Former Michigan Governor formally charged for poisoning thousands of predominantly Black Flint citizens with water containing lead. In 2014, when the city of Flint was forced by the state to begin taking its water supply from the Flint river rather than using water from nearby Detroit as it had for…
Accountability
Why Most Diversity Programs Are Doomed to Fail
Political and cultural commentator David Brooks wrote a column in The New York Times that ran during the holidays while most people were not working. He cited a column in Anthropology Now, which was published in 2018, and asserted that diversity training doesn’t work. I agree. Since starting DiversityInc 23…
America’s Biggest Companies Profit Despite Massive Layoffs; MacKenzie Scott Donates $4.1 Billion to Charity; and More
America’s biggest companies have profited greatly from the coronavirus, even as they drastically cut their workforce. In the ultimate example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, a new Washington Post survey has revealed that between April and September, 45 of the 50 most valuable publicly traded…
Are We Self-Destructive?: What The 2020 Election Cliffhanger Tells Us About Ourselves
A good friend of mine sent me an interesting article two days after Election Day 2020 and asked me what I thought. I’ll warn you: If you’re white and have never read an analysis like this, prepare yourself. It’s tough love — from as early as the headline: “America’s Problem…
Women’s Jobs Disproportionately Slashed by COVID-19 Economic Crisis
The coronavirus pandemic continues its attack on working women, new data shows. Despite women’s invaluable role in U.S. recovery during previous recessions, new demands on families and professionals from COVID-19 are falling even more squarely on women’s shoulders this time around. Some economists are calling this phenomenon the first “female…
How to Solve the “We Can’t Find Them” Problem
Although Wells Fargo has been in the news lately, “we can’t find them” is an excuse I’ve heard hundreds of times over the years as well. The difference between Wells Fargo and other companies whose leadership teams have never even tried (Google, Facebook, Oracle, the Academy Awards) is that Wells…
Leadership Lessons to be Gleaned from Ellen DeGeneres’ Toxic Workplace Scandal
Ellen DeGeneres began her daytime talk show’s 18th season with an apology after a summer of allegations against her that claimed her show promoted a toxic work environment rife with racism, sexual misconduct and other mistreatment. In August 2020, three senior producers — executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman…
EEOC Unearths Years of Intentional Age Discrimination within IBM
After a long investigation, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has revealed that IBM leaders had directed managers to replace older workers with younger ones. Between 2013 and 2018, nearly 86% of those considered for layoffs within the organization were older employees over the age of 40. The investigation showed…
Ask the Chairman: Is Criticism of Schumer and Pelosi Ageism?
Originally published on January 14, 2019. I received a comment from a reader on my last column. Here’s the gist of it: “I did not tweet or post (your last column) because of the ageist comment/s made about Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. I have no problem with them being…
Why Capitalizing the ‘B’ in Black Still Matters for Cultural Competence and Accurate Representation
With the Black Lives Matter movement still in full force, corporations paying more attention to diversity and inclusion, and leaders of African descent being placed in the forefront, the debate about the capitalization of “Black” in mainstream media has been one of high significance. Cultural identity has been at the…