at the time, and we talked with them to help them understand, process and react to the events around them. Unfortunately, we are here again in a confusing and terrible time of racial strife in America.
Five Ways Leaders Can Reduce Anxiety and Prevent Panic Right Now
Seven Questions You Can Use To Talk With Your Children About The Unrest In America
Five Ways Leaders Can Reduce Anxiety and Prevent Panic Right Now
By Simma Lieberman
Expert Forum Contributor
We are in the midst of a disruptive crisis no matter how “positive thinking police” try to spin it. As the Covid-19 quarantine continues with people working from home, with little or no social interaction, some of your team members may start experiencing a deeper level of anxiety. No one knows when or how it will end or what the “new normal” will look like. That anxiety due to seemingly uncertain futures and not knowing how or when the crisis will end, can cause some people to panic, lose focus about their work and disengage from the team.
Getting People Back to Making Decisions After Covid-19
Getting People Back to Making Decisions After Covid-19
Five Ways Leaders Can Reduce Anxiety and Prevent Panic Right Now
By Robert Wendover
Expert Forum Contributor
The past two months have been chaotic, to say the least. We have been ripped from our routines, sent home, and told to stay off the streets until further notice. Millions have had their incomes disrupted and their daily concentration destroyed by the ongoing uncertainty. And now, after weeks of this turbulence, we will be asked to return to
the previous routine, albeit with some significant changes.
To Sing or Not to Sing
Getting People Back to Making Decisions After Covid-19
How to End the Generation War
By Steve Hanamura
Expert Forum Contributor
Shortly after I moved to Portland in 1980 a colleague, knowing my background with high school and college choirs, invited me to join the Choral Arts Ensemble, a forty-voice group that primarily sang classical music. Oddly enough we were invited to sing back up on a number with singer/songwriter Barry Manilow during his concert here in town. When we showed up for rehearsal the producer took one look at me and walked over to our director and said, "He can't sing."
How to End the Generation War
Getting People Back to Making Decisions After Covid-19
How to End the Generation War
By Simma Lieberman
Expert Forum Contributor
I’ve been facilitating cross-generational dialogues for over ten years. I started them because I was tired of one-dimensional conversations filled with bias and wrong assumptions about people who were older or younger. After the first three sessions, it was clear to me that we have a lot to learn from each other. Cross-generational mentoring became an integral part of my inclusive leadership coaching process