Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Thought Leadership

 

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  • In today’s evolving workplace, resources are limited and we all need to know where to focus. For those of you who recognize that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are essentia

  • As the back-to-school season approaches, working parents face the challenge of balancing their professional responsibilities with the demands of preparing their children for a new

  • Summer is the perfect time to celebrate your team members! Organizations often plan various events and activities as the summer season unfolds to foster team bonding, boost morale,

  • Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, marks a pivotal moment in American history—the end of slavery in the United States. This significant day commemorates the announcement of the ema

  • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) is observed every May in the United States to recognize and celebrate the contributions, history, and culture of Asian Americans and P

  • In the hustle and bustle of the modern workplace, stress has become an all too common companion for many employees. As we observe Stress Awareness Month this April, it's essential

  • Every February 11th, the world comes together to honor and celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. It's a day that recognizes the remarkable contributions of

  • January is National Mentor Month! National Mentoring Month was established by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, in 2002.

  • As the year draws to a close, it's an opportune moment to reflect on the strides we've made in fostering a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. The journey toward crea

  • November 30, 2023, marks Native Women's Equal Pay. On this day, we are raising awareness and shining a light on the fact that Native American women working full-time year-round on

  • In America today, 40% of parents say they’ve gone into debt from the high cost of child care. The lack of quality, affordable child care is forcing mothers out of the workforce, li

  • Hispanic Heritage Month is a period of celebration and recognition in the United States intended to pay tribute to the contributions, cultures, histories, and achievements of Hispa

  • The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, often referred to simply as the March on Washington, was a historic civil rights demonstration on August 28, 1963, in Washington, D.C.

  • July is Disability Pride Month, an annual observance to celebrate and promote awareness, acceptance, and pride within the disability community. July coincides with the anniversary

  • My parents tell me that when I was a toddler and I saw the moon landing, I pointed to our black and white TV and announced that I wanted to do that! Years later, when I was an engi

  • May is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States. It is a time to raise awareness about mental health, reduce stigma, and promote mental wellness. Mental hea

  • April is Autism Acceptance Month intended to not only help raise awareness of autism and its challenges, but also to celebrate neurodiversity and recognize the unique strengths and

  • This Women’s History month, we have decided to contribute by focusing on microaggressions against women and how allies can address them appropriately and effectively in the workpla

  • Black History Month started as a week-long celebration In 1926 when historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the second

  • Martin Luther King Jr (MLK) Day is celebrated every year on the third Monday in January, as a way to honor Dr. King’s achievements and legacy. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist

  • The last time we provided inclusive holiday tips in a blog was in 2019! But so much has changed and the world is a different place. So, we thought we would write about what has cha

  • Often we focus on the typical diversity categories: gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and disability. In this piece, we want to talk about other important dimensions of d

  • Quiet Quitting is not a new term when referring to employees who are not outright quitting their jobs but abandoning the idea of going above and beyond. But these days, many more o

  • National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated every year from September 15 to October 15 in the United States. It is an important reminder of how much strength the U.S. draws as a

  • The 19th Amendment, passed in August of 1920, gave women the right to vote. While this was a monumental event for women in American history, many women still did not have access to

  • "Today, it's more difficult than ever for CEOs and HR leaders at small and medium organizations to compete for talent, customers, and investment dollars," says Sonya Sepahban, OurO

  • It is known that diverse organizations outperform competitors in not only overall revenues, profits, and employee satisfaction, but also in creating a culture that allows and encou

  • There is ample evidence that driving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is important in the workplace. Since humans all have a fundamental desire for belonging, it is imperativ

  • What is supplier diversity? Supplier diversity refers to vendors that are at least 51% owned and operated by people from groups that are underrepresented in business. Women, people

  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training is not new. However, in recent years  DEI training has evolved beyond a compliance focus to the broader employee and leadership devel

  • Many people in the United States and around the globe have had to adjust to an entirely new way of doing business while working from home. Those who are not working remotely due to

  • The term “Great Resignation” has made it into Wikipedia where it’s defined as “an economic trend in which employees voluntarily resign from their jobs en masse.” It was first coine

  • We all have read workplace policies. Some are inspiring, specific, and manageable, while others can feel strict, prescriptive, or unrealistic. The main goals of a Diversity, Equity

  • Many organizations are striving to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace culture, as the significant benefits of DEI are broadly shared and accepted. Meanwhile, a

  • Talking to allies and champions of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) across a variety of organizations of different sizes and industries, we find many share a common challenge.

  • The Hispanic Heritage Month is here again! If you are thinking of dusting off and repeating the same celebration ideas, think again! Your employees, customers, suppliers, and all k

  • On Aug. 6, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rule, creating a disclosure standard “designed to encourage a minimum board diversit

  •     OurOffice CEO, Sonya Sepahban joined Tapestry Network’s Compensation Committee Leadership Network (CCLN) as an invited guest on June 21, 2021 to discuss New Realities

  • Many organizations understand that a diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace are critical for creating a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent and how the c

  • In the aftermath of the terrible killing spree across three Atlanta area spas, awareness of the rise in Anti Asian American hate has risen sharply. But this recent violence is the

  • This month is International Women’s History Month 2021, and yet women everywhere are still struggling against bias and discrimination in hiring, pay and promotions. In 2020 CNBC re

  • Buy Local. Support Minority Owned Businesses.   Shop at some of the great black, female, veteranand other minority owned businesses.

  • Before and after Jim Crow, Black Americans have fought for America to provide its black citizens with equitable access to healthcare and economic opportunity, and to have their hum

  • These are unreal times! A year ago, we could not have dreamt of the multiple crises we are experiencing in our nation today with our health, the economy, racial justice system, cli

  • Buy Local. Support Minority Owned Businesses.   Shop at some of the great black, female, veteranand other minority owned businesses.

  • November 2020   Hello ,Your Inclusive Business Review (IBR) has a new look and feel. We aim to: Inform and delight you with a variety of news and articles through a lens of wo

  • OurOffice is delighted to announce our partnership with a major university to offer a first-of-its-kind fellowship program with a huge impact on workplace Diversity, Equity, and In

  • See OurOffice CEO, Sonya Sepahban, having great fun talking with Serena Ding and members of StudentPort, a community of 1500 Gen Z'ers leading 200+ student organizations worldwide!

  • The OurOffice team is pleased to announce a first-of-its-kind Coaching/Advisory offering for Board members and CEOs who aspire to grow and be the most authentic and inclusive versi

  • Almost all of the core HR functions have been impacted in one way or another by the events of 2020. HR leaders have had to flex, evolve and transform to manage the workforce within

  • In observance of the Hispanic Heritage Month, we want to highlight this celebration's history, the controversy surrounding the descriptive name for individuals with Latin American

  • OurOffice CEO, Sonya Sepahban, was on a panel by Venture Cafe on September 10th, which focused on cultivating emerging leaders, strategies and motivations for joining a board, and

  • For years, leaders have asked about the ROI of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in terms of the bottom line. As events of 2020 have demonstrated, to thrive and succeed, leaders ne

  • What is Diversity and Inclusion Branding? David Oglivy, known as the Father of Advertising, defined a brand as “the intangible sum of a product’s attributes.” Diversity and Inclusi

  • The world has changed overnight with the COVID pandemic and the George Floyd killing, and employees are changing too. They are demanding a lot more of their organizations now; they

  • At a time when organizations large and small are focused on making the “right” kind of public statements regarding Diversity, equity and Inclusion, many are asking what leaders at

  • In the wake of unprecedented public reaction in recent memory to the killing of George Floyd on May 25th, many organizations have released statements of support for the Black commu

  • For a long time, employees were asked to bring their whole selves to work. Now they are bringing their work selves to their homes! This will result in a rapid humanization of work,

  • As bleak as much of the news has been with the pandemic, there are signs that the “post-covid” reality that businesses and HR departments are going to have to adjust to, is getting

  • The short answer to the above question is, Yes, for the reasons that our “Future of Work” Mastermind group discussed at a recent Roundtable. We hope highlights of the discussion be

  • Never in the history of mankind, has there been a crisis as global and long-lasting as the current one caused by the pandemic. The resulting transformational paradigm change, which

  • Most of us have been adjusting to the “Stay At Home” guidelines and doing our best to deal with the realities of Zoom calls and Slack channels as part of WFH (Working From Home). A

  • According to the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) 97% of large organizations (with over 5,000 employees) and close to 80% of smaller organizations offer free Em

  • In late February, before there were state-wide or national directives, we had a serious conversation with my team at OurOffice, Inc. (O2) about the Coronavirus. We realized that it

  • For many people here in the United States and around the globe, the reality of the Coronavirus pandemic has started to hit home. Those lucky enough to still have their jobs, have h

  • Last week was a surreal week. The COVID-19 virus spread across 114 countries and was officially called a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Students were told to pack

  • In 1987, what started over 100 years ago with a March 8th “International Women’s Day” and was later expanded into “National Women’s Week,” finally became “National Women’s Hi

  • The US celebrates seven so-called Special Emphasis Months (see below) “designed for the purpose of providing cultural awareness to everyone,” as the Equal Employment Opportunity Co

  • “I Have a Dream,” he said over fifty years ago. And yet today Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would still be dreaming of that day when this nation will “live out the true meaning of its

  • This is a time of the year when we each tend to get busy with our own version of the holidays. So we are sharing a few tips with you for an inclusive and even happier holiday seaso

  • Why employee surveys are not enough – The latest buzz words at HR conferences this year are employee experience, and more specifically, “employee voice” as experts and respec

  • They say “Diversity is a Fact, Inclusion is an Act.” Think about it. We typically have a list of actions, when we focus on increasing sales, expanding margins, building a culture o

  • After spending two days last week at the Diversity and Inclusion Institute’s (DII) Conference of Business Insurance professionals, I came away with a new and powerful lens for look

  • An aging workforce, shrinking immigration, and decline in STEM interest have been contributing to a widening gap between the demand and supply of STEM workforce in the US. In the m

  • Los Angeles, CA. Aug 1, 2019 — ​As we ​continue to attract visionary leaders and top talent ​at OurOffice, I’m delighted to share the addition of three new members, who

  • Los Angeles, CA. July 2, 2019 — OurOffice CEO, and former NASA engineer, Sonya Sepahban, announced a strategic partnership with Kaizen Human Capital, a boutique human capital

  • At a recent Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Roundtable hosted by a major university in Michigan, we learned something very important. This has led us to change our definition of

  • Washington, D.C., May 16, 2019 – Shaara Roman, workplace culture expert and founder of The Silverene Group, a management consultancy in Arlington, Va., today announced a new partne

  • The “American Dream” is evoked often in the social and political rhetoric of the day. My own story is a story of living that dream (more on that later). But the Tech industry’s equ

  • A quarter century after the US Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) passed, paying employees for the leave that the FMLA grants them, finally appears to be rising in our country’s s

  • GM CEO, Mary Barra, has not only shattered the glass ceiling through her own career, she has also been quietly cracking it open for others, while also managing a challenging period

  • When Walmart informed their top 100 law firms back in June 2005 that they would end or limit their relationship if they “failed to demonstrate a meaningful interest in the importan

  • Source: Valentina Zarya, Fortune, March 6, 2018 It’s that time of year again! International Woman’s Day is a holiday during which people and companies around the world celebrate wo

  • Source: Frances Schwartzkopff, Bloomberg, May 15, 2018 Governments interested in generating much more economic growth need to get more women into the workforce. The proof lies in t

  • Source: Paul Gompers and Silpa Kovvali, HBR, July, 2018 When managers and scholars talk about diversity’s impact on organizations and teams, they’re usually referring to the effect

  • Source: Elyssa Bezner, Startland News, October 30, 2018 OneKC for Women designed its November event for men, said Rania Anderson. “Winning at Work” is a chance for male business ow

  • Source: Dean Takahashi, VentureBeat, October 29, 2018 Intel announced it has achieved full representation of women and underrepresented minorities in its U.S. workforce two years a

  • Source: Angela Chitkara, HBR, April 12, 2018 Over the last year, there has been no shortage of avoidable PR nightmares for leading corporate brands. In January, fashion retailer H&

  • Source: Kyle Plantz, ScienceNews, April 20, 2018 If you’re a female computer scientist, you may not see an equal number of men and women working in your field in this century — or

  • Source: Jeff Smith, Helen Rosenthorn, AdWeek, April 13, 2018 In today’s cluttered and always-on world, greater relevance with customers is what wins the battle for brand supremacy.

  • Source: Kia Kokalitcheva, Axios, May 15, 2018 It’s well known that startups founded by women struggle to raise venture capital, but even the rare exceptions struggle to keep

  • Source: Claire Zillman, Fortune, April 10, 2018 Tuesday, April 10 marks Equal Pay Day in the United States—a day that signifies how far into the new calendar year women have to wor

  • Source: Grace Donnelly, Fortune, March 30, 2018 Intel released its 2017 annual report on diversity this week, showing that the company is ahead of its overall workforce goals, but

  • Source: Claire Suddath, Bloomberg, March 28, 2018 There’s an essential, frustrating truth about the gender pay gap: You can size it up or down depending on what you’d like to measu

  • Source: Associated Press, VOA News, February 19, 2018 A lavish, headline-grabbing premiere. Lightning word-of-mouth stoked by glowing reviews. Packed movie theaters with sold-out s

  • Source: Ashley Schlag, Oath, February 7, 2018 Powerful executives took the MAKERS stage to raise their voices and drive future action Female storytelling platform and feminist medi