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Managers: The Bar Has Been Raised

“I care about being a good manager. But I’m just too busy with my real job to deal with everyone’s needs.” 

If that sentence resonates with you, I have bad news…

The bar for what is expected of managers in 2021 and going forward has officially been raised.  In previous years we lauded “leaders”; developing acceleration and visibility-enhancing programs for people who already held positional authority. Management was viewed as less glamorous. Nowand thankfully soeffective and inclusive managerial practices and expectations are being centered. Now, likely more than ever, managers of people are being spotlighted for the unique and incredibly important role you play in so many aspects of your organization’s systems and practices. YOU are the glue, the enabler, the doer, and the first and most consistent point of contact for almost every aspect of your organization. 

Take just one of the many roles that...

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Frequently Asked Questions - and DeEtta's Answers - About Bias

Artwork by Olivia Kang for Outsmarting Human Minds. Learn the science of implicit bias at outsmartinghumanminds.org

I am frequently asked questions about bias. Broad questions such as, “what is it?” and “how does it work?” to more specific asks such as, “how does it impact relationships with different people, groups, and in the workplace?” These are exactly the kind of topics and substantive discussions that regularly take place in the DJA course, “Reducing the Negative Impact of Bias.” I want to share some of these questions and answers more broadly. Hopefully, this will generate conversations that will help you along your own journey of personal growth.

All humans have bias. Whether it's positive or negative, conscious or unconscious, bias shows up every day in our thoughts, behaviors, and processes.

Bias is also a key topic related to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) because of the implications it has on so many aspects...

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The Inclusive Manager’s Series

For our next Inclusive Managers Series Webinar DeEtta will be joined by Dr. Cori Wong and Dr. Nichole M. Garcia to discuss how DEI programs and strategies are not enough unless they address whiteness and white supremacy. Join the discussion, there will be main concepts shared, time for Q&A, as well as practical applications/take-aways.

Outside of their work with DJA as consultants, Dr. Cori Wong leads DEI efforts as an Assistant Vice President for Diversity at Colorado State University. Dr. Nichole M. Garcia also serves as an Assistant Professor of Higher Education and College Student Affairs in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

Zoom in July 22th at 11:00 AM ET, and register for the session here.

This discussion will kick off the Inclusive Manager’s Series. Each month, we’ll host new sessions with a variety of topics and guest speakers. We look forward to engaging with you.

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Getting Past Politics: Living Our Shared Values

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

I do not love politics. Much of this year, and all of last week, captures my why: people are forced to find and accentuate the worst in each other (during the primaries, even attacking people who are mostly ideologically aligned) and no matter the outcome, there are a lot of people who feel that they lose. As a person who’s spent my entire life fighting to expand access, only having two options has always felt limiting to me. At a DJA team meeting last Friday, three days into ballot counting, and with us all in an uncertainty-filled fog, I broached the elephant in the room. One of our team members said “we are up” and held up a “fingers crossed” symbol with their hand. Torn but needing to stand in my values I said, “I know that we are all watching with anticipation as the election results...

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My Connection to LGBTQ+ History and the Road Traveled

In October 1998, Matthew Shepard was found nearly dead, hanging from a fence just outside of Laramie, Wyoming. Matthew was 21 years old. His murderers said that he made sexual advances toward them. They robbed and brutally beat him. Matthew died of his wounds six days later in a Fort Collins, Colorado hospital.

Just two years before, I was living in Fort Collins, CO. I was pursuing a master’s degree, had a full-time assistantship as coordinator of multicultural education and training, and had an internship in the Human Rights Advocacy and Education Office, a department of the City of Fort Collins. My work involved listening to complaints of discrimination in public accommodation, housing, and employment. There was also a huge amount of listening, educating, and advocacy. I was given, early in my life and career, a window into others’ realities in ways that helped broaden my awareness and perspective. I learned that many LGBTQ+ people had been living with threats and...

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