Diversity Goes to Work

Today we’re joined by Josh Miller. Josh is a queer change-maker, public speaker, photographer, and outdoor explorer. As a two-time TEDx speaker who has engaged Fortune 500 and international audiences from Colorado to Salzburg, he has been called a trailblazing voice that will continue to shape the intersections of people, strategy, the leaders of the future and DEIA change initiatives. He was honored with the 2022 Non Profit Visionary Leader Award from the Louisville Business First, and was selected for Business Equality Magazine’s 40 LGBTQ+ Leaders Under 40. Miller’s work has been featured by the New York Times, the Aspen Institute, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

If you’d like to follow William & Mary’s School of Business or learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion podcast and our programs, please visit us at www.mason.wm.edu.

If you’re a business leader or corporate executive and you have your hands in your organizations DEI work, right now you’re probably pretty bewildered. The world seems to be spinning faster than ever before, and if you’re an organization, it’s pretty difficult right now to know which stakeholder demands you respond to; and also which do you respond to the fastest. Our guests today have some ideas how to ground your organization’s DEI efforts in sustainability, in authenticity, in transparency, and in innovation. Bertina Ceccarelli is the CEO of NPower, a leading non-profit in empowering young adults and military connected individuals to kickstart their tech careers; and Susanne Tedrick is a celebrated writer and speaker devoted to celebrating diversity in tech.

If you’d like to follow William & Mary’s School of Business or learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion podcast and our programs, please visit us at www.mason.wm.edu.

We know that in 2021 workers returned from the pandemic to a workplace with new demands; mounting demands for corporate leaders to take concrete steps to promote racial equity, social justice, and beyond. Those calls were clear and organizations responded, but that doesn’t mean it’s been an easy journey along the way. Today’s guest knows that quite well. Ashley Marchand Orme - JUST Capital’s director of equity initiatives - is an expert on data-backed corporate diversity insights. She has a wealth of experience leading DEI efforts in board-level oversight. Her background as a journalist and an editor lends a unique perspective to her work.

If you’d like to follow William & Mary’s School of Business or learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion podcast and our programs, please visit us at www.mason.wm.edu.

We can’t really have a conversation about DEI without acknowledging that so many DEI efforts, so many DEI programs, so many DEI initiatives - they fail. But why? Why do so many DEI programs fail despite our leaders’ best intentions? Our guest today has some great insight. He says, “any effort to mitigate bias and grow inclusivity within an organization has to begin with its people. At the end of the day, organizations don’t change. People change.” Dr. Randal Pickett is an entrepreneur, innovator, and DEI expert. He’s the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of BCT Partners, a global research, training, and data analytics firm whose mission is to provide insights about diverse people that will lead to equity. Dr. Pinkett was also the first - and only - African American to win the top honor on the hit reality TV show “The Apprentice.”

If you’d like to follow William & Mary’s School of Business or learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion podcast and our programs, please visit us at www.mason.wm.edu.

Today we welcome back Dr. Sarah Federman. Dr. Federman is an author, educator, and conflict resolution practitioner. She’s currently a faculty member at the Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego. Dr. Federman studies and explores the concept of reckoning, and produces some of the most interesting and engaging research. She joins host Phil Wagner to talk about her latest book “Transformative Negotiation: Strategies for Everyday Change and Equitable Futures,” and so much more.

If you’d like to follow William & Mary’s School of Business or learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion podcast and our programs, please visit us at www.mason.wm.edu.

On today’s show we welcome Tara Borchers, a graduate of the William & Mary MBA program, who has had a multi-dimensional career since leaving Miller Hall. In the past two years, she has served at PRA Group as both the Global HRIS director, and as head of Diversity and Inclusion and HR Technology. Tara talks about how she transitioned from an MBA professional to doing DEI work, what influences her global lens for diversity, and so much more.

If you’d like to follow William & Mary’s School of Business or learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion podcast and our programs, please visit us at www.mason.wm.edu.

Today, we’re really excited to speak with Jesse Ross. Jesse is a DEI consultant, executive coach, an international speaker, and is extremely well-traveled; having delivered over 400 engagements at colleges, conferences, corporations, non-profits, and beyond. He has worked with a number of clients on their DEI initiatives, including LinkedIn, General Mills, the NBA, and more. He’s a father, a husband, and a community leader.

If you’d like to follow William & Mary’s School of Business or learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion podcast and our programs, please visit us at www.mason.wm.edu.

Our guest today is Dr. Katherine Barko-Alva, assistant professor and Director of the ESL bilingual education program at the William & Mary School of Education. As a bilingual scholar herself, her research agenda is rooted in classroom practices and explores how dual-language bilingual education educators make sense of language in culturally and linguistically diverse K-12 content. 

If you’d like to follow William & Mary’s School of Business or learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion podcast and our programs, please visit us at www.mason.wm.edu.

Our guest today is Devon Peterika, a dynamic and accomplished HR professional, with over 20 years of work in HR and the DEI leadership space. Devon has a multi-faceted background in HR in a variety of institutions of higher education, and she currently serves as the Diversity and Inclusion leader in the oil and gas industry. What we love most about Devon’s work is that she advances DEI work through very intention and specific organizational and HR strategies. 

If you’d like to follow William & Mary’s School of Business or learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion podcast and our programs, please visit us at www.mason.wm.edu.

Today on the show we’re pleased to be joined by Everett Harper, CEO of Truss - a human-centered software development company that has been designated by Inc Magazine as a Fastest Growing Company for the past two years. Everett’s book “Move to the Edge, Declare it Center: Practices and Processes for Creatively Solving Complex Problems” was released in March of 2022. Everett and host Phil Wagner talk about the very means and challenges of creating a DEI infrastructure for both leaders, employees, and more. 

If you’d like to follow William & Mary’s School of Business or learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion podcast and our programs, please visit us at www.mason.wm.edu.