Voices From the 4th Annual CDO Forum

Diversity Matters Community -

At Diversity Matters we are committed to giving voice to the power of inclusion in the workplace and in the world. As part of our role as the online broadcast partner of the Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute (JBCI), last week the entire Diversity Matters team participated in the 4th Annual Chief Diversity Officers Forum sponsored by the JBCI at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro North Carolina. For three days we captured the voices and stories of CEO’s, CDO’s, participants as well as other national and international thought leaders and practitioners in the field of diversity and inclusion.

On tomorrow’s episode we bring you highlights from the CDO Forum and the voices of:

• Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, president of Bennett College for Women and Chair of the Board of the Johnnetta B. Cole Institute
• Baroness Valerie Amos, Leader of the House of Lords, United Kingdom - Parliament
• Brian Gallagher, CEO of the United Way of America
• Rick Anicetti, President & CEO of Food Lion, LLC
• Stephen Pemberton, Chief Diversity Officer, Monster.com
• Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Economist, Author and incoming President of Bennett College for Women

Given our commitment to providing each and everyone a voice and a vehicle for participating in critical conversations about diversity and inclusion join Judy and Richard as they share their own highlights, lessons learned and thoughts about the conference’s themes of Innovation and Strengthening the Pipeline. Please add your voice to the conversation live by sharing your perspectives, insights and experiences about diversity and inclusion. Call 866-472-5790 this Friday, March 30, 2007 at 10AM (eastern). Listen to Diversity Matters live or on demand at ww.diversitymatters.info.

More about the CDO Forum:
While Judy (my co-host and co-founder) and Mary (one of our producers) had been to past CDO Forums, this was my first. It was truly a remarkable gathering of thought leaders, business leaders and a broad range of practitioners creating a movement to build inclusion in the workplace and as Dr. Cole says, throughout the worldplace.

Over the past year, Diversity Matters has teamed up with the JBCI to be their broadcasting partner and we inaugurated this relationship at the CDO Forum. Given our commitment to giving voice to the power of inclusion, we interviewed many of the CEO’s, CDO’s, presenters and participants, in order to capture their thoughts, concerns, struggles and celebrate their successes. Tomorrow’s episode of Diversity Matters will highlight some of these voices from the CDO Forum. We will also continue to bring additional voices inspired from the JBCI and the CDO Forum to future episodes of our show, in order to continue the conversations that this community of committed leaders and practitioners engaged in during last week’s conference.

Personal Highlights:
For me personally, there were several highlights at the conference. First of all, I got even clearer that the purpose we stand for at Diversity Matters, to give voice to individual stories regarding diversity and inclusion is critical in moving people and organizations from thinking to action. The Forum’s themes were Innovation and Addressing the Diversity Pipeline. Repeatedly, the challenge of taking action – moving from understanding to sustainable change, was named. Like many of the participants at the conference, I was most moved to action through the conversations and personal stories shared with me by other participants, presenters and in particular by Jennifer Obakhume our Diversity Matters intern.

CEO Panel:
For example, on the CEO Panel, Rick Anicetti (President & CEO of Food Lion LLC), Daryl Brewster (CEO of Krispy Kreme), Brian Gallagher (CEO of United Way of America, and Richard “Dick” Macedonia, CEO of Sodexo all spoke from the heart about their personal challenges in leading diversity and inclusion efforts within their companies. When Dr. Johnnetta Cole asked the panel, “What keeps you up at night?” Rick Anicetti spoke about the importance of addressing inclusion from a social justice perspective. One thing he said he keeps him up at night is, “Talking about how bad it is (i.e. lack of social justice), is talking about how bad I am.” This statement helped me to see Rick as CEO in a very human and vulnerable way. It also reinforced that no matter where we are or who we are, that ultimately it comes back to “me” and I must first look inside before pointing out.

Dr. Cole acknowledged that while all of the men on this panel are engaged, and CEO engagement in building inclusion is necessary, it’s not sufficient. Building trust and respect on the executive team and throughout the organization is critical for people to take risks and to grow. Someone on the panel said, “Without trust and respect we clone the status quo.” The authentic voice and story of the CEO’s for me was a highlight. It also underscored the importance of candor, and self-awareness (including knowing what you don’t know) as key components of trustworthiness.

In fact, our next episode of Diversity Matters (April 1, 2007) addresses the role of trust in promoting inclusion. Our guest will be author, consultant and friend of Diversity Matters Dr. Delorese Ambrose whose newest tool is the Interpersonal Trust Profile which assesses trustworthiness the key ingredient in leadership, teamwork, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Women of Color Panel:
Diversity Matters’ own Noelle Richardson participated on a panel of women of color to address “Strengthening the Pipeline.” All of the panelists spoke about the importance of mentoring to ensure that the pipeline of talent grows and doesn’t get clogged or blocked. Noelle highlighted the important exchange that happens in effective mentoring relationships. She spoke particularly to the role that the “mentee” plays in developing the mentor as a way to strengthen the pipeline.

While I understand and have experienced the value of “reverse mentoring,” this week I also re-lived its power. On the Diversity Matters team is a young woman named Jennifer Obakhume. Jennifer is a freshman at Bennett College and a Diversity Matters intern. Last week was the first time all of us were face to face. Over meals and during our meetings we were able to all get to know each other through conversation at a deeper level than our phone meetings have allowed. During one of our team meetings, Jennifer said “I have no doubt that one of the purposes that drew me to Bennett College, 3000 miles from my home in Los Angeles was to be here right now with this group, on this team. What is your purpose? What is YOUR purpose in calling this forth?” The power of her question and the clarity with which she asked THE fundamental question for our team catalyzed a process to take our work to the next level.

At its best, mentoring is an exchange. At its best, narrative is also an exchange – an exchange between story teller and listener. It gives voice to the question or perhaps inspires an answer. Even if the answer is not entirely clear, knowing the question and living in the question may be exactly what’s necessary for taking action. Thank you Jennifer, for bringing voice to the question and inspiring us all to show up clearer and more purposeful.

I ask each of you, “Who are your mentees and what have they taught you?” Please add your thoughts, comments and experiences regarding the conference or the inclusion movement here on the blog. Let’s keep the conversation going.

Richard Friend, Ph.D.

Co-Founder and Co-Host