Inclusion Revolution | Daisy Auger Domínguez | TEDxPearlStreet

Summary

In this inspiring speech, the speaker shares her journey as a Latina woman in a predominantly white, male-dominated corporate environment. She emphasizes the pivotal moment when a colleague encouraged her to voice her opinions, leading to a transformative allyship. The speaker advocates for three key actions to foster diversity and inclusion: holding up a mirror to oneself, acting on what is learned, and persisting despite discomfort. She calls for leaders to create workplaces that value all employees, driving change through daily actions and allyship.

Takeaways

• 🗣️ The importance of speaking up: The speaker was encouraged to voice her opinion in meetings, which was crucial for her professional growth.
• 👥 The impact of allyship: A supportive colleague helped the speaker overcome her insecurities and navigate a predominantly white, male-dominated corporate culture.
• 🌐 The necessity of diverse representation: The speaker's experience highlighted the challenges faced by underrepresented groups in the workplace.
• 🔍 The power of self-reflection: The speaker's colleague helped her confront her fears and insecurities, which was a pivotal moment in her career.
• 💡 The role of active listening: The colleague's act of truly listening to the speaker's concerns was instrumental in fostering a supportive environment.
• 🛠️ The need for systemic change: The speaker advocated for a re-examination of corporate practices to dismantle biases and create more inclusive workplaces.
• 🌈 The value of diversity and inclusion strategies: The speaker's career has been dedicated to developing strategies that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion globally.
• 🔑 The significance of leadership actions: What leaders do to foster inclusivity matters more than what they say, as actions create tangible change.
• 🚀 The benefits of inclusive environments: Inclusive workplaces foster innovation, creativity, and collaboration, which are essential for organizational success.
• 🔄 The process of change: The speaker emphasized the importance of self-awareness, action, and persistence in the face of discomfort to drive meaningful change.

Q & A

What was the advice given by the speaker's father?

The speaker's father advised her to 'keep your head down and work harder than everyone else.'

What was the different message the speaker received early in her career?

The different message the speaker received was from a white male colleague who told her that they wanted to hear her opinion and that it wasn't beneficial for her to just sit quietly in meetings.

What was the demographic representation like in the corporate environment the speaker was working in?

The corporate environment was very white in terms of demographic representation across all levels and also in terms of the corporate identity that the speaker was expected to adopt.

What insecurities did the speaker share with her colleague?

The speaker shared her insecurities about feeling not as valuable as others because of her youth, the burden of not supporting stereotypes about being a Latina, and the difficulty of navigating a predominantly white male dominated culture.

How did the colleague's response change the speaker's experience?

The colleague listened to the speaker, acknowledged her feelings, and offered to support her by amplifying her comments in meetings, which marked the beginning of an allyship journey.

What is the concept of 'allyship' as described in the script?

In the script, 'allyship' is described as going beyond just being an ally by actively supporting and challenging the status quo, helping to reduce obstacles, and working together towards equity and inclusion.

What is the importance of the colleague becoming a 'mayor' for the speaker?

The colleague becoming a 'mayor' for the speaker meant that he showed her the truth about her fears and anxieties and how to overcome them, which was crucial for building her career.

What are the three actions the speaker suggests for creating inclusive workplaces?

The three actions are: holding up a mirror to oneself, acting on what one learns from that reflection, and persisting despite discomfort.

Why did the speaker call out 'racism' during a meeting at Google?

The speaker called out 'racism' because there was pushback on diversity hiring strategies and a failure to acknowledge the systemic issues that prevented the hiring of black and Hispanic software engineers at scale.

What was the outcome of the speaker's proposal for a program focusing on women of color at Disney?

The program focusing on the workplace experience of women of color was one of the most attended programs and left a lasting impact, with attendees feeling seen, heard, and valued.

What does the speaker suggest is necessary for creating workplaces that work for everyone?

The speaker suggests that it is necessary to reduce undue burdens and marginalization, and to create a vibrant emotional energy where employees feel valued and essential.

Outlines

00:00

🗣️ Finding My Voice in a Corporate World

The speaker recounts an early moment in her career when she was encouraged to speak up in meetings by a colleague, despite her initial hesitance due to her demographic minority status in a predominantly white, male-dominated workplace. She describes her struggle to fit into a corporate identity that seemed to demand the suppression of her ethnic and cultural identity. This conversation with her colleague was pivotal as it led to the beginning of an allyship, where he offered to support her by amplifying her comments in meetings. This support helped her to build confidence and learn to share her opinion more confidently.

05:01

🌟 The Power of an Ally and the Importance of Solidarity

The speaker reflects on how her colleague's willingness to listen and support her was more than just allyship; it was a form of solidarity. He helped her confront her fears and anxieties, and showed her how to overcome them to build a successful career. This experience inspired her to dedicate her career to designing diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies. She emphasizes the importance of leaders' actions over their words and the impact of creating inclusive workplaces on innovation, creativity, and collaboration. She suggests three actions for organizations to become more equitable and inclusive: holding up a mirror to oneself, acting on what one learns, and persisting despite discomfort.

10:02

🪪 The Mirror of Self-Reflection and the Courage to Act

The speaker discusses the importance of self-reflection and the courage to act on what one learns about oneself and one's biases. She shares her experience at Google, where she had to confront the uncomfortable truth about the company's hiring process being biased against black and Hispanic candidates. Despite the resistance and discomfort, she persisted in advocating for change. The speaker emphasizes that this work is challenging and comes with pain and conflict, but it is necessary for driving change. She encourages individuals to build the strength to interpret new information, sit in ambiguity, and act against bias.

15:05

💪 Persistence in the Face of Adversity

The speaker shares her personal experiences of facing adversity and the importance of persistence in creating inclusive workplaces. She talks about the emotional toll of dealing with toxic managers and having her ideas and value questioned. Despite these challenges, she continues to fight for more representation and refuses to give up. She calls for collective effort to question the lack of diversity, refuse tokenism, and stand up against injustice. The speaker concludes by reiterating the necessity of daily actions to drive meaningful change and create workplaces that value everyone.

Keywords

💡Diversity

Diversity refers to the variety of differences among people, including race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and cultural backgrounds. In the script, the speaker discusses her experience as a Latinx woman in a predominantly white, male-dominated corporate environment, highlighting the importance of diversity in the workplace. The speaker's narrative emphasizes the need for organizations to embrace diversity to foster innovation and inclusivity.

💡Inclusion

Inclusion is about creating an environment where everyone feels welcomed, respected, supported, and valued. The script mentions the speaker's struggle to find her footing in a corporate setting where she was often the only Latinx woman, illustrating the challenges of feeling excluded. The speaker's colleague's actions to amplify her voice and support her are examples of inclusion in action, demonstrating how it can empower individuals and enhance their contributions to the workplace.

💡Bias

Bias refers to a preconceived opinion or preference that can influence judgment or decision-making. The script discusses the speaker's experience of dealing with biases, such as being young and a Latina, which led to her feeling less valuable. The term is used to highlight systemic issues within organizations that can lead to the marginalization of certain groups, and the need to address these biases to create more equitable workplaces.

💡Allyship

Allyship is the act of supporting and advocating for the rights, needs, and interests of a marginalized group that one does not belong to. In the script, the speaker's colleague becomes an ally by listening to her concerns, offering support, and helping her overcome obstacles. This concept is central to the video's message, emphasizing the role of allies in challenging the status quo and promoting equity.

💡Equity

Equity refers to the fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people, while striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups. The speaker talks about designing diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, indicating that equity is about more than just表面的平等，it's about ensuring everyone has what they need to succeed.

💡Cultural Identity

Cultural identity is the part of one's self-concept derived from knowledge about one's own culture, including shared experiences, customs, and values. The script describes the speaker's experience of having to navigate a corporate culture that was very different from her own, where she felt pressure to suppress aspects of her cultural identity to fit in. This keyword is crucial in understanding the challenges faced by individuals from diverse backgrounds in homogeneous work environments.

💡Stereotypes

Stereotypes are widely held but fixed and oversimplified ideas or images of particular types of people or things. The speaker mentions the burden of not supporting anyone's stereotypes about being a Latina, indicating the pressure to conform to certain expectations based on her ethnicity. Stereotypes can be harmful as they can lead to discrimination and exclusion.

💡Solidarity

Solidarity is the unity or agreement of feeling or action, particularly among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group. The script uses the term to describe the true act of being an ally, where the colleague not only listens but also takes action to support the speaker, showing a commitment to overcoming barriers together.

💡Tokenism

Tokenism is the practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do what is right or required, as by recruiting a small number of people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of sexual or racial equality. The script warns against tokenizing black, indigenous, and people of color, emphasizing the need for genuine inclusion and not just symbolic gestures.

💡Discomfort

Discomfort refers to a state of being slightly uneasy or not at ease. In the context of the script, it is mentioned as a necessary part of the process of driving change. The speaker encourages the audience to persist through discomfort when addressing biases and systemic issues, as it is through this discomfort that true change can occur.

💡Advocacy

Advocacy is the act of supporting a cause or proposal; the act of arguing for, or promoting, ideas, policies, etc. The speaker's work in designing diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies is a form of advocacy, aiming to promote fairness and justice in the workplace. Advocacy is portrayed as a critical action in creating environments where all employees can thrive.

Highlights

A white male colleague encouraged the speaker to share her opinions during meetings, highlighting the importance of every voice, irrespective of seniority.

The speaker expressed her insecurities about being a young Latina in a predominantly white, male-dominated corporate environment.

Her colleague became her ally by not only listening but also offering tangible support, like amplifying her comments in meetings.

This interaction marked the beginning of an allyship journey, with the colleague becoming more than an ally—an accomplice in challenging the status quo.

The speaker learned to build 'bravery muscles' by speaking up in meetings, even when her opinions were unpopular.

Her colleague also became her first professional mentor, helping her overcome her fears and anxieties.

The experience inspired the speaker to dedicate her career to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies in global companies.

The speaker stresses that leaders’ actions matter more than their words when it comes to creating inclusive workplaces.

She recalls a meeting at Google where she confronted the root cause of the company’s inability to hire Black and Hispanic engineers: racism.

The discomfort in addressing racism was palpable, but the speaker emphasizes the need to act on uncomfortable truths, not just be aware of them.

She highlights the importance of holding up a mirror to reflect uncomfortable realities, particularly around personal, cultural, and systemic biases.

Privilege is described as the ability to look away from these uncomfortable truths, but change requires persistent action.

The speaker shares a story from Disney, where she helped design a program focused on the workplace experiences of women of color, creating an inclusive space.

The program was one of the most attended events, and it made women of color feel seen, heard, and valued for the first time.

The speaker emphasizes the need for daily actions, like questioning the lack of diversity on teams and standing up against workplace injustices, to drive meaningful change.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

oh

[Applause]

keep your head down and work harder than

everyone else

that is the advice that my father has

always given me

but one day in the early part of my

career

i received a different message i was a

junior credit analyst at moody's

and one afternoon as i was leaving one

of our weekly credit rating meetings

a white male colleague came to me

and set me aside and said in a

sober tone you know we want to hear your

opinion

it doesn't do anyone any good for you

just to sit there

quietly i was mortified

i knew that every credit rating analyst

was expected to contribute to decisions

irrespective of seniority

in theory a great place to hone your

voice

but i was just learning how to find my

footing

in an unfamiliar corporate environment

it wasn't lost on me

that in most meetings i was usually the

only latinx

woman and youngest person i was working

so hard to hone my credit rating skills

the hard work that me papa had told me

to do

while trying to navigate an environment

that was

very white white in terms of demographic

representation

across all levels white

in terms of the corporate identity that

i was expected

to adopt in order to survive an identity

that meant

that there was not a trace of an accent

to be heard

or that in my appearance there could not

be a sense of

too much ethnicity or over sexualization

i took a deep deep breath and before i

knew it

started sharing with him all of the

insecurities that i had been harboring

for

months the anxiety that i have felt

at my experience not being quite

as valuable as others because i was

young

the burden that i carried at

not supporting anyone's stereotypes

about me being a latina and how hard i

founded

trying to figure out how to show up in a

predominantly

white male dominated culture

keep your head down and work harder than

everyone else

that is the message that kept on running

through my head

but it wasn't enough my body shook

my heart ached i couldn't look him in

the eye

but he looked at me and in that moment

everything changed i was able

to share my truth with him and he

listened

he really listened and instead of

dismissing me by saying oh that's all in

your head

he took a moment to hear see

and value me and instead of assuming

what it was like to be

in my shoes he actually took a moment to

dismiss his judgment

to understand where i was coming from

to interpret the information he was

hearing

and then to devise a plan to help reduce

obstacles that i was facing

this is what he said i hear how lonely

you feel

i think what is holding you back is a

fear of messing up

i have felt that too but i get that it

is different for you

but here's what i also know you're not

going to get over it

unless you work through it and you're

going to need someone to support you

he then offered to sit next to me at our

next meeting

and to amplify my comments because the

deal was

that i would speak up this was the

beginning for both of us

the beginning of an allyship journey

much more than an ally mialiado he

became my accomplice

me complicit in challenging the status

quo

i would slowly go on to build my bravery

muscles

by speaking up more proactively in

meeting after meeting

while watching him from the corner of my

eye

encouraging me to go on i would learn

how to confidently share my opinion

even when it wasn't popular how to hold

space the way others did around me

i didn't always have the impact that i

wanted

but i found my footing much more than an

ally

this colleague also became my first

professional mayor

he showed me the unvarnished truth about

my fears and my anxieties

and how i could overcome them so that i

could build the career

that me papa had envisioned for me

much more importantly he sacrificed his

own comfort

over mine he sought to

learn whose voices were being heard

and whose voices were being silenced

that

is the true act of solidarity of an ally

instead of sitting in his own judgment

and guilt he sought ways to overcome the

barriers to my success

this life-changing moment inspired me to

dedicate the last two decades of my

career

to designing diversity equity and

inclusion strategies

across global companies it also

reinforced for me

what i always knew deep inside that what

leaders do

matters far more than what they say

creating workplaces that work for

everyone

ah it's about far more than

public displays on social media

diversity recruiting initiatives

and one-and-done anti-bias and

anti-harassment training

i have been really excited to see that

there is a very special

energy energia vibe mojo

in organizations when employees feel

seen

heard and valued when they feel that

they can contribute

collaborate perform without judgment

and retaliation it keeps organizations

from feeling dark and heavy it keeps the

mistrust

out of the air it keeps talented

employees

from leaving your organizations

and worse it keeps those that have to

sustain

repeated trauma to survive financially

what it does is that it breeds the

highest levels of innovation

creativity and collaboration

i want to share with you three actions

that you can take

so that your organizations are places

where fairness

justice equity and inclusion are the

experience

of all the first is to hold up a mirror

the second to act on what you learn

and the third to persist despite your

discomfort

let's start with holding up a mirror i

was

lucky to have someone that was willing

to put up a mirror in front of me

i was also strong and brave enough to

look in that mirror

the mirror told me you deserve to be

here

it also said that i needed to face my

fears

and my discomfort i know firsthand that

not everyone is willing to look in that

mirror

when i worked at google i remember

vividly

one meeting where i was set to bring

about our first diversity hiring

strategy

i laid out a detailed proposal of what

it would be like to reimagine our hiring

process

it was supported by an exhaustive

analysis of the hiring experience of

black

and hispanic software engineering

candidates

my team was so excited to present bold

and innovative ideas

including significantly expanding our

hiring markets

and rebuilding our interview process

but after hours of pushback on our

suggestions

and this repeated line of questioning

from my manager

about a seemingly unknown root cause

of our inability to hire black and

hispanic software engineers at scale

i nearly lost my mind and blurted out

racism the root cause is rasismo

our recruitment process was designed

with a racist

lens and we need to re-examine and

rebuild

every stage of our hiring journey if we

are to achieve

different outcomes

the room went quiet

the discomfort was palpable

this was the mirror no one wanted to

look into

the truth no one wanted to see

but it was the truth the truth being

reflected at them

and they chose not to act

awareness without action means nothing

we have got to act on what we learn

here's the thing about looking in the

mirror it fundamentally requires you

to recognize your personal cultural

and systemic sore spots you are going to

have to reflect on your identity

in relationship to someone else and

you're going to have to ask for feedback

that you may not want to hear you're

going to have to build new muscles

including the ability to interpret new

information

to sit in ambiguity conflict

and discomfort and to figure out what

you will do

when you witness bias or when you

discover

that you have been perpetuating the bias

all along

this work this work comes with pain

this work comes with conflict discover

comes with discomfort

but if you want to drive change you're

going to have to work through that

discomfort

many of us want to change conditions in

our workplaces

but sometimes we don't know how to do it

we get stuck in getting worried about

are we going to get it wrong are we

going to mess this up

are we not going to do enough

it's that place where many of us often

dwell that paralyzing place of

fear and anxiety where we numb ourselves

into an action

privilege is the ability to be able to

look away

to not act when you are confronted with

your bias

and complicity but

sitting in awareness is not enough

you're going to have to act on what you

learn and you're going to have to

persist

through that discomfort when i worked at

disney

i was part of a group that helped launch

our first women's initiative

that first week when we were planning

our programming for women's history

month

i took a bet that paid off

i sat around the room of mostly

well-intentioned white women

and realized that the lens through which

we were looking at the advancement of

women

left out the experience of women of

color

women like me i knew what it was like

to feel left out and excluded from white

social networks

and that also when i was invited there

was always this unstated understanding

that i was there to fulfill a quota

not there to share my whole truth

but i had an opportunity to change that

with all of the corporate charm and

bravado that i could muster

i proposed designing a program that

would focus on the workplace experience

of women of color

by this point in my career i had earned

a decent

level of confidence but even then i knew

that i needed to propose this framework

as a limited risk proposition

how much attention could this program

possibly garner

how many women of color could i possibly

bring together

well it was one of the most attended

programs that month

the women who attended to this day still

recall it as the first time

that many of them felt seen heard and

valued

i'll never forget the manager who called

me up to say

hey daisy i have no idea what you just

did

but this young woman on my team just

came back from one of your events

and she has a pep in her step that i

have never seen before

please do more had i not

acted on what i knew women of color

needed to experience in the workplace we

would have never moved beyond the

pervasive blind spot

of women's programs only catering to

white women

instead of reducing the barriers and

clearing the advancement path

for all women but again

this work is hard it is challenging and

full of discomfort

when we move past our discomfort we get

to the place of true change

but for some of us we know that that

change

comes at a high risk

some of us know that there is danger in

doing so

so instead we let go of small parts of

ourselves

we let our courage shrink and our voice

diminish

i have been beaten into submission so

many times that i have forgotten

the count i have been layered

under toxic managers who have

put up roadblocks to my success taken

ownership of my ideas

and questioned my value on a daily basis

even as i was actively working to bring

more seats to the table

i have had to fight to earn and keep

mine but i persist i refuse

to give up and i know that you can too i

know we

all can but creating workplaces

that work for everyone is hard complex

and at times emotionally triggering but

it is

necessary it is about reducing the undue

burdens

and the marginalization that we have

allowed to exist

that we have tolerated for hundreds of

years

to a place where the emotional energy is

vibrant

where employees feel that they are

valued that they matter

that they are essential when they walk

in every day knowing that they have a

clear path

forward we can do that

if we hold up a mirror if we act

on what we know and if we persist

despite our discomfort so when my father

said

keep your head down and work harder than

everyone else

he was partially right this work it

requires

all of us to work harder it takes daily

actions

like questioning the lack of diversity

on your team

refusing to tokenize black indigenous

and people of color

and standing up against injustices in

your workplace

if we all start being the allies we

want to be to show up and for

our colleagues to do the work we can

drive

lasting and meaningful change

gracias

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

you