Page 58 - FDI Alliance International Magazine. Winter 2020 Digital Interactive Issue.

ACHIEVING DIVERSITY

Achieving diversity, equity and inclusion is a process. Leadership is a Equity is promoting justice within the processes and distribution of resources
process. Anything involving learning and growth is a process. Simon Sinek by institutions. Inclusion is an outcome to ensure those who are diverse
talks about process in his video, “Love, Relationship and Leadership”. It are welcomed and are able to participate fully in the decision-making
is not flipping a switch or a point in time you can touch. The process for processes.”
achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion is brought to our attention in
a negative way far too often, yet we must be diligent in continuing the There are nearly eight billion different people in the world. Many of them
process to make opportunity more possible for everyone. read this publication (right Courtney!). Differences make us better! I believe
someone who truly believes in diversity, equity and inclusion should seek
I want to be totally transparent. I once suggested to someone very much out those with different viewpoints and experiences. It is only through
like me, who is a leader in his business, that I should write an article on understanding those who are different from us that we can respect them
“diversity” for his publication. He basically said I could not do that based and their thoughts and further shape our own thoughts.
on what I look like rather than who I am. I am a white, middle-class,
heterosexual, married, Christian, male. That, however, is only a small I grew up in Verona, WI. It is in rural Dane County and had not yet been
piece of who I am. consumed by Madison. My true “life” experiences related to the topic
didn’t begin until I entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a
So how does this connect to FDI International? For any form of economic very “green” freshman. I was selected to be a student manager for the
development to be successful, more than demographics, data and metrics men’s basketball team. That meant I worked in all areas of a collegiate
must be considered. It’s not only about “what” a community is but also basketball program.
“who” a community is. We know that talent attraction and retention has
become even more critical, even in the middle of a pandemic. In order The first black coach in the Big Ten Conference was hired at Wisconsin
to attract and retain talent, our workforce diversity is important, as long the same time I started in my role. When I talk about differences making
as the focus goes beyond that to equity and inclusion. us better, that was truly the case here. I worked alongside players and
coaches with similar backgrounds to me and those from cities where
Let’s look at these dei.extension.org definitions: “Diversity is the presence differences were very prominent. I learned that while those differences
of differences across many population factors, often times marginalized. impact people, they do not define them. I had good and bad relationships,

58. FDI ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL