Diversity Goes to Work

The adage says “It’s lonely at the top.” And in today’s fast-paced world, a conversation around mental health and wellness seems more crucial than ever before - especially in the workplace. But when we peel back the layers of corporate suits and titles, we uncover a less talked about issue, which is executive loneliness. We talk a lot about climbing the corporate ladder, but not as much about the silent struggle many face at the top, where there’s pressure to perform, and that pressure meets the stark reality of isolation. Our guest today, Nick Jonsson, is here to speak to those realities. He’s the author of the best-selling book “Executive Loneliness” and an advocate for mental health and wellness in the C-suite and beyond. 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 excited to welcome Kamini Wood. Kamini is a Certified Life Coach on a mission to empower high achievers. With over 20 years of experience, and as a mother of high-achieving young adults, Kamini understands feeling overwhelmed by expectations. All of those realities we talk about but don’t ever REALLY talk about or explore deeply - bandwidth, burnout, imposter syndrome - Kamini’s work focuses on those very aspects of our lived experiences. She helps high performers become confident in their leadership by overcoming anxiety, boosting their resilience, setting boundaries, and being unapologetically true to themselves. Kamini takes a direct and holistic approach to help transform those clients who are ready to invest time and effort. 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 Dr. Carol Parker Walsh, an award-winning executive coach, keynote speaker, and author. As founder of Carol Parker Walsh Consulting, she helps organizations unlock innovations by providing coaching, training, and foresight strategy. She leverages her extensive experiences as an attorney, professor, and social scientist to help clients amplify excellence. Carol is a published Forbes and HBR contributor, a TEDx speaker, and a three-time Amazon best-selling author. 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 welcome Toby Mildon. Toby is a diversity and inclusion architect and found of Mildon; a consultancy and advisory business. He works with business to re-engineer entire processes and systems to minimize the impact of bias and build cultures of inclusion. Prior to setting up his businesses, Toby worked as an in-house diversity and inclusion manager at the BBC and at Deloitte. 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 - Ti’Juana Gholson - is a member of the Maximize Life Coaching and Mentoring team and a demonstrational live coach specializing in program development, strategic and financial planning, as well as business structuring. As a serial entrepreneur herself, Ti’Juana provides everyday mentorship - mentorship for the here and now - and coaching to small business owners or contract professionals through her company, Tag Consulting. Her mission is to provide support and demonstrate “the how to start and how to maintain a business.” 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’s guest is Linda Ridley. Linda has a background in corporate and investment banking with Wachovia and has served as the CEO of Edgar J. Ridley and Associates since 2009. She’s also an academic, a faculty lecturer and professor at Hostos Community College and Graduate School in New York City. She trains managers worldwide to examine their behaviors by emphasizing the negative impact of symbols and symbolic behavior. 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.

Here at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, we spend a lot of time grappling with the question of: What does it mean to produce business graduates who make a broader societal impact? What does it mean to be about business for the greater social good? And how do you do that? Today’s guest has a few ideas and brings a great research-oriented perspective to this conversation. She says it all comes back to consciousness. Today’s guest is Marika Messager, a consciousness researcher, teacher, advisor, a widely regarded public speaker, and CEO and Founder of consciousleadership.org. 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.

Host Phil Wagner fills in for Ken White on this special crossover episode of Leadership & Business and Diversity Goes to Work. Our guest today is Dr. Elias Zerhouni, who has had an incredibly inspiring story of pursuing the American dream while never forgetting his roots. Born in a small village in Algeria, he came to America in his 20s with only a few dollars to his name. Yet through hard work and mentors who saw his potential, he rose to become the director of the world’s largest biomedical research agency, the National Institute of Health. He pioneered breakthroughs in medical imaging including MRI techniques still used today. His scientific innovation combined with leadership skills earned him roles like Department Chair at Johns Hopkins, but few expected a boy from a small Algerian village could someday lead the NIH and its multi-billion dollar budget. We are honored to have Dr. Zerhouni - radiologist, researcher, and the former director of the NIH - on the podcast today. 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.

As our workplaces grow increasingly global and interconnected, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment to re-evaluate one of the most potent, yet over-looked aspects of DEI: Language and human communication. We often hear that language is power, but today we’re going to be looking at language as a tool. A tool of empowerment. Our guest argues that language is more than just a means of expression. It’s a bridge, allowing us to traverse cultural divides, challenge biases, and foster truly inclusive spaces. In her work, she seeks to break down linguistic barriers and challenge the often micro inequalities that stand in the way of truly diverse and inclusive workspaces. Heather Hansen helps global professionals show up, speak up, and inspire action in a changing world. 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, host Phil Wagner is joined by Lamecia Butler, who has extensive experience in the corporate and non-profit sectors where she has led communication, marketing, community and supplier diversity efforts for well-known brands: Meta, Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, Super Bowl 50, Super Bowl LI, American Express and more. She’s worked with countless business professionals and entrepreneurs on a global scale to help them achieve their goals. 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 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.