You Can’t Be What You Can’t See: Why Representation Matters
Marian Wright Edelman, an American civil rights activist, once said, “You can’t see what you can’t be,” referring to the importance of representation to help inspire children of color to positions of power. If you can’t see someone who looks like you in a position you aspire to, how can you imagine yourself in that position? But why does representation matter? And how can organizations work toward better representation in their organization without it looking like tokenism?
You Can’t Be What You Can’t See looks at the importance of representation, why it matters, and what concrete initiatives organizations can take to improve their representation. Leveraging the research for his book Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right and his extensive experience in inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility, Michael Bach shares his thoughts on this critical topic.
Learning Objectives
Participants will come away with a clear understanding of:
The difference between representation and diversity.
Why representation matters.
Concrete actions organizations can take to improve representation.
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What People Are Saying:
Michael provided our organization with amazing insights into how we can all make our workplace and our world more open, equal and considerate. He brought a strong idea of what an inclusive workplace is – fair, supportive and respectful to all within one event. Bringing definition to belonging was his drive and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Michael to other organizations looking to enhance their inclusiveness, equity and diversity functions