A Passion for Diversity

Some people work at their jobs because they have to				with senior level responsibility and salary.Deb says her
make a living, and they get to express themselves				passion for diversity only continues to grow. She was
after work. Some people have careers that they love,				a founding member of the Conference Board
and have a hard time not taking home their work with				Workforce Council on Diversity 13 years ago . "I have
them when they go home. And then there are				never been around anything else that keeps me
successful people in the diversity field. They have a				stimulated 24 hours a day. I rarely read anything that is
passion for diversity and they live their work. Whether				not in the field. I have a global vision and I want to help
or not they take their work home with them, their work				create the kind of world that does not just tolerate
is always driven by the values they live every day, and				differences, but one where people are truly respectful
their lives are driven by the values they promote at				and inclusive of other s, the kind of world that is
work.When organizations began to embrace diversity				healthy for our children."Edgar Quiroz is the Director of
in the 1980s, many of them thought that diversity				Workforce Diversity at Kaiser Permanente's National
training was the answer. They thought that if every				Diversity Department. He told me, "I really never sought
employee attended a diversity training class, biases,				to get involved with diversity work, diversity work got
complaints and lawsuits would disappear and				involved with me." He grew up in San Francisco in a
everyone would work together in harmony forever.				diverse neighborhood with African-Americans, Asians,
There were two kinds of people engaged in diversity				Caucasians and Latinos like himself. While attending
training, education and organizational development.				high school in the 1970s he was active in community
There were those who thought of it as program or a				student leadership. "I organized youth in under served
trend. These people read a few books, took a				communities city wide to help them with jobs, careers,
train-the-trainer class or bought one in the mail and				and educational enhancement. Not one of my past job
called themselves experts. The second group knew				descriptions ever included diversity as a duty, but I
that it was a process, not a one day program and that				always managed to weave diversity work into my
in order to create change they needed to live it, learn it				functions. As a boy, my father and I walked the picket
and continually develop their passion for it. They were				lines with Cesar Chavez in support of the UFW." He
cognizant of the need to integrate diversity into the				began working at SF General Hospital as a youth
business strategy of any organization and the rest of				outreach worker. "I worked with young people who
their lives. They also knew there were no quick				were homeless, drug and alcohol addicted, prostitutes,
fixes-that it took patience, and time-but change was				battered and abused.Today Edgar says he is
possible.The first group lost interest and went on to				privileged to be the Director of Workforce Diversity for
something else but people in the second group are still				Kaiser Permanente where he has worked for 20
here helping to create change They're working to				years. During this time he was a founding board
create inclusive environments where all people can do				member and past president of the Kaiser Permanente
their best work and have their individual skills and				Latino Association. "I chose Kaiser Permanente
talents, recognized, appreciated and utilized.I wanted to				because their social mission on community wellnes,
know more about this passion for diversity and where				diversity and cultural competency are aligned with my
it came from. What drives some individuals to maintain				own. My primary three areas of involvement are: 1)
their personal mission, vision and values despite				Enhance the diversity, cultural competence, skill and
resistance, challenges and nay sayers. I interviewed				performance of our workforce; 2) Provide culturally
four people whose passion for diversity is so great it's				competent medical care and culturally appropriate
like a magnetic force that continues to get stronger				service to improve the health and satisfaction of our
and attract everything in its path. These four people				increasing diversity membership; 3) Grow our
are Terry Howard, Director of Diversity for Texas				membership through effective market segmentation
Instruments; Michele Atlas from Workforce Diversity				approaches that target specific populations which are
Network; Deb Dagit, Executive Diversity Director at				the fastest growing segments of our society".Diversity
Merck; and, Edgar Quiroz, Director of Strategic				impacts his personal life every day. His family is
Initiatives and Innovation at Kaiser Permanente.I asked				bi-racial, and it is important to him that they all know,
all of them, Why did you get involved in diversity? Here				embrace and celebrate both his Latino culture and the
are their stories:Terry Howard, Director of Diversity at				African-American culture. "My passion for diversity has
Texas Instruments, has a long-standing and personal				increased to a point that far exceeded any of my
connection with diversity. "As an African-American				expectations. It's only gotten better and I maintain my
male, I've been involved in and experienced diversity				lifetime relationships with mentors and colleagues. I love
my entire life. From a career standpoint, I actually got				my work, and there is a lot more work to do. As a
involved in this work by 'default.' During the mid 1980s, I				country we have to pay more attention to populations
managed a group charged with delivering employment				that have been ignored so more people have access
and EEO service for AT&T. Our client base was very				to quality health care. I remain optimistic and hopeful. I
diverse and that itself heightened my interest in this				am inspired by all others who are also working for
work. The challenge of fostering awareness of that				change."Michelle Atlas began her career in Vocational
growing diversity and leveraging it was most intriguing				Rehabilitation in Rochester, New York over 13 years
to me. In 1986, I read the Hudson Institute report				ago. Seven years ago, she was hired by the
Workforce 2000. This ignited me and I knew I wanted				Rochester Business Alliance to create a new program
to help break new ground."Terry's passion and his				to provide employment services to people with
involvement in diversity continue to grow. He now				disabilities. After the first year, she was asked to
supports 15 diversity affinity groups at Texas				represent the Rochester Business Alliance at the
Instruments, as well as the many business level				Workforce Diversity Network, an organization whose
diversity committees and their annual diversity				mission is to create a nationwide learning network to
conferences. "In between, I write a monthly internal				support organizations in learning more about the
diversity column and issue periodic diversity tips on the				benefits of diversity in the workplace, and is expanding
full range of diversity topics, and I speak on diversity				to other areas in the USA "I didn't know a lot about
and inclusion at meetings and retreats internally and				other areas of diversity beyond disability, but as I
externally ." Recently he founded the Diversity				began to learn about all the other dimensions, diversity
Connection Symposium for Texas Diversity				and inclusion became so important to me and I kept
Professionals, a group consisting of representatives				learning and expanding my knowledge base about
from Shell Oil, Price Waterhouse, First American, Intel,				every component." As a representative, Michele got to
Intuit, JC Penny, Delotte and others and delivered talks				meet diversity leadership in various kinds of
in France and China. He takes his passion for diversity				organizations. She learned more about diversity
and inclusion to the community, having participated in a				initiatives and issues that organizations were dealing
community march against hate. "One of the things I'm				with. "I felt a very strong affinity for this work. I went
most proud of is my role in the successful integration				from being a representative to the Diversity
of religion and faith in the workplace amid lots of				Workforce Network to serving on the board and
skepticism." He said that people were still talking about				becoming a part time staff member; working with the
the standing room only session "When Traditional				Executive director, and coordinating membership and
Religion Meets Sexual Orientation". When asked what				organizing our national conference. I love the spirit of
drives him his reply was, "My passion is driven by my				the other people who do this kind of work. My passion
curiosity about the far-reaching implications of diversity				comes from being a part of something that is so good
and getting organizations to see that connection. It				for the world at so many levels. I'm excited by other
never stops."Deb Dagit, Executive Director of Diversity				cultures, and I am part of an incredible program called
for Merck, told me that she had lived months at a time				the Mosaic Partnership where leaders in our region are
from when she was 11 to 16 in the Shriners Hospital to				partnered with someone from a different race and
receive treatment for a bone condition that resulted in				participate in group coaching sessions."Michelle talked
fractures and bone deformities. She was there with				about how crucial it is for people in the health care field
other children who had bone and burn disabilities from				to be culturally competent. Besides her part time work
all over the world. "I became close to kids from all over				with WDN, she consults, coaches and trains people
the world who were also living in the hospital for				who employ people with disabilities to be more
months at a time, cut off from families and "normal" life				culturally competent. "My learning points have been to
. I learned what we had in common was more				honestly assess my own biases and to then be able
significant than what was different, regardless of our				to help other people assess their own and feel safe.
cultural differences."During the time she spent in public				Learning about my own biases has been very
school she was separated from the rest of her class				liberating and other people I work with have said that it
as schools were not required to integrate children with				is true for them. If we want to move forward from
disabilities and therefore there were many restrictions				diversity to inclusion we have to identify our subtle
on how she was allowed to attend. She had to sit right				biases and work through them. I hope I never stop
next to the teacher's desk and was not allowed to go				learning."Although these four individuals are from
to recess or lunch with the other kids. In describing her				different industries and came to diversity work from
experiences she says, "Because of how I was				different experiences and backgrounds, they share
treated, I related to other kids who were also seen as				certain qualities and experiences that contribute to their
needing extra attention from the teacher, whether for				passion for diversity. From Deb's voracious reading of
behavioral issues or learning challenges . Issues of				diversity books to Michele's personal involvement with
fairness, respect and inclusion became very important				the Mosaic Partnership, we see that these four
to me as I observed who was singled out and how				remarkable individuals have all cultivated lifestyles that
this caused them to be treated by other members of				support their passion for diversity. They live and
the class ." After graduation, Dagit tutored people who				breathe diversity-both coming from diverse
immigrated from Vietnam after the war. She saw how				backgrounds and seeking out diverse interactions and
they struggled to learn the language, culture, and to fit				experiences. They have all adopted learning
in with other kids.She explained that there is a				orientations so they can continue to develop their own
disproportionate number of people with disabilities who				cultural competence and help others to do the same.
are veterans and who are from minority backgrounds				Moreover, as we saw with Edgar's work with
for a variety of reasons , and that along with diversity				underserved communities and Terry's work with
issues amongst people with disabilities who come from				"Traditional Religion Meets Sexual Orientation" in the
different backgrounds, there are diversity issues				workplace, the passion of these four diversity leaders
around different types of disabilities. "Some disabilities				is driven by a lot of 'Cs': courage, concern, and
are more stigmatized than others," she noted.Her				commitment to diversity initiatives. Be it Terry's
experiences inspired her to become a diversity leader.				commitment to helping organizations understand the
She traveled to Washington DC and spoke to				implications of diversity, Deb's global goals for a better
lawmakers about the importance of passing the ADA				world, Edgar's views on what this country needs to
and fought against weakening amendments . "During				better meet the health needs of its diverse population,
that time I thought about struggles and victories like				or Michele's emphasis on breaking down barriers
Brown vs. the Board of Education and the Voting				through helping people safely address their own biases,
Rights Act, and the importance of civil rights for all				this is truly a visionary group of professionals. Most
people. This experience also caused her to realize the				importantly, their visions are long-term, powerful, and
importance of 'reasonable accommodation' for all				important ones that they consistently move forward a
employees as a foundation for what are now called				day at a time. These are the kinds of diversity leaders
'work environment' initiatives.""In my first corporate job				that we need working in rganizations of all kinds.For an
out of college I was told very matter of factly that I				organization to successfully leverage the diversity of
would never get beyond an 8 or 9 dollar and hour				its organization to improve its performance three
entry level job. After about 5-6 years I began to				concurrent imperatives must be in place. First, diversity
realize that they were serious about this low ceiling, so				must be part of your overall business strategy and,
l left the corporate world for four years and I worked				secondly, your organization must move from
in the non-profit sector primarily on disability issues . As				representation and numbers to inclusion at every level.
comfortable and engaging as it was to be with my				Finally, you will only be successful if you bring in
"tribe," I knew that to effect real systemic changes				diversity leaders who not only have knowledge of but
more broadly. it needed to be from the inside out,				a passion for diversity.Simma Lieberman is a
companies nee d to see diversity and inclusion as				consultant and speaker who helps organizations
important to the success of their business and				create more profitable cultures. She specializes in
consistent with the workplace ethics and corporate				Diversity and Inclusion, Gender Communication and
social responsibility values the espouse. When I				Power Living. Contact Simma to help your organization
re-entered the private sector it was as an executive				and the people in it be more successful.

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A Passion for Diversity

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