5 Things / Free to Be
I was on a podcast recently, hosted by someone who'd seen me speak in Dallas. She told me what she remembered most: "This woman is so free to be who she is."
Free. That word felt different than "authentic" or any of the other words people usually use. Because freedom is what I'm actually after, for myself, and ultimately for everyone everywhere who holds back because of the ways they identify.
Here's what I've come to believe: almost everything that goes wrong on teams traces back to self-worth. The person who won't speak up. The one who talks over everyone. The micromanager. The credit-hog. Same root cause.
When people feel worthy of being heard, of taking up space, of saying the wrong thing and still being okay, the energy shifts. People can breathe a little. Ideas flow. There’s trust.
And that's not therapy talk.
Happy Pride, by the way. Because Pride is about exactly this: the freedom to be who you are, out loud, without apology. Thanks, queer ancestors, for making that possible.
I’m cheering you on-
Bernadette
This Week's Good Vibes:
UK pay gap reporting gets more inclusive
The UK government confirmed its commitment to require large employers (250+ employees) to publicly report ethnicity and disability pay gaps, mirroring the existing gender pay gap framework. The new requirements will also mandate equality action plans. This positions the UK as one of the first countries in the world to require this level of pay transparency across race and disability. ♐️Challenges around voluntary data collection and employee participation remain real, but examining disaggregated data can identify gaps.
She built a village, not just a store
Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon launched The Village Retail inside Atlanta's Ponce City Market in 2020, creating a permanent retail space selling exclusively Black-owned consumer goods. Her business has collectively circulated $8.3 million. With Black employer businesses averaging $850,000 in annual revenue compared to $2.4 million for white-owned firms, this model directly addresses the racial wealth gap. ♐️Economic equity isn't charity. Intentional infrastructure can create measurable, scalable community wealth.
Every student deserves real-world experience
The University of Manchester, with 32,000 undergraduates, will offer meaningful real-world work experience to every student regardless of major. This comes as graduates struggle to find employment, often carrying major debt. The goal is to make opportunities accessible through institutional structure rather than personal networks, directly addressing the inequity baked into unpaid or informally accessed internships that favor students with existing connections and financial stability. ♐️ When institutions build opportunity into the curriculum, they level a playing field that has never been level.
Inspired by a dementia care model in the Netherlands, the Ellen & Peter Johnson Dementia Village at Agrace in Madison, Wisconsin is the first of its kind in the United States. The 6-acre campus is designed to feel like a real neighborhood, complete with a main street, theater, parks, and communal homes where residents share space with eight housemates and a full-time caretaker. Opening in 2027, it will serve the nearly 11% of Wisconsinites over 65 living with Alzheimer's. The model centers dignity, autonomy, and social connection for people living with dementia. ♐️ Design care facilities around the full humanity of the people who live there.
Catholic Scouts open doors to LGBTQ+ leaders
Italy's Association of Catholic Guides and Scouts (AGESCI), the country's largest youth organization with 182,000 members and over 33,500 leaders, announced that LGBTQ+ people may now serve as educational leaders. The decision followed 3 years of internal consultation, including testimony from LGBTQ+ members about their experiences of exclusion. AGESCI explicitly called for overcoming homophobic, lesbophobic, and transphobic attitudes within the group. The announcement comes weeks after the Vatican's 2026 Synod report acknowledged the harm caused to LGBTQ+ Catholics by conversion therapy. ♐️ When institutions finally listen to the people they've been excluding, change becomes possible.
Good Vibe to Go:
Religion is one of the most under-discussed dimensions of workplace inclusion and the Religious Diversity Leadership Summit, hosted with Fordham's Institute on Religion, Law, and Lawyer's Work, is here to change that. Register here for this June 11 event.