5 Things / Stay Relevant
Listen to the Full Episode Here:
My guest this week on 5 Things in 15 Minutes was Karen Wilkens-Mickey, VP of DEI at the Seattle Seahawks. Karen has a lot of support in her role, and we spoke about her advice for people without as much support:
“Continue to show up and share why this work is so important for your organization…Make it fresh, exciting, stay relevant, and meet people where they are. You can't force this topic. It has to really be something that's embedded…But how you do that is by really tiny steps to progress and focus on those wins…Look at what you've done and how far you've come with this work. Continue to request a seat at the table…Put yourself on the inside. Find those advocates who will help bring you in to have the conversations. You represent this work.”
Pro tip: one way to stay relevant is to share 5 Things with folks around your organization!
Karen and I had a fantastic conversation. I hope you’ll check it out.
This Week’s Good Vibes:
Some U.S. Airports Strive to Make Flying More Inclusive for Those With Dementia
Airports in the U.S. are increasingly striving to become dementia-friendly by modifying their facilities and services to better serve travelers with cognitive impairments. This looks like quiet rooms, sensory training centers, and programs like the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard, which indicates a traveler may require additional assistance. As the population ages and dementia rates rise, think about how to be inclusive and keep these folks safe when traveling and interacting with your business. There are so many ways to be inclusive.
Meet The Entrepreneur With A Plan To Create One Million Black-Owned Businesses By 2030
Back in 2020, Shopify co-founder Tobi Lütke, in collaboration with Operation HOPE, committed $130 million to create one million Black-owned businesses. This initiative, called 1MBB, offers free business licenses, domain names, payment and delivery support systems, business consulting, and financial literacy to Black entrepreneurs. So far, so good: it’s already created over 330,000 Black-owned businesses. I love this initiative because it directly addresses economic disparities and supports marginalized communities in chipping away at that nasty racial wealth gap.
Lyft Launches Women+ Connect
Lyft has introduced "Women+ Connect," a feature designed to match women and nonbinary drivers with more women and nonbinary riders. The goal is to create a win-win: attract more women and nonbinary Lyft drivers (who then have more earning power) by creating a more comfortable and secure environment for them by allowing riders to prioritize matches with others who share their gender identity. Both drivers and riders can turn on this setting to improve everyone’s comfort and safety. Brilliant!
Smucker’s New Hybrid Work Model
J.M. Smucker (which is buying Hostess) has adopted a unique hybrid work model called "core weeks." They designate 22 "core weeks" a year for in-office work, allowing employees to live far from the office. While on core weeks, employees cover their own travel costs. This approach offers flexibility, employee happiness, and cost savings. Studies show that women and underrepresented folks prefer remote work (for flexibility and fewer microaggressions), and I appreciate this creative approach to the hybrid model. Check out the article for more details on how it’s a win-win.
Pinterest’s New Algorithms Want You to See Every Body Type
Pinterest is taking an innovative step to combat body image biases by using AI to promote diverse body types in its image search results. By analyzing over 5 billion images, Pinterest's AI system can now recognize different body shapes and sizes, aiming to present a more inclusive and diverse portrayal of bodies. I appreciate that Pinterest (which has a product inclusion team) is using its power for good and attempting to reshape public perceptions of body size and shape. In the past, they’ve done the same thing with skin tones in search results. I hope other tech companies are thinking this way as well: this is one way we normalize different body sizes.
Call to Action:
A month full of Jewish holidays is upon us. Here are some inclusion tips from our friends at Seva Global. Shanah Tovah, to those who celebrate.