A podcast for those who are different and want to make a difference.
Nov. 15, 2023

Cordell Carter, II on the Aspen Institute and Building a Dynamic Professional Learning Community for Equity and Belonging

Cordell Carter, II on the Aspen Institute and Building a Dynamic Professional Learning Community for Equity and Belonging

Cordell Carter, II, the visionary advocate, ignites a revolution of inclusion as he rallies leaders to create a professional learning community, challenging the status quo and dismantling barriers in the pursuit of a fair and just society.

In a world where lawyers and pastors were seen as the pinnacle of service, Cordell Carter had a different calling. His journey on the podcast A World of Difference uncovers the unexpected twist that led him to embrace a secular path of service. Inspired by his family's tradition of kindness and acceptance, Cordell realized that even small acts of compassion could create profound change. Now, as a commissioner for the President Commission on the White House Fellowship, Cordell witnesses firsthand the transformative power of belief and support. Tune in to discover the surprising twist that changed Cordell's life and learn how you too can create lasting change through inclusivity.


My special guest is Cordell Carter, II


Cordell Carter is our insightful guest on today's episode of A World of Difference. With an impressive background in leadership and a passion for creating inclusive organizations, Cordell brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. As the executive director of the Aspen Institute Socrates Program and the founding director of the Aspen Institute's Project on Belonging, Cordell has worked tirelessly to shift the national conversation on racial equity and inclusion. He has curated numerous off-the-record leadership seminars around the world, reaching thousands of leaders each year. Cordell's work extends beyond borders, as he founded the Festival of the Diaspora in Medellin, Colombia. Join us as we delve into his journey, his insights, and how we can all make a difference together. Get ready to be inspired by Cordell Carter's incredible work in building inclusive organizations and fostering a sense of belonging.

Belonging and thriving are universal desires. It's about pulling in the same direction for everyone, because we cannot afford to move forward as an economy without engaging and cultivating 52% of the population. - Cordell Carter


In this episode, you will be able to:

  • Enhance your organization's diversity and inclusion efforts to foster a more inclusive workplace that celebrates and values the unique perspectives of every individual.
  • Cultivate a sense of belonging and unity within your organization to create a supportive environment where everyone feels welcomed and valued.
  • Join a professional learning community for leaders to gain insights, share best practices, and collaborate with like-minded professionals in creating inclusive organizations.
  • Discover the powerful connection between diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and the positive impact they can have on your organization's bottom line.
  • Recognize the importance of self-care and the value of seeking professional help to navigate the challenges and complexities of creating an inclusive organization.

Fostering a Sense of Belonging and Unity

The journey toward diversity and inclusion starts with acknowledging and respecting every individual's desire for acceptance. Cordell believes that creating a sense of belonging within an organization can lead to better outcomes and a more united team. By shifting the focus from mere compliance to the deeper concept of belonging, leaders have the chance of setting up a thriving business that resonates with all its constituents, promoting unity and inclusivity.

The resources mentioned in this episode are:

  • Visit the Aspen Institute Socrates Program's website to learn more about their global education forum and how you can get involved.
  • Explore the Aspen Institute's Project on Belonging to understand their efforts to shift the national conversation on racial equity and inclusion.
  • Check out the Festival of the Diaspora in Medellin, Colombia to discover how they are empowering entrepreneurs, especially women, and making a difference.
  • Register to attend the Festival of the Diaspora in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the Grand Sheraton Rio Feb 22-25, 2024
  • Learn about the Techtown Foundation and their work in leadership development and tech.
  • Support the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's initiatives for education and global health.
  • Stay informed about the Seattle Public Schools Business Roundtable and their efforts to improve education in the community.
  • Discover the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and their advocacy for quality charter schools.
  • Explore the IBM Corporation's initiatives for technology and innovation.
  • Attend one of Cordell Carter's off-the-record leadership seminars to gain insights and network with other leaders.
  • Support organizations that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in your own community.
  • Take action to address gender pay disparities and advocate for equal pay for women, particularly Latina women.
  • Support women entrepreneurs by investing in their businesses or providing mentorship.

As leaders, it is our fiduciary duty to invest in diversity and inclusion. We need to think about the future and what our customers will look like 35 years down the road. That's where the puck is heading, and that's where we should invest now. - Cordell Carter


The key moments in this episode are:

00:00:02 - Introduction


00:02:47 - Childhood Dreams


00:05:27 - Separating the Sacred and Secular


00:07:10 - Making a Difference


00:10:14 - Women and Belonging


00:16:16 - Companies' Legal Analysis and Customer Engagement


00:16:52 - The Influence of Women in the Economy


00:17:46 - Collaboration for Positive Change


00:19:00 - Promoting Diversity in Panels and Events


00:21:08 - Economic Development and Women Empowerment


00:22:29 - Challenges in Access to Venture Capital for Women


00:26:51 - Working Towards Belonging and Thriving


00:31:21 - The Development of Singapore


00:32:31 - Building Harmony in Singapore


00:33:33 - Contrasting Singapore with the United States


00:34:47 - The Evolution of the United States


00:39:38 - The Importance of Belonging


00:47:18 - Introduction to Betterhelp


00:47:57 - Reminder to Prioritize Self-care


00:48:35 - Conclusion and Farewell


Creating inclusive organizations requires more work, but it's good work. It forces us to move beyond our comfort levels and embrace diversity. And in the end, it becomes easier to find diverse groups of collaborators because they bring something new to the table. - Cordell Carter


Timestamped summary of this episode:

00:00:02 - Introduction

Cordell Carter is the executive director of the Aspen Institute Socrates Program and the founding director of the Aspen Institute's Project on Belonging. He has held various leadership roles and is dedicated to serving humanity.


00:02:47 - Childhood Dreams

As a child, Cordell aspired to become a lawyer or a pastor. While he didn't pursue a career in ministry, he still feels a calling to serve humanity in a secular way.


00:05:27 - Separating the Sacred and Secular

Cordell believes that caring for humanity shouldn't be limited to religious contexts. He finds joy in seeing others recognize their own potential and helping them believe in themselves.


00:07:10 - Making a Difference

Cordell shares a powerful story about the Festival of the Diaspora in Colombia, where five women entrepreneurs experienced a sense of belonging for the first time in their lives. Through the festival, they received support and funding, leading to the establishment of an independent nonprofit.


00:10:14 - Women and Belonging

Cordell focuses on creating a sense of belonging for women, especially those facing inequalities such as the wage gap and lack of funding. He aims to address these issues through his work and empower women to reach their full potential.


00:16:16 - Companies' Legal Analysis and Customer Engagement

Companies dispute the accuracy of legal analysis and prioritize customer engagement to fulfill fiduciary duty.


00:16:52 - The Influence of Women in the Economy

Examples of successful women in the music and film industry highlight the economic impact of centering experiences of other people.


00:17:46 - Collaboration for Positive Change

Nonprofits, government, and tech companies have the opportunity to come together and make a difference, despite differing opinions.


00:19:00 - Promoting Diversity in Panels and Events

Efforts to include diverse individuals as moderators and participants require extra work but lead to a more inclusive and impactful outcome.


00:21:08 - Economic Development and Women Empowerment

Investing in women's economic development can have a significant impact on communities, and initiatives like pitch competitions support female entrepreneurs.


00:22:29 - Challenges in Access to Venture Capital for Women

The lack of access to venture capital for women creates obstacles, and efforts to shift the conversation on racial equity and inclusion focus on connecting these efforts to the bottom line.


00:26:51 - Working Towards Belonging and Thriving

The goal is to create a society where everyone belongs and has equitable opportunities to thrive, and efforts should focus on defining a destination and celebrating progress towards it.


00:31:21 - The Development of Singapore

Singapore's transformation from a small island with limited infrastructure in 1965 to a developed and prosperous nation with excellent healthcare and education is remarkable. National service played a crucial role in building a sense of unity among Singaporeans, fostering lifelong friendships, and protecting the country from potential threats.


00:32:31 - Building Harmony in Singapore

Singapore's government focused on fostering harmony and unity among its diverse population. National service brought together individuals from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, creating bonds and friendships that lasted beyond their service. The government's emphasis on harmony and social cohesion has helped create a safe and cohesive society.


00:33:33 - Contrasting Singapore with the United States

Contrasting Singapore's approach to national unity with the United States, it becomes apparent that Singapore prioritized inclusivity and harmony, while the United States has a more complex history of exclusion and division. The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis serves as a reminder of the ongoing work needed to achieve equality and inclusivity in the United States.


00:34:47 - The Evolution of the United States

The United States has evolved over time, from its founding documents like the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution. While no nation is perfect, it is essential to recognize the progress made and strive for a more inclusive future. Inclusive leaders should avoid excluding any group, including middle-aged white men, and focus on data-driven approaches to change.


00:39:38 - The Importance of Belonging



00:47:18 - Introduction to Betterhelp

The host introduces Betterhelp as the sponsor of the podcast and shares her personal experience with therapy through Betterhelp. She mentions the various resources offered by Betterhelp, including one-on-one therapy, group therapy, and classes for specific issues.


00:47:57 - Reminder to Prioritize Self-care

The host thanks all the listeners for making a difference in the world and reminds them to prioritize self-care. She encourages them to take care of their bodies, get rest, and find happiness and joy in their lives.


00:48:35 - Conclusion and Farewell

The host wraps up the podcast episode by reminding listeners to continue making a difference wherever they are. She says goodbye and signs off.

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Lori Adams-Brown, Host & Executive Producer

A World of Difference Podcast

Transcript
1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,458 Welcome to the A World of Difference 2 00:00:04,458 --> 00:00:06,766 podcast. I'm Lori Adams Brown and this is 3 00:00:06,766 --> 00:00:08,606 a podcast for those who are different and 4 00:00:08,606 --> 00:00:12,714 want to make a difference. We have a very 5 00:00:12,714 --> 00:00:14,878 exciting guest on the show today who's 6 00:00:14,878 --> 00:00:17,114 making such a difference around the world. 7 00:00:17,114 --> 00:00:20,078 Cordell Carter is on the show. Cordell is 8 00:00:20,078 --> 00:00:22,186 currently the executive director of the 9 00:00:22,186 --> 00:00:25,318 Aspen Institute Socrates Program, which is 10 00:00:25,318 --> 00:00:28,086 a global education forum. And he's also 11 00:00:28,086 --> 00:00:30,386 the founding director of the Aspen 12 00:00:30,386 --> 00:00:33,698 Institute's Project on Belonging. He also 13 00:00:33,698 --> 00:00:37,234 founded the Festival of the Diaspora in 14 00:00:37,234 --> 00:00:41,418 Medellin, Colombia. And he basically has 15 00:00:41,418 --> 00:00:43,686 been in all kinds of different leadership 16 00:00:43,686 --> 00:00:46,294 roles, as you could imagine, with the 17 00:00:46,294 --> 00:00:48,262 Techtown Foundation, Bill and Melinda 18 00:00:48,262 --> 00:00:51,310 Gates Foundation, Seattle Public Schools 19 00:00:51,310 --> 00:00:53,710 Business Roundtable, National alliance to 20 00:00:53,710 --> 00:00:56,190 Public charter Schools, and the IBM 21 00:00:56,190 --> 00:00:58,682 Corporation for the Aspen Institute. He 22 00:00:58,682 --> 00:01:00,638 curates more than three dozen off the 23 00:01:00,638 --> 00:01:02,954 record leadership seminars annually in 24 00:01:02,954 --> 00:01:05,026 capital cities around the world, reaching 25 00:01:05,026 --> 00:01:08,114 more than 1000 leaders each year. He's 26 00:01:08,114 --> 00:01:10,014 also been leading the Aspen Institute's 27 00:01:10,014 --> 00:01:12,082 efforts to shift the national conversation 28 00:01:12,082 --> 00:01:15,482 on racial equity and inclusion from 29 00:01:15,482 --> 00:01:17,686 compliance to the word belonging. And he 30 00:01:17,686 --> 00:01:21,766 has a lot of work around belonging. And he 31 00:01:21,766 --> 00:01:24,182 does this via an annual Latin American 32 00:01:24,182 --> 00:01:27,282 based summit called the festival the 33 00:01:27,282 --> 00:01:29,366 Diaspora. So he's on today to talk about 34 00:01:29,366 --> 00:01:31,894 all his work around belonging, what he's 35 00:01:31,894 --> 00:01:33,898 been doing and all his travels. He's going 36 00:01:33,898 --> 00:01:37,274 to be calling in from where he's at 37 00:01:37,274 --> 00:01:40,234 currently in Kenya and Nairobi. But his 38 00:01:40,234 --> 00:01:42,154 work does take him all around the world 39 00:01:42,154 --> 00:01:44,818 and as a thought leader and a difference 40 00:01:44,818 --> 00:01:46,686 maker, bringing him on the show today just 41 00:01:46,686 --> 00:01:48,542 to hear about his work and how we can 42 00:01:48,542 --> 00:01:50,526 center around some of what he's doing to 43 00:01:50,526 --> 00:01:53,026 make a difference together. So welcome to 44 00:01:53,026 --> 00:02:03,198 the show today. Cordell Carter. Hello, 45 00:02:03,198 --> 00:02:05,494 Cordell, thank you so much for joining us 46 00:02:05,494 --> 00:02:09,746 today, all the way from Nairobi, Kenya. 47 00:02:09,746 --> 00:02:11,782 It's a pleasure. How are you, Laurie? 48 00:02:11,782 --> 00:02:15,430 Doing very well. Excited to get into this 49 00:02:15,430 --> 00:02:17,686 conversation, know, getting to know you a 50 00:02:17,686 --> 00:02:20,214 little bit better. You clearly are such a 51 00:02:20,214 --> 00:02:21,686 high achiever. We have a lot of high 52 00:02:21,686 --> 00:02:23,926 achievers that come on the podcast, but 53 00:02:23,926 --> 00:02:25,526 you're making a difference in all kinds of 54 00:02:25,526 --> 00:02:28,986 areas. So super excited to unpack that. I 55 00:02:28,986 --> 00:02:30,602 think my first question out the gate for 56 00:02:30,602 --> 00:02:34,686 you is, did you ever imagine yourself at 57 00:02:34,686 --> 00:02:37,086 the Aspen Institute with the Socrates 58 00:02:37,086 --> 00:02:38,846 program, any of this project on belonging, 59 00:02:38,846 --> 00:02:41,040 all the stuff you're doing when you were a 60 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,518 little Cordell, what was he wanting to be 61 00:02:43,518 --> 00:02:45,482 when he grew up? Did he ever imagine a 62 00:02:45,482 --> 00:02:50,770 scenario like. Know as a little guy, I 63 00:02:50,770 --> 00:02:53,122 thought being a lawyer or a pastor was 64 00:02:53,122 --> 00:02:56,900 like the highest calling that one could do 65 00:02:56,900 --> 00:02:59,906 and realized that pastoring definitely 66 00:02:59,906 --> 00:03:03,000 wasn't my bag just different temperament 67 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,966 than my forefathers. So they had something 68 00:03:06,966 --> 00:03:10,266 else that I don't have. But the best thing 69 00:03:10,266 --> 00:03:14,874 to me, this idea of serving humanity. And 70 00:03:14,874 --> 00:03:17,994 I feel very fortunate that I get to do 71 00:03:17,994 --> 00:03:21,360 that. And so, in a way, it's a secular 72 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:26,686 calling. Yeah, I would love to unpack all 73 00:03:26,686 --> 00:03:30,238 of that a little more, too. So tell us a 74 00:03:30,238 --> 00:03:32,366 little bit about your family. So you come 75 00:03:32,366 --> 00:03:34,610 from a faith background with pastors in 76 00:03:34,610 --> 00:03:39,694 your family? Oh, yeah. It hits every 77 00:03:39,694 --> 00:03:41,394 generation pretty hard, especially the men 78 00:03:41,394 --> 00:03:45,266 on my father's side of the family. And 79 00:03:45,266 --> 00:03:47,766 broken the mole in two respects. One, I 80 00:03:47,766 --> 00:03:51,922 did not formally serve in the military, 81 00:03:51,922 --> 00:03:55,526 whereas virtually all of them did. And 82 00:03:55,526 --> 00:03:58,694 then I also moved away from the ancestral 83 00:03:58,694 --> 00:04:02,038 home in Virginia because my dad didn't 84 00:04:02,038 --> 00:04:03,514 want us to say that we've only been in one 85 00:04:03,514 --> 00:04:05,446 place our whole life. And so we moved to 86 00:04:05,446 --> 00:04:08,106 Seattle when I was in middle school and 87 00:04:08,106 --> 00:04:09,866 just starting high school, just to 88 00:04:09,866 --> 00:04:13,342 experience a different part of the know, 89 00:04:13,342 --> 00:04:15,790 different cultures, different, just 90 00:04:15,790 --> 00:04:18,862 differences, and learn to embrace them all 91 00:04:18,862 --> 00:04:22,834 and get comfortable in new places. And so 92 00:04:22,834 --> 00:04:25,518 from childhood, that's one of the 93 00:04:25,518 --> 00:04:27,518 hallmarks, if you will, this notion that 94 00:04:27,518 --> 00:04:30,366 they're forcing us to be different and 95 00:04:30,366 --> 00:04:33,154 accept differences by physically moving 96 00:04:33,154 --> 00:04:36,374 you around. But also, I also got to see 97 00:04:36,374 --> 00:04:39,702 great examples of service, and it's often 98 00:04:39,702 --> 00:04:44,386 the quiet, non published acts, holding a 99 00:04:44,386 --> 00:04:46,934 door open, being respectful when someone 100 00:04:46,934 --> 00:04:50,362 is asking for money, treating them like a 101 00:04:50,362 --> 00:04:54,966 human being, rather than saying no, or I 102 00:04:54,966 --> 00:04:57,066 acknowledge that you exist, my answer is 103 00:04:57,066 --> 00:04:58,810 still no, but I acknowledge that you 104 00:04:58,810 --> 00:05:01,546 exist. Or here's where some services can 105 00:05:01,546 --> 00:05:04,826 be found. If you truly are hungry, there's 106 00:05:04,826 --> 00:05:06,718 places where you can get food. And so you 107 00:05:06,718 --> 00:05:08,238 have to know what those places are in 108 00:05:08,238 --> 00:05:13,620 order to be able to dish that advice. And 109 00:05:13,620 --> 00:05:18,562 so I've seen service everywhere in my 110 00:05:18,562 --> 00:05:21,186 life, and very little of it now, as I 111 00:05:21,186 --> 00:05:26,114 think about it, was in a religious, 112 00:05:26,114 --> 00:05:28,790 religious context. This is how you serve 113 00:05:28,790 --> 00:05:34,658 humanity. Beautiful. So beautiful. Yeah. I 114 00:05:34,658 --> 00:05:35,974 don't know if you're a person. That still 115 00:05:35,974 --> 00:05:39,500 has faith. I am a person of faith. But I 116 00:05:39,500 --> 00:05:43,382 also find that sometimes in my own faith 117 00:05:43,382 --> 00:05:45,654 background, people want to separate the 118 00:05:45,654 --> 00:05:49,126 sacred and the secular to a degree that it 119 00:05:49,126 --> 00:05:52,186 doesn't resonate as much with me, because 120 00:05:52,186 --> 00:05:55,354 I did spend time in paid ministry. I was a 121 00:05:55,354 --> 00:05:57,726 pastor for a while. Even, and now I work 122 00:05:57,726 --> 00:05:59,486 in global leadership development and tech. 123 00:05:59,486 --> 00:06:03,390 And I find that just as you're saying, 124 00:06:03,390 --> 00:06:06,514 expressing care for humanity, it doesn't 125 00:06:06,514 --> 00:06:10,462 have to have any sort of label or job 126 00:06:10,462 --> 00:06:12,638 description. And sometimes outside the 127 00:06:12,638 --> 00:06:14,194 walls of our religious institutions are 128 00:06:14,194 --> 00:06:16,034 where some of the most beautiful things 129 00:06:16,034 --> 00:06:17,746 happen. What has been your experience with 130 00:06:17,746 --> 00:06:23,334 any of that. Watching that light come on 131 00:06:23,334 --> 00:06:25,494 in, people, like, when they start to see 132 00:06:25,494 --> 00:06:27,286 themselves the way you see them, just as 133 00:06:27,286 --> 00:06:29,914 full of potential, have been among the 134 00:06:29,914 --> 00:06:32,458 most rewarding. I get the opportunity to 135 00:06:32,458 --> 00:06:35,190 select leaders for programs at the ASP 136 00:06:35,190 --> 00:06:37,322 Institute, as a commissioner for the 137 00:06:37,322 --> 00:06:39,062 President Commission on the White House 138 00:06:39,062 --> 00:06:41,658 Fellowship. And so I'm constantly 139 00:06:41,658 --> 00:06:44,830 inundated with leaders, or aspiring 140 00:06:44,830 --> 00:06:50,206 leaders, and you start to pick the ones 141 00:06:50,206 --> 00:06:52,286 that are not raising their hands with 142 00:06:52,286 --> 00:06:53,910 those that don't feel worthy enough to 143 00:06:53,910 --> 00:06:58,290 raise their hand, and you start to project 144 00:06:58,290 --> 00:07:01,170 what could be on them. And watching them 145 00:07:01,170 --> 00:07:03,806 believe it and run with it, to me, is 146 00:07:03,806 --> 00:07:06,040 among some of the most rewarding work 147 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:09,510 ever. I think back to just this past 148 00:07:09,510 --> 00:07:13,346 March. We were the festival diaspora in 149 00:07:13,346 --> 00:07:17,026 Cartageno, Colombia, and we just had 150 00:07:17,026 --> 00:07:19,530 perhaps one of the most moving panels 151 00:07:19,530 --> 00:07:23,706 ever. And it was these five entrepreneurs, 152 00:07:23,706 --> 00:07:26,774 all women, that were part of our pitch 153 00:07:26,774 --> 00:07:28,986 competition, that were the fiNalists, and 154 00:07:28,986 --> 00:07:30,606 we wanted to hear from them. So we put on 155 00:07:30,606 --> 00:07:32,990 the device so we could hear the 156 00:07:32,990 --> 00:07:37,406 translation. And they talked about how 157 00:07:37,406 --> 00:07:39,850 this is the first time in their lives as 158 00:07:39,850 --> 00:07:42,266 adults, as college educated people, that 159 00:07:42,266 --> 00:07:43,886 they'd ever been invited to a stage in 160 00:07:43,886 --> 00:07:46,222 their own country. And it took an external 161 00:07:46,222 --> 00:07:48,194 organization, the festival diaspora, to 162 00:07:48,194 --> 00:07:52,654 tell them that they belong. And we were so 163 00:07:52,654 --> 00:07:54,158 moved, all 200 of us, pretending like 164 00:07:54,158 --> 00:07:58,434 we're not crying in that crowd, that we 165 00:07:58,434 --> 00:08:00,562 saw that mix of the secular and the 166 00:08:00,562 --> 00:08:02,566 sacred, because I said, I need someone to 167 00:08:02,566 --> 00:08:04,486 stand in front of the door, because no one 168 00:08:04,486 --> 00:08:06,134 is leaving. We're raising an offering for 169 00:08:06,134 --> 00:08:10,042 these women right now, and we raised 170 00:08:10,042 --> 00:08:12,938 $30,000 US right there in an hour. Wow. 171 00:08:12,938 --> 00:08:16,454 And create that didn't exist. And now that 172 00:08:16,454 --> 00:08:19,494 organization is called Casanovacion, and 173 00:08:19,494 --> 00:08:21,742 they're now an independent nonprofit. They 174 00:08:21,742 --> 00:08:24,298 have staff. I know because my daughter 175 00:08:24,298 --> 00:08:28,906 interned, formed this past. They're doing 176 00:08:28,906 --> 00:08:31,150 entrepreneurial boot camps all over 177 00:08:31,150 --> 00:08:35,474 Colombia for women who would never have 178 00:08:35,474 --> 00:08:37,662 access to this type of material. They're 179 00:08:37,662 --> 00:08:39,778 recruiting people from all over the 180 00:08:39,778 --> 00:08:43,666 country to deliver world class content and 181 00:08:43,666 --> 00:08:46,902 then have it translated. And it's just a 182 00:08:46,902 --> 00:08:51,286 game changer, but it started off from one 183 00:08:51,286 --> 00:08:53,686 act, right? One act, and a willingness for 184 00:08:53,686 --> 00:08:56,390 the people to also believe with me what's 185 00:08:56,390 --> 00:08:59,962 possible for those women if we do 186 00:08:59,962 --> 00:09:02,394 something, and we did, and they are now 187 00:09:02,394 --> 00:09:05,610 doing something far, far greater than our 188 00:09:05,610 --> 00:09:09,066 imaginations. It warms my heart to think 189 00:09:09,066 --> 00:09:11,102 about that story, because that literally 190 00:09:11,102 --> 00:09:13,406 just happened in March. It just happened 191 00:09:13,406 --> 00:09:16,494 in March, yeah. And here we are, November. 192 00:09:16,494 --> 00:09:18,334 And that group has really blown up. It's 193 00:09:18,334 --> 00:09:22,734 been fantastic. Wow. Oh, that's so moving 194 00:09:22,734 --> 00:09:26,666 and impactful and inspiring. I grew up in 195 00:09:26,666 --> 00:09:28,898 Venezuela, and so a lot of Colombian 196 00:09:28,898 --> 00:09:30,846 friends, both in Venezuela from when I was 197 00:09:30,846 --> 00:09:33,358 growing up, because back in the. In 198 00:09:33,358 --> 00:09:34,958 Venezuela, Colombians were coming to 199 00:09:34,958 --> 00:09:36,814 Venezuela for a better life. Now it's 200 00:09:36,814 --> 00:09:41,442 reverse, right? Yeah. Also just around the 201 00:09:41,442 --> 00:09:43,538 world, wherever I've lived, Colombians, it 202 00:09:43,538 --> 00:09:44,754 seemed to have been there, like in 203 00:09:44,754 --> 00:09:48,006 Singapore, had some good friends. And 204 00:09:48,006 --> 00:09:49,846 anyway, in the Spanish is similar enough 205 00:09:49,846 --> 00:09:52,026 to ours, and we both eat idios and 206 00:09:52,026 --> 00:09:54,026 everything. But I think that my work here 207 00:09:54,026 --> 00:09:55,514 in California, one of the things I've 208 00:09:55,514 --> 00:09:59,802 become aware of is when it comes to just 209 00:09:59,802 --> 00:10:02,366 like even equal pay for equal work, that's 210 00:10:02,366 --> 00:10:05,086 still something women don't have access to 211 00:10:05,086 --> 00:10:08,602 in a lot of jobs. But in California, our 212 00:10:08,602 --> 00:10:11,310 statistics are for Latina women, 213 00:10:11,310 --> 00:10:13,614 especially low. So I think it's like 72, 214 00:10:13,614 --> 00:10:15,074 something like that. Cents to the dollar 215 00:10:15,074 --> 00:10:18,354 for a woman compared to a white man. But 216 00:10:18,354 --> 00:10:20,974 for a Latina, I think it's something like 217 00:10:20,974 --> 00:10:23,870 $0.42 here in California, which is just 218 00:10:23,870 --> 00:10:26,066 abhorrent, actually, and horrifying 219 00:10:26,066 --> 00:10:27,826 because we do have a lot of Latinas. We 220 00:10:27,826 --> 00:10:30,198 just finished our. I work for a company. 221 00:10:30,198 --> 00:10:32,374 It has really great DEI focus. And so we 222 00:10:32,374 --> 00:10:34,722 had some speakers come in during the 223 00:10:34,722 --> 00:10:36,918 Hispanic Heritage Month to help know 224 00:10:36,918 --> 00:10:40,166 understand a whole lot more. And I just 225 00:10:40,166 --> 00:10:41,746 got back from one of our manufacturing 226 00:10:41,746 --> 00:10:43,306 sites near Memphis, where we do have a lot 227 00:10:43,306 --> 00:10:45,046 of, actually, Venezuelans who've 228 00:10:45,046 --> 00:10:46,454 immigrated, who are working in the 229 00:10:46,454 --> 00:10:48,826 manufacturing area, as well as a lot from 230 00:10:48,826 --> 00:10:51,446 all around Central and South America. And 231 00:10:51,446 --> 00:10:53,758 I'm aware here, just because of the work 232 00:10:53,758 --> 00:10:55,838 in tech and knowing, understanding a lot 233 00:10:55,838 --> 00:10:59,146 of VCs, and how women are so very 234 00:10:59,146 --> 00:11:01,002 underfunded when it comes to venture 235 00:11:01,002 --> 00:11:03,502 capitalists. So that story is incredibly 236 00:11:03,502 --> 00:11:07,086 impactful on so many levels. How would you 237 00:11:07,086 --> 00:11:11,410 describe your mission as it relates to 238 00:11:11,410 --> 00:11:17,954 women in particular? Yeah, well, I'm on 239 00:11:17,954 --> 00:11:20,600 this journey towards recall, belonging, 240 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,280 and it came upon me as I was trying to 241 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:28,434 think, how can I be responsive to what my 242 00:11:28,434 --> 00:11:30,802 CEO asked me to do, which was to create an 243 00:11:30,802 --> 00:11:34,246 external program. I said, wow, I'm not a 244 00:11:34,246 --> 00:11:36,534 DNI specialist, and we probably should 245 00:11:36,534 --> 00:11:40,006 hire one if that's what you want. Well, 246 00:11:40,006 --> 00:11:41,614 I'm looking for someone that understands 247 00:11:41,614 --> 00:11:44,286 the Aspen Institute, and you understand 248 00:11:44,286 --> 00:11:46,702 how we work and our programs. So I need 249 00:11:46,702 --> 00:11:50,954 you to put that thinking to this obvious 250 00:11:50,954 --> 00:11:55,106 gap that we, you know, I started digging 251 00:11:55,106 --> 00:11:58,082 in, and what I discovered is that there's 252 00:11:58,082 --> 00:12:00,846 so many people in the DNI space, so many 253 00:12:00,846 --> 00:12:01,938 organizations, that one or two things are 254 00:12:01,938 --> 00:12:06,866 going to happen. One is that we are going 255 00:12:06,866 --> 00:12:09,678 to take air out of the room for people who 256 00:12:09,678 --> 00:12:11,158 deserve it. More than we who've been at it 257 00:12:11,158 --> 00:12:12,694 for a very long time. But because we're a 258 00:12:12,694 --> 00:12:14,806 much better known organization, we're 259 00:12:14,806 --> 00:12:17,574 going to win or two. We're not going to 260 00:12:17,574 --> 00:12:20,258 add value. And so a waste of all this 261 00:12:20,258 --> 00:12:23,786 brand and we're just one of many. We're 262 00:12:23,786 --> 00:12:25,930 not moving the ball forward down the 263 00:12:25,930 --> 00:12:27,786 field. And so I kind of took a step back 264 00:12:27,786 --> 00:12:29,622 and said, okay, well, where is the 265 00:12:29,622 --> 00:12:31,946 conversation going? We've been talking 266 00:12:31,946 --> 00:12:34,282 about diversity, equity, inclusion since 267 00:12:34,282 --> 00:12:36,874 the late 60s under the Nixon 268 00:12:36,874 --> 00:12:39,134 administration when he started requesting 269 00:12:39,134 --> 00:12:41,166 a census of all the federal contractors. 270 00:12:41,166 --> 00:12:43,166 Just want to know who was doing work with 271 00:12:43,166 --> 00:12:45,038 the government. And now that we know that 272 00:12:45,038 --> 00:12:47,986 the federal government is one fifth of GDP 273 00:12:47,986 --> 00:12:49,860 in terms of purchase their goods and 274 00:12:49,860 --> 00:12:52,562 services, that's a big question. Every 275 00:12:52,562 --> 00:12:55,410 single Fortune 2000 company has the 276 00:12:55,410 --> 00:12:58,482 government as a customer, which I always 277 00:12:58,482 --> 00:13:00,118 found interesting because these also folks 278 00:13:00,118 --> 00:13:01,366 who don't want to pay taxes. I'm like, 279 00:13:01,366 --> 00:13:02,930 well, how do you think the government 280 00:13:02,930 --> 00:13:05,366 funds the work they do? It baffles me. 281 00:13:05,366 --> 00:13:09,146 Whatever baffles me as a maybe I'm not 282 00:13:09,146 --> 00:13:11,580 doing the right logic exercise. My point 283 00:13:11,580 --> 00:13:17,030 is, it was apparent to me that the puck is 284 00:13:17,030 --> 00:13:22,574 heading away from that which triggers 285 00:13:22,574 --> 00:13:25,866 towards that which unites. And the 286 00:13:25,866 --> 00:13:28,542 language that unites for me is belonging. 287 00:13:28,542 --> 00:13:31,018 Because it's really easy to say, well, 288 00:13:31,018 --> 00:13:32,558 here's DNI. You're not talking to me. I'm 289 00:13:32,558 --> 00:13:34,302 a middle aged white man. You're not 290 00:13:34,302 --> 00:13:39,266 referencing me. But if I say, well, we're 291 00:13:39,266 --> 00:13:40,882 talking about belonging and thriving, I 292 00:13:40,882 --> 00:13:43,886 think years have to perk because who 293 00:13:43,886 --> 00:13:45,586 doesn't want to belong and who doesn't 294 00:13:45,586 --> 00:13:48,066 want to thrive? Now, there are many who 295 00:13:48,066 --> 00:13:49,558 want to belong, but don't want anyone else 296 00:13:49,558 --> 00:13:51,346 to belong. But it is completely 297 00:13:51,346 --> 00:13:53,046 inappropriate to voice it out loud. Okay, 298 00:13:53,046 --> 00:13:55,158 so you kind of got them. It's like those 299 00:13:55,158 --> 00:13:57,366 that recalcitrant. You kind of got them. 300 00:13:57,366 --> 00:14:03,286 And then with respect to women, we cannot 301 00:14:03,286 --> 00:14:06,730 afford to move forward as an economy 302 00:14:06,730 --> 00:14:11,190 without engaging and encouraging and 303 00:14:11,190 --> 00:14:13,498 cultivating 52% of the population. Just, 304 00:14:13,498 --> 00:14:15,786 we don't have the horses. So it's not a 305 00:14:15,786 --> 00:14:17,566 moralistic argument for me at all. This is 306 00:14:17,566 --> 00:14:19,754 like, well, how does one maintain your 307 00:14:19,754 --> 00:14:23,006 economic power for the long haul? We got 308 00:14:23,006 --> 00:14:25,182 to pull in the same direction for 309 00:14:25,182 --> 00:14:29,330 everyone. So whatever my hang up is on 310 00:14:29,330 --> 00:14:31,554 women or people who would look different 311 00:14:31,554 --> 00:14:33,634 from me, I'm going to have to get over it 312 00:14:33,634 --> 00:14:35,286 because this is about a fiduciary duties 313 00:14:35,286 --> 00:14:39,942 as leaders. And frankly, because we know 314 00:14:39,942 --> 00:14:43,078 how damaging discriminatory behavior can 315 00:14:43,078 --> 00:14:45,554 be to one's bottom line, it becomes a 316 00:14:45,554 --> 00:14:48,854 fiduciary duty that people behave in a 317 00:14:48,854 --> 00:14:50,874 certain way, a way that's acceptable to 318 00:14:50,874 --> 00:14:53,946 the current morals of our society. And so 319 00:14:53,946 --> 00:14:55,914 if you imagine being a board of director 320 00:14:55,914 --> 00:14:58,986 and knowing that your CEO, who the only 321 00:14:58,986 --> 00:15:00,874 person that you manage is intentionally 322 00:15:00,874 --> 00:15:03,454 not engaging a particular customer set 323 00:15:03,454 --> 00:15:04,878 just because he or she doesn't like the 324 00:15:04,878 --> 00:15:07,966 way they look, sound, their national 325 00:15:07,966 --> 00:15:09,774 origin, this is not a person you can keep 326 00:15:09,774 --> 00:15:11,920 on board because they're clearly not 327 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,086 thinking with your and a company's future 328 00:15:15,086 --> 00:15:17,246 in mind, they should know what the 329 00:15:17,246 --> 00:15:19,298 customers 35 years down the road is going 330 00:15:19,298 --> 00:15:21,138 to look like. And trust me, they're not 331 00:15:21,138 --> 00:15:23,090 going to look like the current ones. All 332 00:15:23,090 --> 00:15:25,006 right? And so you got to figure out where 333 00:15:25,006 --> 00:15:27,126 it's going. It's obviously going towards 334 00:15:27,126 --> 00:15:30,354 more diversity if you look at any 335 00:15:30,354 --> 00:15:32,246 demographic study. And so doesn't it make 336 00:15:32,246 --> 00:15:34,546 sense to start investing now? That is not 337 00:15:34,546 --> 00:15:36,854 corporate wokeness. That's you exercising 338 00:15:36,854 --> 00:15:40,306 your fiduciary duties as an executive, 339 00:15:40,306 --> 00:15:41,866 knowing down the road what your customer 340 00:15:41,866 --> 00:15:43,994 is going to look like. And so I think as 341 00:15:43,994 --> 00:15:47,260 we get people to change the words they're 342 00:15:47,260 --> 00:15:50,494 using, it becomes a lot easier to do the 343 00:15:50,494 --> 00:15:57,582 right thing, becomes a lot more defensible 344 00:15:57,582 --> 00:15:59,470 because I get it. You get a lot of 345 00:15:59,470 --> 00:16:02,646 pressure right now. There are several US 346 00:16:02,646 --> 00:16:06,286 senators sending notes to corporate 347 00:16:06,286 --> 00:16:09,138 leaders that have been outspoken on their 348 00:16:09,138 --> 00:16:11,198 work with respect to diverse customer 349 00:16:11,198 --> 00:16:14,126 sets, saying, hey, with this anti 350 00:16:14,126 --> 00:16:15,678 permaction ruling, you now can't do that. 351 00:16:15,678 --> 00:16:17,026 They're really extending the logic. I 352 00:16:17,026 --> 00:16:18,802 don't think they're correct. And most 353 00:16:18,802 --> 00:16:20,946 companies are saying that's not what our 354 00:16:20,946 --> 00:16:23,490 legal analysis holds. We believe that 355 00:16:23,490 --> 00:16:24,598 you're a little off on this one, so we're 356 00:16:24,598 --> 00:16:26,338 going to keep moving forward. Moreover, 357 00:16:26,338 --> 00:16:28,326 here's the data where our customers are. 358 00:16:28,326 --> 00:16:32,982 So if you have a better idea for how I can 359 00:16:32,982 --> 00:16:34,826 manage my fiduciary duty with respect to 360 00:16:34,826 --> 00:16:37,414 my customers, I am all ears. But if you 361 00:16:37,414 --> 00:16:39,014 don't really, I think you got a lot of 362 00:16:39,014 --> 00:16:40,620 legislating to do. You should focus on 363 00:16:40,620 --> 00:16:44,858 that. Yeah, absolutely. I think it just 364 00:16:44,858 --> 00:16:48,240 brings up the point. Number one, what you 365 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:52,126 mentioned know the fiduciary side of 366 00:16:52,126 --> 00:16:53,726 things. I mean, we have, case in point 367 00:16:53,726 --> 00:16:56,786 this summer we had Taylor Swift raising 368 00:16:56,786 --> 00:16:58,606 the economy all by herself. She just 369 00:16:58,606 --> 00:17:01,634 became a billionaire, right? Making music 370 00:17:01,634 --> 00:17:03,730 about the lived experience of growing up a 371 00:17:03,730 --> 00:17:06,246 girl and becoming a. Like, this is half 372 00:17:06,246 --> 00:17:08,066 the world, right? And then you have 373 00:17:08,066 --> 00:17:13,074 Beyonce also crushing it, also raising the 374 00:17:13,074 --> 00:17:14,674 economy as well. You have the Barbie 375 00:17:14,674 --> 00:17:16,786 movie, a movie that centers women, 376 00:17:16,786 --> 00:17:19,218 directed by women, written by women, about 377 00:17:19,218 --> 00:17:21,722 the experience of women, centering women. 378 00:17:21,722 --> 00:17:23,866 And guess what? People wanted to see that 379 00:17:23,866 --> 00:17:25,834 there is something about the economy, 380 00:17:25,834 --> 00:17:27,994 where centering experiences of other 381 00:17:27,994 --> 00:17:31,386 people is something people want. But at 382 00:17:31,386 --> 00:17:32,894 the same time, when we're talking about 383 00:17:32,894 --> 00:17:34,462 making a difference, I think you're also 384 00:17:34,462 --> 00:17:36,958 making the point that, and I would highly 385 00:17:36,958 --> 00:17:41,230 agree, that change happens in a lot of 386 00:17:41,230 --> 00:17:43,294 different spaces, and coming together is 387 00:17:43,294 --> 00:17:45,614 really important. So we have nonprofits 388 00:17:45,614 --> 00:17:47,426 doing incredible work. We have government 389 00:17:47,426 --> 00:17:49,346 that has an incredible role in terms of 390 00:17:49,346 --> 00:17:51,234 how they make laws and how they enforce 391 00:17:51,234 --> 00:17:54,194 those laws. And then we have tech 392 00:17:54,194 --> 00:17:56,806 companies that are extremely influential 393 00:17:56,806 --> 00:17:59,394 with social media and can either 394 00:17:59,394 --> 00:18:01,714 contribute to great nation building 395 00:18:01,714 --> 00:18:04,760 exercises, or they can destroy the society 396 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:08,006 from our young girls on Instagram all the 397 00:18:08,006 --> 00:18:09,754 way up until adulthood. Right. And so 398 00:18:09,754 --> 00:18:12,298 there is this opportunity for us to come 399 00:18:12,298 --> 00:18:14,586 together to do good and make a difference 400 00:18:14,586 --> 00:18:17,498 together. But there's so many opinions and 401 00:18:17,498 --> 00:18:22,074 very opposing ones. As you're working on 402 00:18:22,074 --> 00:18:23,434 belonging and you're at the Aspen 403 00:18:23,434 --> 00:18:25,534 Institute Socrates program and working 404 00:18:25,534 --> 00:18:28,362 through all these things, how have you 405 00:18:28,362 --> 00:18:31,854 overcome some of those obstacles? Yeah, 406 00:18:31,854 --> 00:18:33,774 well, we've had to do some internal work. 407 00:18:33,774 --> 00:18:35,920 Like, for instance, there's a thing we 408 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:39,326 say, no mantles. We're putting together 409 00:18:39,326 --> 00:18:41,586 slates of moderators all the time. Love 410 00:18:41,586 --> 00:18:47,346 that. Often publishers are. You can't just 411 00:18:47,346 --> 00:18:49,606 go with what you're capable with. I happen 412 00:18:49,606 --> 00:18:53,606 to know mostly men. Okay. And if I were 413 00:18:53,606 --> 00:18:56,566 just to pick a slate of three moderators 414 00:18:56,566 --> 00:18:59,334 to do concurrent seminars, I'm going to 415 00:18:59,334 --> 00:19:01,226 look across my network. That's, like, the 416 00:19:01,226 --> 00:19:03,386 first thing I do, what I've asked my team 417 00:19:03,386 --> 00:19:06,442 to do over the last several years. I said, 418 00:19:06,442 --> 00:19:09,114 number one, let's co create this. That's 419 00:19:09,114 --> 00:19:10,826 number one, because you also have 420 00:19:10,826 --> 00:19:13,534 networks. Number two, just because I get 421 00:19:13,534 --> 00:19:17,102 super excited about these two, like, say, 422 00:19:17,102 --> 00:19:21,434 hey, Cordell, have you considered, please 423 00:19:21,434 --> 00:19:24,406 push back against me to make sure that 424 00:19:24,406 --> 00:19:28,066 we're fulfilling or at least accomplishing 425 00:19:28,066 --> 00:19:29,950 the optical challenge? Like, this is the 426 00:19:29,950 --> 00:19:32,914 aspect we can't put out three men as our 427 00:19:32,914 --> 00:19:34,290 standard bearers for this particular 428 00:19:34,290 --> 00:19:37,078 event. No, we're not going to do that. And 429 00:19:37,078 --> 00:19:40,486 so let those panels reflect the diversity 430 00:19:40,486 --> 00:19:43,462 of our country. So it requires more work, 431 00:19:43,462 --> 00:19:46,774 no doubt. But this is good work. This is 432 00:19:46,774 --> 00:19:50,214 good work. It forces us to move beyond the 433 00:19:50,214 --> 00:19:52,330 comfort levels. And what we're finding is 434 00:19:52,330 --> 00:19:55,718 that those new people that we bring in 435 00:19:55,718 --> 00:19:57,674 beget more people, people we wouldn't, 436 00:19:57,674 --> 00:20:00,230 because their networks are now part of our 437 00:20:00,230 --> 00:20:02,830 work. And you find it actually becomes 438 00:20:02,830 --> 00:20:08,074 easier to find diverse groups of 439 00:20:08,074 --> 00:20:10,126 moderators and participants just because 440 00:20:10,126 --> 00:20:12,502 those people bring something new to the 441 00:20:12,502 --> 00:20:14,818 table. And so it's harder work up front, 442 00:20:14,818 --> 00:20:18,066 but it's easier on the back end, for sure. 443 00:20:18,066 --> 00:20:22,734 Yeah, that makes sense, which is passion 444 00:20:22,734 --> 00:20:25,410 projects becoming its own robust 445 00:20:25,410 --> 00:20:28,482 organization. If you look across economic 446 00:20:28,482 --> 00:20:29,986 development, you say, okay, what's the 447 00:20:29,986 --> 00:20:32,706 fastest way for a country to develop? 448 00:20:32,706 --> 00:20:34,518 Invariably, it's going to be develop their 449 00:20:34,518 --> 00:20:38,818 women, because there is more women. And in 450 00:20:38,818 --> 00:20:40,794 so many ways, they're the glue that hold 451 00:20:40,794 --> 00:20:43,386 these communities together. And as you 452 00:20:43,386 --> 00:20:47,226 know, in know, it is a lot easier for men 453 00:20:47,226 --> 00:20:51,410 to have access to venture funding, to 454 00:20:51,410 --> 00:20:54,266 entrepreneurial support systems. And so 455 00:20:54,266 --> 00:20:57,950 creating that for women has been a focus 456 00:20:57,950 --> 00:21:00,094 of the festival, starting in Puerto Rico, 457 00:21:00,094 --> 00:21:01,386 moving to Colombia, now we have a 458 00:21:01,386 --> 00:21:03,598 permanent office in Medellin, and now 459 00:21:03,598 --> 00:21:05,762 we're moving forward to Rio de Janeiro and 460 00:21:05,762 --> 00:21:08,850 being exposed to those entrepreneurial. 461 00:21:08,850 --> 00:21:10,446 You know, you have a funder. Our main 462 00:21:10,446 --> 00:21:11,966 funder is Black Ambition, which is 463 00:21:11,966 --> 00:21:16,766 Pharrell Williams nonprofit. He funds the 464 00:21:16,766 --> 00:21:18,278 prize money for the pitch competitions. 465 00:21:18,278 --> 00:21:20,198 And then we pick the panelists that are 466 00:21:20,198 --> 00:21:22,502 going to judge. And so we're constantly, 467 00:21:22,502 --> 00:21:26,034 every year, being exposed to a new crop of 468 00:21:26,034 --> 00:21:27,926 female entrepreneurs. And the hope is that 469 00:21:27,926 --> 00:21:30,566 five years down the road, all these 470 00:21:30,566 --> 00:21:31,882 cohorts from different countries are 471 00:21:31,882 --> 00:21:33,626 starting to come together and be a part of 472 00:21:33,626 --> 00:21:35,686 each other's lives, be part of each 473 00:21:35,686 --> 00:21:39,462 other's supply chain, and creating more 474 00:21:39,462 --> 00:21:41,694 economic opportunity for themselves and 475 00:21:41,694 --> 00:21:44,510 their communities. And this is just 476 00:21:44,510 --> 00:21:47,982 talking about 30 women at a time in these 477 00:21:47,982 --> 00:21:49,706 different countries. But I think the 478 00:21:49,706 --> 00:21:52,750 impact you can have is massive with that 479 00:21:52,750 --> 00:21:55,422 focus effort. And so we're super excited 480 00:21:55,422 --> 00:21:58,240 about that particular line of work as 481 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:01,586 well. That is very exciting. I just can't 482 00:22:01,586 --> 00:22:02,978 wait to see some of the things that come 483 00:22:02,978 --> 00:22:09,206 out of obviously, Latina women, even here 484 00:22:09,206 --> 00:22:11,734 in California, as I mentioned, have even 485 00:22:11,734 --> 00:22:14,150 less opportunity. But if we just look at 486 00:22:14,150 --> 00:22:15,766 women as a whole, even in California, 487 00:22:15,766 --> 00:22:18,150 where I live, venture capitalism is not 488 00:22:18,150 --> 00:22:19,718 something women have as much access to. 489 00:22:19,718 --> 00:22:23,146 It's definitely a bro club, for sure. And 490 00:22:23,146 --> 00:22:25,500 there is a lot of performance bias around 491 00:22:25,500 --> 00:22:28,780 that. I also just want to unpack some of 492 00:22:28,780 --> 00:22:31,338 the. Your efforts are really shifting sort 493 00:22:31,338 --> 00:22:33,674 of this national conversation on racial 494 00:22:33,674 --> 00:22:36,234 equity, though, and inclusion from both 495 00:22:36,234 --> 00:22:37,918 compliance to belonging. Could you share 496 00:22:37,918 --> 00:22:39,914 some of your key strategies and 497 00:22:39,914 --> 00:22:41,534 initiatives you've been helping to work 498 00:22:41,534 --> 00:22:43,246 through to sort of achieve some of this 499 00:22:43,246 --> 00:22:44,686 shift? And what are your obstacles that 500 00:22:44,686 --> 00:22:48,130 you're still working through? Yeah. So, 501 00:22:48,130 --> 00:22:51,250 number one, I call it dispassionate 502 00:22:51,250 --> 00:22:59,734 passion. I should say less interested in 503 00:22:59,734 --> 00:23:03,846 an emotional, spiritual, moral obligation 504 00:23:03,846 --> 00:23:07,538 to do the right thing as one that's more 505 00:23:07,538 --> 00:23:10,486 focused on fiduciary duty and improving 506 00:23:10,486 --> 00:23:13,194 shareholder growth, to me, that's a safer 507 00:23:13,194 --> 00:23:16,406 place to be. I need something else to 508 00:23:16,406 --> 00:23:18,778 motivate folks. And so I'm like, we have 509 00:23:18,778 --> 00:23:21,302 to be able to connect the work of 510 00:23:21,302 --> 00:23:24,254 inclusion and equity to the bottom line of 511 00:23:24,254 --> 00:23:26,386 whatever your organization is. So I don't 512 00:23:26,386 --> 00:23:28,686 know if you know, about six months ago, 513 00:23:28,686 --> 00:23:31,310 there was a lot of chief DNI officers 514 00:23:31,310 --> 00:23:37,374 losing their. Yes, yes. Big impact. Huge. 515 00:23:37,374 --> 00:23:40,418 Right. And what I was discussing, many of 516 00:23:40,418 --> 00:23:44,466 these former executives, they lack budget, 517 00:23:44,466 --> 00:23:46,926 they lack team, and more importantly, they 518 00:23:46,926 --> 00:23:48,898 lack the obvious connection to the P L 519 00:23:48,898 --> 00:23:50,630 profit and loss of their organization. 520 00:23:50,630 --> 00:23:53,538 Yeah. I think your job, you're doing a job 521 00:23:53,538 --> 00:23:57,254 that's focused on inclusion or sales. You 522 00:23:57,254 --> 00:24:00,134 have to be able to show how this effort 523 00:24:00,134 --> 00:24:04,026 drives a particular metric. That's what 524 00:24:04,026 --> 00:24:06,554 your boards are looking at. Like, you take 525 00:24:06,554 --> 00:24:08,966 away all the politics, all of the 526 00:24:08,966 --> 00:24:11,146 emotional fervor of a particular issue. At 527 00:24:11,146 --> 00:24:13,382 the end of the day, either you're driving 528 00:24:13,382 --> 00:24:14,958 revenue or you're a cost center. If you're 529 00:24:14,958 --> 00:24:17,166 a cost center, you're nice to have and so 530 00:24:17,166 --> 00:24:20,394 you're not nice to be had. Okay. And you 531 00:24:20,394 --> 00:24:23,726 can't blame for that. They are amoral. 532 00:24:23,726 --> 00:24:26,606 They have to be amoral. We're trying to 533 00:24:26,606 --> 00:24:29,550 force them not to be, but they have to be 534 00:24:29,550 --> 00:24:32,654 amoral in order to, I think, make some 535 00:24:32,654 --> 00:24:35,902 tough calls that maybe do not stem from 536 00:24:35,902 --> 00:24:37,678 patriotism or particular bit of politics, 537 00:24:37,678 --> 00:24:40,706 but is good for their shareholders. So 538 00:24:40,706 --> 00:24:41,846 that's number one. What's your connection 539 00:24:41,846 --> 00:24:44,038 to PNL? And I increasingly drive that. 540 00:24:44,038 --> 00:24:46,086 What are the metrics? So my questions have 541 00:24:46,086 --> 00:24:49,682 absolutely changed. Number two, we have to 542 00:24:49,682 --> 00:24:51,130 nurture what I call professional learning 543 00:24:51,130 --> 00:24:53,098 community of leaders that are interesting 544 00:24:53,098 --> 00:24:54,966 issues. They are not chief diversity at 545 00:24:54,966 --> 00:24:57,706 inclusion officers, they're executive VPs 546 00:24:57,706 --> 00:25:01,786 of XYZ. But they care about these issues. 547 00:25:01,786 --> 00:25:03,366 You have to be able to give them some 548 00:25:03,366 --> 00:25:05,230 tools that they can use that are easily to 549 00:25:05,230 --> 00:25:07,642 apply to your industry and their 550 00:25:07,642 --> 00:25:08,846 organizations that make sense for them. 551 00:25:08,846 --> 00:25:10,686 Things that are defensible. You don't want 552 00:25:10,686 --> 00:25:13,486 them out on a limb on these things. And so 553 00:25:13,486 --> 00:25:14,990 that is something that we can definitely 554 00:25:14,990 --> 00:25:18,466 do as think tank and Aspen Institute. We 555 00:25:18,466 --> 00:25:20,066 are great conveners. We can convene these 556 00:25:20,066 --> 00:25:23,714 people together. So that's number two. The 557 00:25:23,714 --> 00:25:27,446 third thing that we're finding is that 558 00:25:27,446 --> 00:25:31,094 people are looking for opportunities to 559 00:25:31,094 --> 00:25:32,498 talk about the best practices, that 560 00:25:32,498 --> 00:25:35,640 they're orientation on big public stages. 561 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,454 Okay? They want a pat on the back. It's 562 00:25:38,454 --> 00:25:41,106 important. They want their CEO to be well 563 00:25:41,106 --> 00:25:43,674 positioned to speak about the amazing 564 00:25:43,674 --> 00:25:45,274 things his or her company are doing in 565 00:25:45,274 --> 00:25:47,978 this regard. And so we have to continue to 566 00:25:47,978 --> 00:25:50,006 provide those spaces. So this is what the 567 00:25:50,006 --> 00:25:52,090 festival of Diaspora is. It's a global 568 00:25:52,090 --> 00:25:56,286 stage in Latin America. We're working on 569 00:25:56,286 --> 00:25:58,640 two or three large convenings here in the 570 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:00,926 US, along with some other partners that 571 00:26:00,926 --> 00:26:05,394 can feature various aspects of inclusion 572 00:26:05,394 --> 00:26:10,590 and belonging. But I believe to my very 573 00:26:10,590 --> 00:26:12,978 core that we are all after the same thing, 574 00:26:12,978 --> 00:26:15,274 that we want to live society where we all 575 00:26:15,274 --> 00:26:17,158 belong and enjoy equitable opportunities 576 00:26:17,158 --> 00:26:21,160 to thrive. One of our problems is that we 577 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,674 have went Hogwell on DNI, and it's a 578 00:26:24,674 --> 00:26:27,640 strategy. We never define a destination. 579 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,906 Okay. Compliance or making sure you do 580 00:26:30,906 --> 00:26:33,670 your census every year. No, it's to make 581 00:26:33,670 --> 00:26:37,020 society a more fair, just place. But no 582 00:26:37,020 --> 00:26:39,882 one has gone there, so we're trying to go 583 00:26:39,882 --> 00:26:42,166 there. This is where the puck is going, 584 00:26:42,166 --> 00:26:45,290 belonging and thriving. And so let's start 585 00:26:45,290 --> 00:26:47,774 celebrating that right now. And that's 586 00:26:47,774 --> 00:26:49,502 what a lot of the work that I do on the 587 00:26:49,502 --> 00:26:51,978 project of belonging is focused on. It's 588 00:26:51,978 --> 00:26:54,634 focused on that. How do we get to this 589 00:26:54,634 --> 00:26:56,466 endpoint? And so I'm trying. Last thing, 590 00:26:56,466 --> 00:26:58,514 and I'll mention is I would like to build 591 00:26:58,514 --> 00:27:01,662 out a cohort experience for people to go 592 00:27:01,662 --> 00:27:03,922 deep on two things. One is, well, three 593 00:27:03,922 --> 00:27:05,378 things. One is American history. I think 594 00:27:05,378 --> 00:27:08,222 we have an amazing story. I call it 595 00:27:08,222 --> 00:27:11,218 becoming Republic. In fact, it's one of my 596 00:27:11,218 --> 00:27:12,898 signature seminars. I just did one for a 597 00:27:12,898 --> 00:27:15,574 private equity firm last week in New York, 598 00:27:15,574 --> 00:27:18,054 and the book is forthcoming. And it's this 599 00:27:18,054 --> 00:27:21,114 idea of looking last 148 years of American 600 00:27:21,114 --> 00:27:23,162 history and asking yourself three 601 00:27:23,162 --> 00:27:25,386 questions, who is we? How is our notion of 602 00:27:25,386 --> 00:27:26,954 we evolved? And thirdly, where do we go 603 00:27:26,954 --> 00:27:31,242 from here? And then I notice that we never 604 00:27:31,242 --> 00:27:33,902 ask anything of Americans. We just say, 605 00:27:33,902 --> 00:27:35,406 okay, you have a blue passport. You're 606 00:27:35,406 --> 00:27:37,678 good. You're one of us. There's no notion 607 00:27:37,678 --> 00:27:40,782 of national service. The question 608 00:27:40,782 --> 00:27:42,462 President Kennedy asked, ask not what your 609 00:27:42,462 --> 00:27:43,458 country do for you, what you can do for 610 00:27:43,458 --> 00:27:45,950 your country. That seems anathema. And 611 00:27:45,950 --> 00:27:48,494 Pollyanna. No, that's a real thing. 612 00:27:48,494 --> 00:27:51,054 Democracies take work, and it's a co 613 00:27:51,054 --> 00:27:53,006 creative enterprise. And so, just 614 00:27:53,006 --> 00:27:56,658 reminding people through book excerpts, 615 00:27:56,658 --> 00:28:01,122 it's all text based speeches and asking 616 00:28:01,122 --> 00:28:03,206 provocative questions. Where are you going 617 00:28:03,206 --> 00:28:05,378 as a leader? What is your leadership 618 00:28:05,378 --> 00:28:08,086 style? How is this impacting you? I see 619 00:28:08,086 --> 00:28:11,202 that America, as a great enterprise, and 620 00:28:11,202 --> 00:28:12,726 founding generations, there's been 621 00:28:12,726 --> 00:28:15,894 multiple, in my view, are part of that co 622 00:28:15,894 --> 00:28:19,706 creation process. And it's our time know, 623 00:28:19,706 --> 00:28:23,040 what are we going to do to make this a 624 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:26,542 much better version of what it was when we 625 00:28:26,542 --> 00:28:31,934 found it? And so it calls for some tough 626 00:28:31,934 --> 00:28:34,034 questions. But at least three times a 627 00:28:34,034 --> 00:28:36,690 month, I'm working with either executive 628 00:28:36,690 --> 00:28:39,758 team, boards of directors, or just a 629 00:28:39,758 --> 00:28:41,362 smaller group of leaders that want to 630 00:28:41,362 --> 00:28:44,370 learn together on these very issues. Via 631 00:28:44,370 --> 00:28:46,466 that particular exercise, becoming an 632 00:28:46,466 --> 00:28:49,542 inclusive republic. And so people want to 633 00:28:49,542 --> 00:28:52,134 learn from each other. They do. People 634 00:28:52,134 --> 00:28:57,206 want to be inspired by what we could be. 635 00:28:57,206 --> 00:28:59,254 They find it really hard to separate the 636 00:28:59,254 --> 00:29:01,754 politics from everything. They find it 637 00:29:01,754 --> 00:29:04,394 really like, I'm losing that. This isn't a 638 00:29:04,394 --> 00:29:07,594 zero sum game. And I'm like, guys, the 639 00:29:07,594 --> 00:29:10,506 opportunity that is America is if it were 640 00:29:10,506 --> 00:29:13,994 a pie, you wouldn't have enough spoons in 641 00:29:13,994 --> 00:29:16,798 the world to possibly swoop it all. Like, 642 00:29:16,798 --> 00:29:18,526 you can have ten spoons and you're just 643 00:29:18,526 --> 00:29:20,318 the stuff and you're laying in the hole 644 00:29:20,318 --> 00:29:22,174 that you created in the pie. And there's 645 00:29:22,174 --> 00:29:24,126 people you see just laid out all around 646 00:29:24,126 --> 00:29:26,674 you. That's the bounty that is the United 647 00:29:26,674 --> 00:29:29,220 States of America. So let's celebrate 648 00:29:29,220 --> 00:29:30,914 that. You don't even really have to worry 649 00:29:30,914 --> 00:29:32,766 about sharing. It doesn't really matter if 650 00:29:32,766 --> 00:29:34,722 you're sharing. There's plenty for others. 651 00:29:34,722 --> 00:29:36,446 Okay. There's plenty. It's like I was in a 652 00:29:36,446 --> 00:29:38,498 Savannah yesterday, and as far as I can 653 00:29:38,498 --> 00:29:40,706 see, in every single direction was just 654 00:29:40,706 --> 00:29:42,018 Savannah. And there's giraffes and there's 655 00:29:42,018 --> 00:29:43,574 zebra and the wildebeest and the lions are 656 00:29:43,574 --> 00:29:46,358 right here. And they're know a teepo that 657 00:29:46,358 --> 00:29:49,074 he just killed. But no, like, look, 658 00:29:49,074 --> 00:29:51,622 they're good. Look, there's millions of 659 00:29:51,622 --> 00:29:54,794 animals here, so we're good. There's stuff 660 00:29:54,794 --> 00:29:57,382 right now. We can continue eating this 661 00:29:57,382 --> 00:29:59,286 grass. You got to think like that. The 662 00:29:59,286 --> 00:30:00,710 wildebeest aren't going to run from every 663 00:30:00,710 --> 00:30:03,566 lion because there's plenty of wildebeest 664 00:30:03,566 --> 00:30:04,846 and there's plenty of lion. There's plenty 665 00:30:04,846 --> 00:30:07,454 of opportunity. And so if I can get folks 666 00:30:07,454 --> 00:30:11,530 to focus on us being this asset rich 667 00:30:11,530 --> 00:30:14,778 environment we really are, and that no one 668 00:30:14,778 --> 00:30:17,010 is taking something from you by them 669 00:30:17,010 --> 00:30:19,218 achieving. I don't know where. Well, I do 670 00:30:19,218 --> 00:30:21,426 know where it came from, but I should say 671 00:30:21,426 --> 00:30:25,406 I know how it continues. It's very 672 00:30:25,406 --> 00:30:28,966 lucrative politically to cause separation, 673 00:30:28,966 --> 00:30:33,206 to pit people against each other. I just 674 00:30:33,206 --> 00:30:35,126 need some people to be statespersons and 675 00:30:35,126 --> 00:30:36,550 to care about where we're going as a 676 00:30:36,550 --> 00:30:38,146 country more than what they personally are 677 00:30:38,146 --> 00:30:42,234 getting out of that transaction. There I 678 00:30:42,234 --> 00:30:44,666 go, preaching. There you go. There you go. 679 00:30:44,666 --> 00:30:48,554 We got you on a pulpit. Yeah. No, that's 680 00:30:48,554 --> 00:30:50,810 so fascinating. Just to hear from your 681 00:30:50,810 --> 00:30:53,766 perspective and your vantage point. I 682 00:30:53,766 --> 00:30:55,530 lived in Asia for 20 years. I grew up in 683 00:30:55,530 --> 00:30:56,926 Latin America, so I grew up in Venezuela 684 00:30:56,926 --> 00:30:59,006 and Costa Rica, in international schools 685 00:30:59,006 --> 00:31:00,734 with friends and teachers from everywhere. 686 00:31:00,734 --> 00:31:03,790 Right. And then I lived in Asia for 20 687 00:31:03,790 --> 00:31:05,898 years, working in Indonesia for ten years 688 00:31:05,898 --> 00:31:08,126 and Singapore for ten years. And in 689 00:31:08,126 --> 00:31:09,666 Singapore in particular. Just the 690 00:31:09,666 --> 00:31:14,242 government is an unusual story. They do 691 00:31:14,242 --> 00:31:17,474 have national service. It's part of what 692 00:31:17,474 --> 00:31:20,486 they did to protect themselves when they 693 00:31:20,486 --> 00:31:22,306 were no longer a British colony. And then 694 00:31:22,306 --> 00:31:24,070 Malaysia decided they also didn't want to 695 00:31:24,070 --> 00:31:25,686 be connected with Singapore. So it was 696 00:31:25,686 --> 00:31:30,006 just this little island that, in 1965, 697 00:31:30,006 --> 00:31:32,262 didn't even have running water and 698 00:31:32,262 --> 00:31:35,734 toilets. And now it's like an incredibly 699 00:31:35,734 --> 00:31:37,994 gorgeous developed place with incredible 700 00:31:37,994 --> 00:31:39,978 health care and some of the best education 701 00:31:39,978 --> 00:31:43,594 in the world. And it's a marvel. But they 702 00:31:43,594 --> 00:31:45,406 do have national service, and part of it 703 00:31:45,406 --> 00:31:46,846 is that they were needing to protect 704 00:31:46,846 --> 00:31:48,954 themselves from being vulnerable with 705 00:31:48,954 --> 00:31:51,518 Indonesia and Malaysia so close by. But 706 00:31:51,518 --> 00:31:53,562 also it became this nation building 707 00:31:53,562 --> 00:31:55,566 exercise. So one of my favorite things to 708 00:31:55,566 --> 00:31:57,234 do when I lived in Singapore was whenever 709 00:31:57,234 --> 00:32:00,434 I met a man who looked like he's old 710 00:32:00,434 --> 00:32:01,742 enough to have already finished his 711 00:32:01,742 --> 00:32:03,586 national service, which they do right out 712 00:32:03,586 --> 00:32:06,082 of their secondary school, I would usually 713 00:32:06,082 --> 00:32:10,130 ask them, what was your kind of branch of 714 00:32:10,130 --> 00:32:12,918 NS? They call it national service. And 715 00:32:12,918 --> 00:32:15,154 every time, whether it was a doctor or a 716 00:32:15,154 --> 00:32:17,174 lawyer or just anybody I was meeting, they 717 00:32:17,174 --> 00:32:20,218 would get into the story that you could 718 00:32:20,218 --> 00:32:23,014 tell was so meaningful, and it usually 719 00:32:23,014 --> 00:32:24,682 revolved around the friends they made 720 00:32:24,682 --> 00:32:27,274 during that time. Because Singapore wasn't 721 00:32:27,274 --> 00:32:30,300 at war during any of that time and hasn't 722 00:32:30,300 --> 00:32:34,206 been. They did send some troops to help us 723 00:32:34,206 --> 00:32:35,946 in Indonesia. I worked in the tsunami 724 00:32:35,946 --> 00:32:38,702 relief area, and Singapore did know a 725 00:32:38,702 --> 00:32:40,426 large contingent just to help with the 726 00:32:40,426 --> 00:32:42,830 disaster relief, which was great. But 727 00:32:42,830 --> 00:32:45,234 mostly you might have a Malay Muslim who 728 00:32:45,234 --> 00:32:50,978 was bunking with Indian Singaporean Hindu, 729 00:32:50,978 --> 00:32:54,626 or in a Chinese Singaporean Christian. And 730 00:32:54,626 --> 00:32:57,250 the thing is, they are lifelong friends. 731 00:32:57,250 --> 00:32:58,966 Usually that experience bonded them with 732 00:32:58,966 --> 00:33:00,966 one another. And so instead of a 733 00:33:00,966 --> 00:33:02,470 government that was sort of pitting them 734 00:33:02,470 --> 00:33:05,938 against one another, they really built a 735 00:33:05,938 --> 00:33:08,182 society about harmony. Now, is it perfect? 736 00:33:08,182 --> 00:33:11,686 No. There's a lot of still work to do and 737 00:33:11,686 --> 00:33:13,594 choices they've made as a social democracy 738 00:33:13,594 --> 00:33:15,994 that Americans often get kind of crazy 739 00:33:15,994 --> 00:33:17,738 about when I say they don't have freedom 740 00:33:17,738 --> 00:33:21,274 of the press and things like, um, and they 741 00:33:21,274 --> 00:33:24,006 know, have death penalty for drug 742 00:33:24,006 --> 00:33:26,046 trafficking, but it's a very safe place, 743 00:33:26,046 --> 00:33:28,314 so they've made some choices. But I 744 00:33:28,314 --> 00:33:29,598 juxtaposed that with a couple of weeks ago 745 00:33:29,598 --> 00:33:32,106 when I was in Memphis for work, leading a 746 00:33:32,106 --> 00:33:33,806 leadership summit with our company there. 747 00:33:33,806 --> 00:33:35,662 And I went to the National Civil Rights 748 00:33:35,662 --> 00:33:37,918 Museum, and they know, showing not only 749 00:33:37,918 --> 00:33:39,854 Emmett Till and what happened with him in 750 00:33:39,854 --> 00:33:43,566 Mississippi, which is horrific, but know 751 00:33:43,566 --> 00:33:45,506 enslaved peoples being brought from Africa 752 00:33:45,506 --> 00:33:47,918 on these ships to force labor camps, 753 00:33:47,918 --> 00:33:49,654 offered tobacco and cotton. And then you 754 00:33:49,654 --> 00:33:52,114 see the whole process of the civil rights 755 00:33:52,114 --> 00:33:54,454 movement that's until now, still work to 756 00:33:54,454 --> 00:33:56,726 do. And you see how even the government 757 00:33:56,726 --> 00:33:58,918 was pitting people against one another and 758 00:33:58,918 --> 00:34:01,634 how we do have this history that's very 759 00:34:01,634 --> 00:34:03,226 different than a place like Singapore that 760 00:34:03,226 --> 00:34:05,734 was bonding people together. It is a 761 00:34:05,734 --> 00:34:08,006 scarcity mentality. Yeah. What are your 762 00:34:08,006 --> 00:34:09,766 thoughts on all of that? As somebody who's 763 00:34:09,766 --> 00:34:14,910 dug into the. You know, we have example 764 00:34:14,910 --> 00:34:18,010 after example of, I should say, every 765 00:34:18,010 --> 00:34:20,574 generation of leaders in this country, of 766 00:34:20,574 --> 00:34:25,074 the masses seeking to exclude and the few 767 00:34:25,074 --> 00:34:28,354 and brave amongst them saying, no, we have 768 00:34:28,354 --> 00:34:31,886 to include. And so I reflect back to the 769 00:34:31,886 --> 00:34:34,178 Declaration of Independence, and it's one 770 00:34:34,178 --> 00:34:36,558 of the writings that I feature and 771 00:34:36,558 --> 00:34:38,386 becoming inclusive republic. And I said, 772 00:34:38,386 --> 00:34:40,406 does everyone in this room believe that 773 00:34:40,406 --> 00:34:42,722 the men in this room and that room in 774 00:34:42,722 --> 00:34:45,078 Philadelphia in 1776 had full command of 775 00:34:45,078 --> 00:34:47,334 the English language, as far as we know? 776 00:34:47,334 --> 00:34:48,886 They look at me, I said, and I asked the 777 00:34:48,886 --> 00:34:51,750 question again, did they mean what they 778 00:34:51,750 --> 00:34:54,074 wrote? Yeah. Did they have the power to 779 00:34:54,074 --> 00:34:55,946 change the words? And I go through the 780 00:34:55,946 --> 00:34:58,586 list of synonyms like, we hold the truth 781 00:34:58,586 --> 00:34:59,766 to be self evident. That wasn't the 782 00:34:59,766 --> 00:35:01,210 original word. The original word was 783 00:35:01,210 --> 00:35:03,642 sacred life, liberty, in pursuit of 784 00:35:03,642 --> 00:35:04,766 happiness. Happiness was not the original 785 00:35:04,766 --> 00:35:06,686 word. The original word was property. So 786 00:35:06,686 --> 00:35:09,210 it was clear that they were a larger 787 00:35:09,210 --> 00:35:13,282 audience. They could have said just us, 788 00:35:13,282 --> 00:35:15,666 that only us room, only people who like 789 00:35:15,666 --> 00:35:18,754 us. They left the door open. Okay? And 790 00:35:18,754 --> 00:35:23,586 that aspirational document is how we build 791 00:35:23,586 --> 00:35:26,058 our garner, our sense of character, of 792 00:35:26,058 --> 00:35:27,878 national character. This is what we aspire 793 00:35:27,878 --> 00:35:30,486 to. It's a non legally binding document. 794 00:35:30,486 --> 00:35:32,594 The Constitution binds us together, 795 00:35:32,594 --> 00:35:35,090 legally speaking. But the Declaration of 796 00:35:35,090 --> 00:35:37,090 Independence is like the mission 797 00:35:37,090 --> 00:35:39,706 statement, okay? Whereas the Constitution 798 00:35:39,706 --> 00:35:43,994 is the operational plan. And so I point to 799 00:35:43,994 --> 00:35:48,826 that example for folks to say, like, look, 800 00:35:48,826 --> 00:35:51,482 we have to exhibit some grace, because any 801 00:35:51,482 --> 00:35:55,486 nation state is part of an evolution, 802 00:35:55,486 --> 00:35:58,400 right? And yes, I would want perfection 803 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,534 today, but any human enterprise over the 804 00:36:01,534 --> 00:36:04,114 last 300,000 years of written human 805 00:36:04,114 --> 00:36:08,226 history, we know is imperfect, right? But 806 00:36:08,226 --> 00:36:10,754 we get to call it like we see it. We get 807 00:36:10,754 --> 00:36:14,526 to acknowledge our part, or our 808 00:36:14,526 --> 00:36:16,226 victimhood, if you will, in this 809 00:36:16,226 --> 00:36:18,806 particular enterprise, and we get to work 810 00:36:18,806 --> 00:36:23,926 to make it better. And so I see that as 811 00:36:23,926 --> 00:36:27,734 the redemption story for our civic faith 812 00:36:27,734 --> 00:36:30,358 that we can be better, and, frankly, that 813 00:36:30,358 --> 00:36:33,686 we have an obligation to work towards that 814 00:36:33,686 --> 00:36:36,722 which is better. And that's why I'm so 815 00:36:36,722 --> 00:36:40,026 motivated by the call to belong. I think 816 00:36:40,026 --> 00:36:43,886 it's the right approach because I don't 817 00:36:43,886 --> 00:36:48,478 think there's any such thing as a group of 818 00:36:48,478 --> 00:36:52,446 people moving in spite of their peers. And 819 00:36:52,446 --> 00:36:56,474 I take particular umbrage to any D I 820 00:36:56,474 --> 00:36:58,538 professional that is intentionally 821 00:36:58,538 --> 00:37:01,298 excluding middle aged white men, number 822 00:37:01,298 --> 00:37:03,586 one. From a standpoint, it doesn't make 823 00:37:03,586 --> 00:37:07,666 sense. According to Sherm, 89% to 90% of 824 00:37:07,666 --> 00:37:09,238 all executive roles, regardless of sector, 825 00:37:09,238 --> 00:37:10,706 are held by white men. So essentially, 826 00:37:10,706 --> 00:37:12,950 you're asking leaders who champion 827 00:37:12,950 --> 00:37:14,962 something that does not allow them to 828 00:37:14,962 --> 00:37:18,798 replicate what human, you know, does that. 829 00:37:18,798 --> 00:37:21,274 Nobody. Nobody does that. And that's not 830 00:37:21,274 --> 00:37:24,186 them being racist, being a human. Okay. I 831 00:37:24,186 --> 00:37:26,666 want to survive, too. Right. This isn't 832 00:37:26,666 --> 00:37:28,330 just about you feeling great about 833 00:37:28,330 --> 00:37:31,938 yourself. And so I think it's an instant 834 00:37:31,938 --> 00:37:33,966 failure as a person focused on inclusion 835 00:37:33,966 --> 00:37:35,994 to not be inclusive in your. It's an 836 00:37:35,994 --> 00:37:39,726 instant failure. Okay? Start over, go back 837 00:37:39,726 --> 00:37:42,734 to school, do whatever. But if you change 838 00:37:42,734 --> 00:37:45,946 the wording a bit and change the tone, 839 00:37:45,946 --> 00:37:48,734 lead with data and then lead with the 840 00:37:48,734 --> 00:37:50,926 aspirational document, all of a sudden 841 00:37:50,926 --> 00:37:52,946 that's a room that's warming up to you. 842 00:37:52,946 --> 00:37:55,794 This is why I think it is safer to start 843 00:37:55,794 --> 00:37:57,314 with where we've been and where we're 844 00:37:57,314 --> 00:38:00,438 going as a nation at the 30,000 foot view, 845 00:38:00,438 --> 00:38:02,978 and then start working your way down in 846 00:38:02,978 --> 00:38:04,614 altitude till you're getting to, like, 847 00:38:04,614 --> 00:38:07,186 what can you actually do different here at 848 00:38:07,186 --> 00:38:10,506 organization, Acme and company to change 849 00:38:10,506 --> 00:38:14,934 the game? Okay, but we get right to. 850 00:38:14,934 --> 00:38:18,938 You're wrong and you're exclusive, and you 851 00:38:18,938 --> 00:38:20,906 have to change something immediately. And 852 00:38:20,906 --> 00:38:23,260 we haven't convinced them on the need to 853 00:38:23,260 --> 00:38:27,966 change. You got to sell it. And we're not 854 00:38:27,966 --> 00:38:30,960 trying to include. And no wonder we're 855 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:34,078 still pushing this boulder up the hill. 856 00:38:34,078 --> 00:38:36,954 You would think it's better now, politics 857 00:38:36,954 --> 00:38:38,306 aside, so there's really nothing you can 858 00:38:38,306 --> 00:38:41,300 do about that. You just not elect those 859 00:38:41,300 --> 00:38:43,154 people. But clearly, there's a lot of 860 00:38:43,154 --> 00:38:45,222 people in this country who feel like those 861 00:38:45,222 --> 00:38:47,766 people speak for them and they are leading 862 00:38:47,766 --> 00:38:51,830 with grievances and they're leading with 863 00:38:51,830 --> 00:38:56,038 exclusion. And so I don't know how much 864 00:38:56,038 --> 00:38:58,166 you can do to change those hearts and mind 865 00:38:58,166 --> 00:39:00,170 besides just coming back with data and 866 00:39:00,170 --> 00:39:05,846 compassion. But frankly, it's like 867 00:39:05,846 --> 00:39:07,146 dinosaurs who don't know the meteorite has 868 00:39:07,146 --> 00:39:10,346 hit and the environment has changed, and 869 00:39:10,346 --> 00:39:11,866 why are we all running this way? I don't 870 00:39:11,866 --> 00:39:15,154 get it. I'm going to yell as I run to 871 00:39:15,154 --> 00:39:16,366 extinction. I don't know. It's like you 872 00:39:16,366 --> 00:39:18,298 got to wait from the die, I guess, because 873 00:39:18,298 --> 00:39:19,898 they're just not willing to change. 874 00:39:19,898 --> 00:39:23,534 They're not willing to let go of what was 875 00:39:23,534 --> 00:39:26,014 or what they hope to be. And we got to 876 00:39:26,014 --> 00:39:28,418 move forward as a people, as a nation. We 877 00:39:28,418 --> 00:39:30,066 got to move forward. We just don't have 878 00:39:30,066 --> 00:39:32,946 the energy to keep convincing people that 879 00:39:32,946 --> 00:39:34,498 this is something that's good for 880 00:39:34,498 --> 00:39:36,820 everyone. We just have to live it and be 881 00:39:36,820 --> 00:39:40,886 it. Yeah. So true. Yeah. Winning hearts 882 00:39:40,886 --> 00:39:43,414 and minds is a particular strategy and we 883 00:39:43,414 --> 00:39:45,174 need a lot of think tanks around that to 884 00:39:45,174 --> 00:39:47,510 go back to the basics, the foundation of 885 00:39:47,510 --> 00:39:49,626 what humans are actually all about, like 886 00:39:49,626 --> 00:39:52,714 you said. And we all want to belong. That 887 00:39:52,714 --> 00:39:56,682 is an innate part of humanity. Probably 888 00:39:56,682 --> 00:39:58,314 gets really obvious and peaks somewhere 889 00:39:58,314 --> 00:40:00,234 around eigth grade. There's something 890 00:40:00,234 --> 00:40:01,878 about middle school. You see these eigth 891 00:40:01,878 --> 00:40:02,886 graders, they're just all trying to 892 00:40:02,886 --> 00:40:04,918 belong. But honestly, all of us throughout 893 00:40:04,918 --> 00:40:07,066 our lives just need that kind of 894 00:40:07,066 --> 00:40:08,478 belonging. It's part of the human 895 00:40:08,478 --> 00:40:10,526 experience and our development. So thank 896 00:40:10,526 --> 00:40:12,046 you for putting it that way. Thank you for 897 00:40:12,046 --> 00:40:14,510 the work that you do. It's really 898 00:40:14,510 --> 00:40:16,658 inspiring. As we're finishing out this 899 00:40:16,658 --> 00:40:18,274 part of the interview, we will keep you on 900 00:40:18,274 --> 00:40:21,006 later for our Patreon, the difference 901 00:40:21,006 --> 00:40:23,474 maker community, but please let us know 902 00:40:23,474 --> 00:40:25,346 how we can find you and continue to follow 903 00:40:25,346 --> 00:40:28,710 you and your writing and your speaking. 904 00:40:28,710 --> 00:40:31,526 Yes, please look up the Socrates program 905 00:40:31,526 --> 00:40:33,222 at the Aspen Institute, Google. It's only 906 00:40:33,222 --> 00:40:36,278 one of us. Secondly, look up the festival, 907 00:40:36,278 --> 00:40:38,626 the diaspora, or diaspora how you 908 00:40:38,626 --> 00:40:42,234 pronounce it. We do annual events and 909 00:40:42,234 --> 00:40:43,738 starting to really get into global talent, 910 00:40:43,738 --> 00:40:46,314 which I think is amazing. And then just 911 00:40:46,314 --> 00:40:48,022 find me on LinkedIn. That's how I 912 00:40:48,022 --> 00:40:50,334 communicate mostly. Most of my videos and 913 00:40:50,334 --> 00:40:53,242 everything are there. And that's Cordell 914 00:40:53,242 --> 00:40:58,042 Carter II or two. The second out on 915 00:40:58,042 --> 00:41:01,006 LinkedIn. Google me. It's either me or 916 00:41:01,006 --> 00:41:02,946 some folks from Tennessee because I got my 917 00:41:02,946 --> 00:41:04,946 name from Cordell hall, former Secretary 918 00:41:04,946 --> 00:41:10,340 of State, Forty S. So you'll find both out 919 00:41:10,340 --> 00:41:14,222 there. Love that. Yes. Everybody follow 920 00:41:14,222 --> 00:41:15,586 Cordell. Thank you so much for being on 921 00:41:15,586 --> 00:41:17,622 the show today. And thank you for the 922 00:41:17,622 --> 00:41:20,326 difference that you're making. Thank you. 923 00:41:20,326 --> 00:41:21,446 Thank you for the difference you're making 924 00:41:21,446 --> 00:41:24,790 as well. Loved that conversation. Love the 925 00:41:24,790 --> 00:41:29,642 focus on belonging. Was so glad that he 926 00:41:29,642 --> 00:41:32,986 really explained how some of the DEI work 927 00:41:32,986 --> 00:41:36,310 in a lot of tech companies or 928 00:41:36,310 --> 00:41:39,414 organizations has missed sometimes a 929 00:41:39,414 --> 00:41:41,218 component of belonging. I know a lot of 930 00:41:41,218 --> 00:41:45,226 DEI programs added the letter B onto it, 931 00:41:45,226 --> 00:41:48,346 Deib for adding belonging, or even J for 932 00:41:48,346 --> 00:41:50,234 justice. But even just pulling out the 933 00:41:50,234 --> 00:41:52,486 aspect of belonging and focusing on it 934 00:41:52,486 --> 00:41:55,762 exclusively, there's so much conversation 935 00:41:55,762 --> 00:41:58,514 around that and so much to unpack there. 936 00:41:58,514 --> 00:42:01,426 And so really enjoyed his perspective on 937 00:42:01,426 --> 00:42:04,066 all he's seen in the different spaces 938 00:42:04,066 --> 00:42:07,026 where he works and the different people he 939 00:42:07,026 --> 00:42:10,934 interacts with at the different parts of 940 00:42:10,934 --> 00:42:14,166 his world. Right. The Aspen Institute 941 00:42:14,166 --> 00:42:17,302 working in goes. He mentioned Brazil, he 942 00:42:17,302 --> 00:42:20,054 mentioned he's in Africa. His work is sort 943 00:42:20,054 --> 00:42:22,698 of global in this way. But also for those 944 00:42:22,698 --> 00:42:24,522 in the United States and certain tech 945 00:42:24,522 --> 00:42:25,722 companies where you've seen this sort of 946 00:42:25,722 --> 00:42:28,310 thing happen, it is such an important 947 00:42:28,310 --> 00:42:30,842 conversation how to frame it in a way that 948 00:42:30,842 --> 00:42:34,234 really is including people into this area 949 00:42:34,234 --> 00:42:39,578 of full. That's a. It's a very difficult 950 00:42:39,578 --> 00:42:41,294 conversation, but it's such an important 951 00:42:41,294 --> 00:42:43,806 one that we don't want to give up on 952 00:42:43,806 --> 00:42:45,698 because bringing us all to the table with 953 00:42:45,698 --> 00:42:47,378 all of our differences is how we're going 954 00:42:47,378 --> 00:42:50,674 to get there. I really appreciated him 955 00:42:50,674 --> 00:42:53,346 talking about the work he's doing with 956 00:42:53,346 --> 00:42:58,218 women in Colombia and having grown up in 957 00:42:58,218 --> 00:42:59,734 Venezuela, having many Colombian friends 958 00:42:59,734 --> 00:43:02,006 from my time growing up as a little girl 959 00:43:02,006 --> 00:43:04,360 there that are lifelong friends to this 960 00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:07,174 day, also, just the Colombians I know here 961 00:43:07,174 --> 00:43:09,530 in California, the ones I've known in 962 00:43:09,530 --> 00:43:11,882 Singapore, but also just Latin American 963 00:43:11,882 --> 00:43:13,754 women in general, whether they're still 964 00:43:13,754 --> 00:43:15,286 living and working in Latin America or 965 00:43:15,286 --> 00:43:18,074 they've come to other continents for work 966 00:43:18,074 --> 00:43:22,780 or for just immigration reasons, I know 967 00:43:22,780 --> 00:43:26,766 that there are so many obstacles in the 968 00:43:26,766 --> 00:43:31,486 way of the way women from Latin America 969 00:43:31,486 --> 00:43:33,294 can be viewed, at least here in 970 00:43:33,294 --> 00:43:35,886 California, with a lot of stereotypes. And 971 00:43:35,886 --> 00:43:37,666 it's heartbreaking. It's wrong. I know a 972 00:43:37,666 --> 00:43:41,410 lot of incredible women working in tech 973 00:43:41,410 --> 00:43:45,554 who are Latinas, and when I see them 974 00:43:45,554 --> 00:43:50,242 facing obstacles like stereotypes and even 975 00:43:50,242 --> 00:43:52,402 worse, a lot of microaggressions and 976 00:43:52,402 --> 00:43:54,786 macroaggressions, it's so infuriating and 977 00:43:54,786 --> 00:43:57,014 heartbreaking all at once. And so just 978 00:43:57,014 --> 00:43:59,034 seeing the work that he's doing there, 979 00:43:59,034 --> 00:44:00,426 also, I really want to unpack one of the 980 00:44:00,426 --> 00:44:06,182 things he said around this sort of 981 00:44:06,182 --> 00:44:09,942 stereotype and very harmful stereotype 982 00:44:09,942 --> 00:44:15,466 around seeing a woman of color or a white 983 00:44:15,466 --> 00:44:17,134 woman, I mean, this is a stereotype that 984 00:44:17,134 --> 00:44:21,594 might face all women in any work 985 00:44:21,594 --> 00:44:23,442 environment, but to assume that because 986 00:44:23,442 --> 00:44:29,380 she got a promotion that she did so around 987 00:44:29,380 --> 00:44:33,410 that sexualizing her, to assume that that 988 00:44:33,410 --> 00:44:35,460 happened because she had to sleep with 989 00:44:35,460 --> 00:44:38,006 someone to get that promotion or even that 990 00:44:38,006 --> 00:44:42,598 that narrative exists is exhausting for a 991 00:44:42,598 --> 00:44:46,262 lot of women to have to be perceived that 992 00:44:46,262 --> 00:44:48,690 way. But also infuriating. And I just want 993 00:44:48,690 --> 00:44:50,714 to be clear, that is a stereotype we never 994 00:44:50,714 --> 00:44:53,098 want to give into, and we don't even want 995 00:44:53,098 --> 00:44:58,906 to entertain that thought. So do women get 996 00:44:58,906 --> 00:45:01,190 in situations where they are experiencing 997 00:45:01,190 --> 00:45:03,562 abuse of power from a boss in the 998 00:45:03,562 --> 00:45:06,014 workplace? Yes. Is there sexual abuse that 999 00:45:06,014 --> 00:45:08,046 happens in the workplace? Yes, but that's 1000 00:45:08,046 --> 00:45:10,286 not exclusively what's happening. And so 1001 00:45:10,286 --> 00:45:13,246 in order to clear that whole thing up, it 1002 00:45:13,246 --> 00:45:15,406 would be important for us to unpack that 1003 00:45:15,406 --> 00:45:17,314 as a community. And I just want to be 1004 00:45:17,314 --> 00:45:18,706 really clear on that. That I don't find 1005 00:45:18,706 --> 00:45:21,906 that whole narrative to be helpful at all. 1006 00:45:21,906 --> 00:45:24,146 So it's so important for us to be involved 1007 00:45:24,146 --> 00:45:26,926 in work like what's happening with VC 1008 00:45:26,926 --> 00:45:29,222 funding to go toward Latino women as they 1009 00:45:29,222 --> 00:45:31,014 are being entrepreneurial and trying to 1010 00:45:31,014 --> 00:45:33,398 start businesses. So I'd love to hear more 1011 00:45:33,398 --> 00:45:35,014 of your perspective in this community 1012 00:45:35,014 --> 00:45:37,746 around how we can do better with that, 1013 00:45:37,746 --> 00:45:41,130 because that is something that is 1014 00:45:41,130 --> 00:45:44,666 incredibly imbalanced. We see that all the 1015 00:45:44,666 --> 00:45:47,146 time here in Silicon Valley with people 1016 00:45:47,146 --> 00:45:49,414 who are entrepreneurial and so much of the 1017 00:45:49,414 --> 00:45:54,046 VC capital funding going toward men and 1018 00:45:54,046 --> 00:45:57,546 the outcomes of that being so over time 1019 00:45:57,546 --> 00:45:59,134 detrimental to women and their families 1020 00:45:59,134 --> 00:46:02,174 and Latina families in general. So, yeah, 1021 00:46:02,174 --> 00:46:03,326 would love to know more about your 1022 00:46:03,326 --> 00:46:07,986 thoughts around that. And always reach out 1023 00:46:07,986 --> 00:46:10,382 to talk to me either through DMs on 1024 00:46:10,382 --> 00:46:14,114 Twitter or. This is another chance for you 1025 00:46:14,114 --> 00:46:15,726 to. Want to join us in our difference. 1026 00:46:15,726 --> 00:46:17,218 Maker community because we go deeper, and. 1027 00:46:17,218 --> 00:46:18,806 We'Re going to go deeper in a conversation 1028 00:46:18,806 --> 00:46:21,766 with Cordell. He stays on to talk a little 1029 00:46:21,766 --> 00:46:24,358 more deeply about some things that we tend 1030 00:46:24,358 --> 00:46:26,280 to talk more about in the difference maker 1031 00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:28,274 community. So for those of you who haven't 1032 00:46:28,274 --> 00:46:29,686 joined in there yet, you can join for as 1033 00:46:29,686 --> 00:46:32,266 little as $5 a month. We'd love to have 1034 00:46:32,266 --> 00:46:34,218 you pop in there and go deeper in this 1035 00:46:34,218 --> 00:46:35,478 particular conversation because I think 1036 00:46:35,478 --> 00:46:39,306 it's a really important one. Also, if you 1037 00:46:39,306 --> 00:46:42,714 have not yet found a therapist and you're 1038 00:46:42,714 --> 00:46:44,014 looking for one, and you're walking 1039 00:46:44,014 --> 00:46:45,694 through anything in your life personally 1040 00:46:45,694 --> 00:46:48,350 right now, I know many of you in this 1041 00:46:48,350 --> 00:46:50,522 community are either it's compassion 1042 00:46:50,522 --> 00:46:52,480 fatigue, you've worked through some sort 1043 00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:55,266 of personal relationship with someone that 1044 00:46:55,266 --> 00:46:57,650 you just needed a little extra help, or 1045 00:46:57,650 --> 00:46:59,806 maybe you're in a situation where you've 1046 00:46:59,806 --> 00:47:03,086 walked through trauma, either because of 1047 00:47:03,086 --> 00:47:04,526 nonprofit work that you're working in and 1048 00:47:04,526 --> 00:47:07,134 you've experienced a disaster, or you've 1049 00:47:07,134 --> 00:47:10,006 experienced some kind of civil unrest, I 1050 00:47:10,006 --> 00:47:11,574 know many of you listening to this podcast 1051 00:47:11,574 --> 00:47:13,890 have had to be evacuated in different 1052 00:47:13,890 --> 00:47:16,054 situations. I myself and my family have 1053 00:47:16,054 --> 00:47:18,694 gone through that as well, more than once. 1054 00:47:18,694 --> 00:47:21,014 And so a lot of times we just need a 1055 00:47:21,014 --> 00:47:23,386 professional to talk about things with. So 1056 00:47:23,386 --> 00:47:25,866 the sponsor of this podcast is Betterhelp. 1057 00:47:25,866 --> 00:47:28,618 And so if you go to BetterHelp.com 1058 00:47:28,618 --> 00:47:30,860 difference, you can get 10% off your first 1059 00:47:30,860 --> 00:47:32,746 month. Once again, they're the sponsor of 1060 00:47:32,746 --> 00:47:35,278 this podcast, and I myself personally have 1061 00:47:35,278 --> 00:47:37,946 been very much helped by my therapist at 1062 00:47:37,946 --> 00:47:39,214 Betterhelp. And they have all kinds of 1063 00:47:39,214 --> 00:47:41,994 other resources, not just one on one 1064 00:47:41,994 --> 00:47:43,826 therapy, but group therapy and classes you 1065 00:47:43,826 --> 00:47:46,254 can take around specific issues, whether 1066 00:47:46,254 --> 00:47:52,706 it's CPTSD, PTSD, walking through trauma, 1067 00:47:52,706 --> 00:47:54,718 all kinds of various forms of grief and 1068 00:47:54,718 --> 00:47:56,722 loss that you can be a part of communities 1069 00:47:56,722 --> 00:47:58,306 to help you walk through that. So yeah, go 1070 00:47:58,306 --> 00:48:01,766 to www.betterhelp.com difference today to 1071 00:48:01,766 --> 00:48:04,838 get 10% off your first month. And for all 1072 00:48:04,838 --> 00:48:06,246 of you out there all around the world who 1073 00:48:06,246 --> 00:48:07,814 are making a difference, thank you for 1074 00:48:07,814 --> 00:48:09,718 every single thing that you do. I hope 1075 00:48:09,718 --> 00:48:11,430 that you get some rest and take care of 1076 00:48:11,430 --> 00:48:13,334 yourself because all of you out there 1077 00:48:13,334 --> 00:48:15,350 making a difference often don't prioritize 1078 00:48:15,350 --> 00:48:17,186 yourself. So this is your friendly 1079 00:48:17,186 --> 00:48:19,686 reminder to care for yourself and that 1080 00:48:19,686 --> 00:48:21,806 when you do that that will help you to be 1081 00:48:21,806 --> 00:48:23,374 the kind of person you want to be to keep 1082 00:48:23,374 --> 00:48:26,106 making a difference. So yeah, friendly 1083 00:48:26,106 --> 00:48:27,582 reminder to do something good for yourself 1084 00:48:27,582 --> 00:48:29,806 today, to make your body feel good, to get 1085 00:48:29,806 --> 00:48:32,478 some rest that you might need and to find 1086 00:48:32,478 --> 00:48:34,366 something that just brings you happiness 1087 00:48:34,366 --> 00:48:37,390 and joy. And as always keep making a
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