One of the great privileges of working in the field of DEI is the sheer variety of people I get to meet and know - Case in point the opening panel of my most recent DEI event featured an Irishman who grew up during the Troubles, a Zimbabwean poet and a DEI leader from Mexico who now leads that function at a leading US tech company.
That event was also where I first met Ashley - Advocate, Author, VP of Diversity in Financial Services. One of the many things that makes her special is she recognizes the diversity we all have within us and urges and coaches people to take their uniqueness and use it to power their success.
Based on her own life experiences, that include homelessness, harassment and overcoming discrimination, Ashley shares her inspirational message of not trying to fit in but rather connect with who you are and share that gift with the world. Ashley shows you how you can take to heart the now common adage of "bringing one's whole self to work" and how you can use that energy to drive success in your career and life
This is an essential message for both DEI leaders and individual employees.
Ashley details 10 empowering actions you can take in her book Empowering Differences. While we touch on most in this conversation we concentrate on four of them:
Know Yourself
Inspire
Develop Your Strategy
Take Action
You can find out more about Ashley and her work at www.empoweringdifferences.com or get a copy of her book Empowering Differences
For more info on my work as a conference emcee, spoken word artist, panel moderator and event designer check out my site at https://conferencebard.ca/