What's The Difference?

Sara Taylor earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years. Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, “Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World,” that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 highlights deep racial inequities, especially when compared to the Black Lives Matter protests How the national outcry over the nonviolent protest of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other players further illustrates racial inequity compared to the s

Sara Taylor earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years. Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, “Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World,” that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why we often feel discomfort discussing differences that make a difference, and why opening dialog is necessary even if it is uncomfortable How our subconscious minds take in 11 million pieces of information per second, but our conscious minds are only aware of 40 at most What “stereotype threat” is and how it

Kjirsten Mickesh is Co-Founder and CEO of ConnectHuman. She has been a student of human and organizational behavior for over two decades, having led all aspects of Human Resources at global companies in multiple industries. Kjirsten is an ICF certified coach with specialized training in social and emotional intelligence. Kjirsten is known for her courageous leadership and ability to address complex opportunities with focus and alignment to achieve differential results. Her approach to building relationships allows her to create boundaryless partnerships and collaboration. In Kjirsten’s own words: “I have experienced a life-long journey with anxiety AND have also experienced great success in life and work. But I traveled most of my journey alone because I was ashamed and afraid. It makes me sad to think about how alone and scared I often felt, and that I never asked the people in my life who loved me and were there to support me for help. But I can’t go back. So, as I look back, I choose to focus on the gifts

In this unique episode of What’s The Difference, you’ll hear audio from Sara Taylor’s recent guest appearance on the Undeclared podcast. Undeclared is a higher education marketing podcast hosted by Allison Lanier and Scott Fogleman from Up&Up, a branding and marketing agency focused exclusively on the unique challenges and needs of colleges and universities. Scott and Allison speak with Sara about the importance of diverse, equitable and inclusive marketing in the higher education space, and how it plays a key role in creating a welcoming and safe environment for students of all backgrounds. Allison Lanier’s Bio: As a Business Development Manager for Up&Up, Allison Lanier brings her experience in sales leadership and execution from past employers such as Verizon Wireless and PepsiCo. At Up&Up, she uses her passion for people to create a positive, effective, and rewarding campaign experience for the West Sales Region. Allison is our resident mud lover and spends most of her free time at obstacle co

Sara Taylor earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years. Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, “Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World,” that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How the individual traumas we experience differ from our collective, societal traumas such as the murder of George Floyd How the murders of unarmed Black men by police officers have continued unabated, even since George Floyd’s murder Why the staggering number of reported murders of unarmed Black men only speak

Sara Taylor earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years. Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, “Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World,” that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why equality and equity are very different concepts, and why working toward equality rarely creates equal results Why equality doesn’t take into account of individual bias, structural bias, systemic bias, and lack of cultural competence How individual bias can begin to create patterns that impact different soci

Kristen Anderson is currently the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for Barilla and has been a member of the D&I Board since its formation in 2013. Kristen reports to the CEO of Barilla and leads a 12-member D&I Board, comprised of internal members from eight key countries and two external advisors. Previously, Kristen was VP of R&D for the Asia, Africa and Australia region for Barilla, based in Singapore. She joined Barilla in 2010 as VP of Research, and she is now based at the Barilla Headquarters in Parma, Italy. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Kristen made the transition from working in research and development at Barilla to her role as Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Why a strong commitment and engagement from leadership at Barilla is instrumental to the work Kristen does, and how D&I work at the global scale differs How the individual circumstances of countries around the world drive the need to focus on different initiatives at the local level What significan

Dwight Hamilton, J.D. is the Director of the Office of Equity and Access for the Adtalem Global Education Group. Prior to coming to Adtalem, Mr. Hamilton worked at Northwestern University as its Associate Vice President for Equity and Smith College as its Vice President for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity and was its first Chief Diversity Officer. After practicing law for fifteen years, Mr. Hamilton transitioned into higher education by working at Grand Valley State University as its Associate Vice President for Affirmative Action and Title IX Coordinator. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Dwight’s background in legal practice transitioned into his career in diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education How the Adtalem Global Education Group runs a number of educational institutions in the US and throughout the world What impact Dwight recognizes from the global pandemic on diversity, equity and inclusion in the online education space Why there are differences between diversity, equity and

Sara Taylor earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years. Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, “Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World,” that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How the office of the President of the United States has issued an executive order banning diversity and inclusion training for all federal agencies and employees How the census is predicting that the US will be a majority-minority country by the year 2044, and why diversity and inclusion training is more impor

Andie Kramer is a partner at an international law firm. Alongside her demanding legal career, she has become a nationally known advocate for women’s advancement. Because mentorship opportunities for young executive and professional women are often limited, she co-founded the Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Alliance (WLMA) and has developed numerous women-specific leadership training programs. Andie is the recipient of a long list of accolades and awards for both achievements in her legal career and her advocacy of women. Among her accolades is being named on National Law Review’s 50 most influential women lawyers in America for her “demonstrated power to change the legal landscape, shape public affairs, launch industries, and do big things.” What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why the impact of the global pandemic has been different on women than they have been on men, and why women are shouldering a disproportionate amount of the burden How working mothers with school age or younger children are strug

Andie Kramer is a partner at an international law firm. Alongside her demanding legal career, she has become a nationally known advocate for women’s advancement. Because mentorship opportunities for young executive and professional women are often limited, she co-founded the Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Alliance (WLMA) and has developed numerous women-specific leadership training programs. Andie is the recipient of a long list of accolades and awards for both achievements in her legal career and her advocacy of women. Among her accolades is being named on National Law Review’s 50 most influential women lawyers in America for her “demonstrated power to change the legal landscape, shape public affairs, launch industries, and do big things.” What you’ll learn about in this episode: How making the transition from a tiny law firm to a large international firm opened Andie’s eyes to the realities of gender inequity How the men at Andie’s firm would give themselves glowing praise in their self-evaluations but t

Born and raised in Ukraine, professional diversiculturalist Dr. Fiona Citkin came to the US as a Fulbright Scholar studying languages and cultures at Kent State University, OH. Fiona’s first book was on language/translation (Terminology and Translation, Lviv, Vischa Shkola, 1988, in Russian) and it brought her recognition in European academia. For the book “Transformational Diversity: Why and How Intercultural Competencies Can Help Organizations to Survive and Thrive” (SHRM Publishing, 2011), Fiona has been recognized as a Top 2012 Champion of Diversity by diversitybusiness.com, a think-tank. This book was a seminal stepping stone for further exploration of the diverse American culture and the real-world ways to instill inclusion. Fiona’s new book, “How They Made It in America”, started with a desire to explore how diverse talented individuals make it big in America. She focused on prominent women immigrants as the book subjects—just because she knew from her own experiences that women face frequent tribulati

Joe Gerstandt is a speaker, author, and advisor bringing greater clarity, action, and impact to organizational diversity and inclusion efforts. Joe has worked with Fortune 100 corporations, small non-profits, government entities, and everything in between. He speaks at numerous conferences and summits and is a featured contributor for the Workforce Diversity Network Expert Forum. His insights have been published in Diversity Best Practices, Diversity Executive, HR Executive, numerous other print and on-line journals, and he co-authored the book Social Gravity: Harnessing the Natural Laws of Relationships. Joe has also served on the Intersectional Culture and Diversity Advisory (ICD) Council for the social networking platform, Twitter, and currently the board of directors for the Tri-Faith Initiative, which brings together in permanent residency a synagogue, church, mosque, and interfaith center on one 38-acre campus in the middle of America’s heartland. Joe grew up on a family farm in NW Iowa, served four yea

With fifteen years of HR leadership experience, Anthony Paradiso has become very passionate about Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace. He is the owner and founder of AllThingzAP, where their primary mission is for all to always be your authentic self. Anthony is a Human Resources Business Partner with Industrial U.I. Services and enjoys being on a host of boards and committees, such as the Diversity & Inclusion Director for the Garden State Council – SHRM (GSC-SHRM) and the VP of D&I with the North Jersey – Rockland Chapter SHRM. Additionally, he is on the Board of Advisors with the American Conference of Diversity and a Bergen County Human Relations Commissioner. Anthony has written a number of published articles for SHRM, WorkHuman, Workology, Rezoomo, Achievers, etc. and has been quoted in HR Magazine, Namely, & Bonusly. He has given a number of presentations and lectures about D&I, inclusion, being your authentic self, unconscious bias, employee relations and facilitated workshops s

Sara Taylor earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years. Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, “Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World,” that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why companies often treat diversity, equity and inclusion work differently than they do any other aspect of the organization, and why comparisons between the ways companies approach DEI work with the way they treat other major decisions can be valuable to help highlight the disparity Sara compares a CEO announc

Sara Taylor earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years. Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, “Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World,” that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How companies and organizations of all kinds spoke out with clear, decisive messaging after the murder of George Floyd, and why following those messages with action is vital Why the first step to taking action is to decide your approach of whether you want to take a transactional strategy or a transformational

Sara Taylor earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years. Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, “Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World,” that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds are reluctant to start or join the difficult conversations about race How “IVI” (intent, vulnerability, inoculation) can help you overcome your fear in talking about race Why signaling your intent to join the conversation can help prepare you and others for the di

Sara Taylor earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years. Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, “Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World,” that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Sara discusses the impact of a recent post listing the names of Black individuals who were killed or experienced racism during everyday activities like walking home How Sara’s pain, frustration, and anger after George Floyd was murdered caused her to feel a rawness that her family’s loved ones didn’t understand

Sara Taylor earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She served as a leadership and diversity specialist at the University of Minnesota for five years and as director of diversity and inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota for three years. Sara is the founder and president of deepSEE Consulting and has worked with companies as large as Coca-Cola, General Mills, 3M Company, AARP, and numerous others. She has a new book, “Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World,” that explores how our unconscious is actually making choices and decisions for us, all without our knowing — and how to change that. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why there are so many differing, personal opinions over what the words “Black Lives Matter” actually mean How our stages of cultural competence development determine how we view the message of Black Lives Matter Why some people view the statement as “Black Lives Matter More” while others hear “Black Lives Matte

Tali Lavarry is the founder of Yum Yum Morale, a DEI Consultancy that focuses on the retention and advancement of diverse hires. Organizations large and small look to her, to bridge the gap between their leadership team and marginalized hires. She is known for her ability to be diplomatic, approachable, educational, and understanding. Through her own personal stories, she boldly moves corporate power brokers from resistant to receptive. Candid conversations and vulnerability are her superpowers. Her talks, workshops, trainings, and retreats never fail to open minds and soften hearts. Tali is the author of Confessions from Your Token Black Colleague, a former collaborator with Haas Berkeley’s Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership; and a member of Washington State University’s Foster School of Business Alumni. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Tali’s experiences as a “token Black” informs her work in diversity and inclusion and became the backbone of her book “Confessions from Your Token Black