what do we really know about diversity
what can we share with others about
inclusion are these two topics that you
think about every day do they inspire
you do they scare you do they empower
you do they dictate who your friends are
does it tell you what kind of leader
you’re going to be tonight I hope to
touch your hearts I hope to be able to
give you some tools to look within
yourself and recognize diversity and
understand inclusion and I think the
best way to do that is to poke a little
fun at myself and tell some personal
stories that’ll probably help you get
along with your life and understand a
little bit about diversity and inclusion
I was born in New York City and raised
there for my summers and spent my time
amongst eight million souls so it’s safe
to say diversity makes that city hum
right I moved to Florida and spent my
time being raised in Miami with hundreds
and thousands of people stirring the
cultural melting pot and then in my
mid-20s I decided to move to a little
capital city known as Tallahassee
Florida
to start my career in state government
and to complete my master’s degree in
criminology sorry I’m a little nervous
my blended family is a hotbed of
diversity that gives ancestry.com a run
for its money in short I’ll paint you a
picture on my mother’s side of the
family I was born from Argentinian
parents who are here in the crowd this
evening and that makes me a hundred
percent Hispanic and a first-generation
American the rest of my family is Greek
by marriage
when I say they’re Greek by marriage I
mean that they give the characters in My
Big Fat Greek Wedding a run for their
money
a hundred percent they put them to shame
like the movie my family also has a lot
of similarities to the characters my
family has an eco an Angelo and a
Dimitri
my uncle believes that children should
be reading The Odyssey in the Iliad and
that dr. Seuss is a hack the rest of the
family is very strong with familial ties
to african-american culture Irish
culture and even Jewish roots if I was
to paint you a picture of what our
family tree looks like it looks like a
three-ring circus without the show
ponies and the tent everyone in our
family is opinionated loud and proud we
are hashtag diversity strong and all of
us believe in inclusion which was an
example my grandmother set for us in
essence she didn’t care who you were if
you were hungry and you needed to be fed
you were welcomed at our table no
questions asked
the only question was B probably does
the meal a nice I need more salt but
that was it my grandmother set the
example of inclusion which to this day I
carry very very close to my heart so at
that point when family find out when
people find out that half of my family
is Greek the majority of the time I get
asked because they’ve seen it in a movie
so it has to be true right does your
family use Windex for everything let me
dispel that rumor for you now
no no they don’t we use Vicks VapoRub
duh that’s that’s just how we roll so
knowing that what I have come to learn
is that the movie created what I like to
call a little unconscious bias monster
anyone who is
familiar with Greek culture will
automatically assume that because my
family is Greek they use Windex for
everything and that’s just not the case
but if we look at that situation we
realize that whether we believe we’re do
it or not we uh nicely commit these
little unconscious bias monster moments
where we associate stereotypes to
cultures and even religions the little a
bias monster lives inside of all of us
and that’s the bad news the good news is
that you can learn to silence that
little unconscious bias monster your
weapons to do that would be diversity
and inclusion now I’m sure you’re
sitting there asking yourself but what
does that mean I asked myself those same
questions as I said I moved to
Tallahassee in my mid-20s and I finished
up my master’s degree I started working
for the state at that time the buzzwords
of diversity and inclusion
were literally thrown around the
workplace like confetti and I needed to
understand what that meant I would often
ask individuals who were in leadership
roles who hailed from other generations
what the terms diversity and inclusion
meant to them as an employee I wanted to
do the right thing and I wanted to
figure out how those two concepts were
supposed to fit the landscape of the
workplace and how I was supposed to use
them to mold me occasionally I would get
half-hearted responses from the most
recent memo that floated across
someone’s desk I would be sent to
another training or my least favorite
response you Millennials always asking
what and why
there it was that little unconscious
bias monster let me tell you something I
would rather run in my stilettos down a
beach in a hundred degree weather then
be pigeonholed as a millennial in the
workplace not because I’m not proud to
be a millennial but because being one
had inevitably come with the
preconceived notion about me as a person
and an employee that just was not true
no matter how hard I worked to overcome
that stigma that can also be said
unfortunately about every
multi-generational workplace those
stereotypes of oh he’s too old or she’s
too old they don’t know how to use word
that is offensive in the workplace from
that point on it got me thinking why do
we hear that diversity is a buzzword
used in a boardroom and not a
celebration of potential how often are
we overlooking potential because of a
label like millennial how often in our
day-to-day lives are we quick to
stereotype others because they’re
different and how quick are we to write
them off because of those differences
what could we as a human race be missing
out on because that little unconscious
bias monster that lives inside of all of
us saddled us to our comfort zones how
are we truly going to innovate and
evolve if we don’t seek to understand
the differences that people have or what
that can bring to the table or bring to
the light it wasn’t until I started
working at the Florida Department of
Corrections that the concepts of
diversity and inclusion fit together
like a puzzle and everything made sense
shockingly at a correction at a
correctional career move at that point
what I learned was that diversity had
nothing to do with me checking the boxes
of female college-educated millennial
good luck in in the workplace okay it
had everything to do with what I’m about
to share with you right now this what
I’m about to share is the secret of how
to slay the little unconscious bias
monster are you ready I’m ready
treat everyone as an equal equal mind
that’s it that’s all you have to do
treat each other as equals ladies and
gentlemen this is not a novel concept
America was founded on the idea that
from many we are better as one okay
treating each other as equal has
historically been what America is about
diversity is how we built this country
we have gone leaps and bounds in the
fight for equality and the fight will
continue and it will rage on until each
and every one of those little
unconscious bias monsters has been laid
to rest the terms diversity and
inclusion in fact are different just as
you and I are different diversity is our
spice of life it is the things that make
up our characteristics it’s what makes
us special it’s what makes us completely
unique inclusion is the acceptance and
the use of those differences even if you
don’t agree with them for the greater
good at hand I know it is so much easier
said than done
to look around and say we’re all equal I
get that
just as Marley had said this is a ladder
and we are all in this together climbing
together okay it’s so much easier said
than done but you’re here now and you’re
here today and we can start today if you
just take one second to do this exercise
with me I promise you it’ll change your
perspective okay
you don’t even have to break a sweat
take a second and look around the room
recognize that no one here is the same
now think to yourself what do you really
see from where I’m standing what I see
is that every single one of you has
something to bring to the table and that
makes each and every one of you worth
something okay if this is similar to
what you told yourself then you are on
the right truck and pat yourself on the
back if you looked around and that
wasn’t the first idea you had that’s
okay – practice makes perfect and Rome
was not built in a day if I can leave
you with anything this evening to close
out this event I would truly hope that
you remember and believe that we are the
population forget being the generation
because this is truly a team effort
a humanitarian effort regardless of age
gender race sexual orientation forget
all of those things we are the
population that can be the change not
just say it be it we all have it in us
to recognize diversity and take it a
step further by promoting inclusion
through equality let what you heard from
me and the rest of our speakers today
inspire you how you treat your friends
how you interact in the workplace let
that be the ideas and the movement
forward in your life to treat everyone
just as you would want to be treated our
potential is absolutely limitless when
we can accept that individually we’re
smart but collectively as a human race
we have all of the makings to be
absolutely brilliant thank you
[Applause]
what can we share with others about
inclusion are these two topics that you
think about every day do they inspire
you do they scare you do they empower
you do they dictate who your friends are
does it tell you what kind of leader
you’re going to be tonight I hope to
touch your hearts I hope to be able to
give you some tools to look within
yourself and recognize diversity and
understand inclusion and I think the
best way to do that is to poke a little
fun at myself and tell some personal
stories that’ll probably help you get
along with your life and understand a
little bit about diversity and inclusion
I was born in New York City and raised
there for my summers and spent my time
amongst eight million souls so it’s safe
to say diversity makes that city hum
right I moved to Florida and spent my
time being raised in Miami with hundreds
and thousands of people stirring the
cultural melting pot and then in my
mid-20s I decided to move to a little
capital city known as Tallahassee
Florida
to start my career in state government
and to complete my master’s degree in
criminology sorry I’m a little nervous
my blended family is a hotbed of
diversity that gives ancestry.com a run
for its money in short I’ll paint you a
picture on my mother’s side of the
family I was born from Argentinian
parents who are here in the crowd this
evening and that makes me a hundred
percent Hispanic and a first-generation
American the rest of my family is Greek
by marriage
when I say they’re Greek by marriage I
mean that they give the characters in My
Big Fat Greek Wedding a run for their
money
a hundred percent they put them to shame
like the movie my family also has a lot
of similarities to the characters my
family has an eco an Angelo and a
Dimitri
my uncle believes that children should
be reading The Odyssey in the Iliad and
that dr. Seuss is a hack the rest of the
family is very strong with familial ties
to african-american culture Irish
culture and even Jewish roots if I was
to paint you a picture of what our
family tree looks like it looks like a
three-ring circus without the show
ponies and the tent everyone in our
family is opinionated loud and proud we
are hashtag diversity strong and all of
us believe in inclusion which was an
example my grandmother set for us in
essence she didn’t care who you were if
you were hungry and you needed to be fed
you were welcomed at our table no
questions asked
the only question was B probably does
the meal a nice I need more salt but
that was it my grandmother set the
example of inclusion which to this day I
carry very very close to my heart so at
that point when family find out when
people find out that half of my family
is Greek the majority of the time I get
asked because they’ve seen it in a movie
so it has to be true right does your
family use Windex for everything let me
dispel that rumor for you now
no no they don’t we use Vicks VapoRub
duh that’s that’s just how we roll so
knowing that what I have come to learn
is that the movie created what I like to
call a little unconscious bias monster
anyone who is
familiar with Greek culture will
automatically assume that because my
family is Greek they use Windex for
everything and that’s just not the case
but if we look at that situation we
realize that whether we believe we’re do
it or not we uh nicely commit these
little unconscious bias monster moments
where we associate stereotypes to
cultures and even religions the little a
bias monster lives inside of all of us
and that’s the bad news the good news is
that you can learn to silence that
little unconscious bias monster your
weapons to do that would be diversity
and inclusion now I’m sure you’re
sitting there asking yourself but what
does that mean I asked myself those same
questions as I said I moved to
Tallahassee in my mid-20s and I finished
up my master’s degree I started working
for the state at that time the buzzwords
of diversity and inclusion
were literally thrown around the
workplace like confetti and I needed to
understand what that meant I would often
ask individuals who were in leadership
roles who hailed from other generations
what the terms diversity and inclusion
meant to them as an employee I wanted to
do the right thing and I wanted to
figure out how those two concepts were
supposed to fit the landscape of the
workplace and how I was supposed to use
them to mold me occasionally I would get
half-hearted responses from the most
recent memo that floated across
someone’s desk I would be sent to
another training or my least favorite
response you Millennials always asking
what and why
there it was that little unconscious
bias monster let me tell you something I
would rather run in my stilettos down a
beach in a hundred degree weather then
be pigeonholed as a millennial in the
workplace not because I’m not proud to
be a millennial but because being one
had inevitably come with the
preconceived notion about me as a person
and an employee that just was not true
no matter how hard I worked to overcome
that stigma that can also be said
unfortunately about every
multi-generational workplace those
stereotypes of oh he’s too old or she’s
too old they don’t know how to use word
that is offensive in the workplace from
that point on it got me thinking why do
we hear that diversity is a buzzword
used in a boardroom and not a
celebration of potential how often are
we overlooking potential because of a
label like millennial how often in our
day-to-day lives are we quick to
stereotype others because they’re
different and how quick are we to write
them off because of those differences
what could we as a human race be missing
out on because that little unconscious
bias monster that lives inside of all of
us saddled us to our comfort zones how
are we truly going to innovate and
evolve if we don’t seek to understand
the differences that people have or what
that can bring to the table or bring to
the light it wasn’t until I started
working at the Florida Department of
Corrections that the concepts of
diversity and inclusion fit together
like a puzzle and everything made sense
shockingly at a correction at a
correctional career move at that point
what I learned was that diversity had
nothing to do with me checking the boxes
of female college-educated millennial
good luck in in the workplace okay it
had everything to do with what I’m about
to share with you right now this what
I’m about to share is the secret of how
to slay the little unconscious bias
monster are you ready I’m ready
treat everyone as an equal equal mind
that’s it that’s all you have to do
treat each other as equals ladies and
gentlemen this is not a novel concept
America was founded on the idea that
from many we are better as one okay
treating each other as equal has
historically been what America is about
diversity is how we built this country
we have gone leaps and bounds in the
fight for equality and the fight will
continue and it will rage on until each
and every one of those little
unconscious bias monsters has been laid
to rest the terms diversity and
inclusion in fact are different just as
you and I are different diversity is our
spice of life it is the things that make
up our characteristics it’s what makes
us special it’s what makes us completely
unique inclusion is the acceptance and
the use of those differences even if you
don’t agree with them for the greater
good at hand I know it is so much easier
said than done
to look around and say we’re all equal I
get that
just as Marley had said this is a ladder
and we are all in this together climbing
together okay it’s so much easier said
than done but you’re here now and you’re
here today and we can start today if you
just take one second to do this exercise
with me I promise you it’ll change your
perspective okay
you don’t even have to break a sweat
take a second and look around the room
recognize that no one here is the same
now think to yourself what do you really
see from where I’m standing what I see
is that every single one of you has
something to bring to the table and that
makes each and every one of you worth
something okay if this is similar to
what you told yourself then you are on
the right truck and pat yourself on the
back if you looked around and that
wasn’t the first idea you had that’s
okay – practice makes perfect and Rome
was not built in a day if I can leave
you with anything this evening to close
out this event I would truly hope that
you remember and believe that we are the
population forget being the generation
because this is truly a team effort
a humanitarian effort regardless of age
gender race sexual orientation forget
all of those things we are the
population that can be the change not
just say it be it we all have it in us
to recognize diversity and take it a
step further by promoting inclusion
through equality let what you heard from
me and the rest of our speakers today
inspire you how you treat your friends
how you interact in the workplace let
that be the ideas and the movement
forward in your life to treat everyone
just as you would want to be treated our
potential is absolutely limitless when
we can accept that individually we’re
smart but collectively as a human race
we have all of the makings to be
absolutely brilliant thank you
[Applause]
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