Janet Stovall: How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Janet Stovall is an inclusion advocate and speech writer striving towards a Master's degree in integrated marketing communications from Georgetown University. In 1985, as one of the few African American students attending Davidson College in North Carolina, Stovall witnessed racism and exclusion firsthand. Her experiences and single-mindedness influenced her to write a plan to bring about change. In this talk, she discusses the power of single-mindedness and how businesses can dismantle racism encouraging people to feel safe to work as their unassimilated and authentic selves.

Rocío Lorenzo: How Diversity Makes Teams More Innovative

Rocío Lorenzo is a managing director and senior executive advisor in telecommunications and media. For fifteen years, Lorenzo worked as a manager consultant across Europe and the US. As she entered many rooms, Lorenzo realized she would be the only woman present; this influenced her to research diversity and its impact on innovation. In this talk, Lorenzo discusses how her team's survey of 171 companies proves that diversity makes companies more innovative and how embracing diversity provides an opportunity for everyone.

Baratunde Thurston: How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time

Baratunde Thurston is an emmy-nominated writer and activist that has worked for The Onion, produced for The Daily Show, and has advised the Obama White house. Experiencing systemic racism firsthand, Thurston decided to dissect the structure of White supremacy in the media. In this talk, he discusses how the structure of White supremacy incriminates Black people for simply living encouraging us to change our actions---which will lead to a change in the stories being reported and eventually alter the system of racism "one headline at a time".

Elizabeth Lesser: Take "the Other" to lunch

Elizabeth Lesser is an author and cofounder of Omega Institute---a renowned conference and retreat center located in Rhinebeck, New York. As a student who studied with spiritual teachers, healers, psychologists, and philosophers, Lesser explores various dimensions of human nature which she refers to as "the mystic" and "the warrior". In this talk, she uses these dimensions to describe how different sides of human beings contribute to how we treat each other. Lesser presents a simple way to communicate with "others" (people who are different from you)---suggesting to go to lunch with someone who shares opposing beliefs, create ground rules, and ask them questions to discover what's really inside their hearts.

Wanis Kabbaj: How nationalism and globalism can coexist

Wanis Kabbaj is a global citizen and director of global strategy for healthcare logistics at UPS. As a dual citizen of Morocco and France, Kabbaj has experienced cultural transitions that enabled him to view issues through non-traditional lenses and blend disciplines that are usually kept separate. In this talk, Kabbaj explores nationalism and globalism. He asks why we must choose between loving our country and caring for the world. Using the perception of nationalists and globalists in the media, Kabbaj explains how we can challenge binary thinking and be simultaneously proud citizens of our country and the world.

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