1. True commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism is not a “one-off” training event. This is why many “D&I” and “Unconscious Bias” training approaches have failed in the past (or may have even caused harm).

2. In fact, even the terms “Diversity & Inclusion” and “unconscious bias training” are increasingly being associated with an outdated, ineffective approach; and “equity” and “anti-racism” efforts are now becoming more prominent. One key difference today is an awakening in America that racial inequities are “baked into” virtually all organizations and that this requires actively dismantling or redesigning “systems” to achieve more diverse, inclusive outcomes (vs. a past focus and reliance on training people to become “nicer, more inclusive” human beings to drive change).

3. Racial equity/anti-racism efforts “dig in” deeper on both a personal and a systemic level and require more commitment and more “skin in the game” from leaders and organizations and require metrics and transparency.

4. “Leaders go first.” We believe that a commitment to DEI and anti-racism; the modeling of desired behaviors; and the ultimate success of a change management initiative; all begin at the top. Thus, we prioritize educating and coaching the Executive Leadership team and then expanding/cascading success and commitment from there.

5. We believe “Inclusion comes before Diversity”. It is fruitless to ramp up diversity efforts without ensuring that an inclusive culture exists. It is employees who assess and inform how inclusive the culture is from their lived experience. These insights inform and determine your DEI Plans and priorities, and you continue to measure your success through their consistent, periodic feedback and guidance.

6. That being said, there is an opportunity to immediately “fix what is broken” in key areas of inclusion in order to ensure that opportunities to address diversity gaps are not lost while inclusion/bias is addressed throughout the pipeline/hiring process.

7. We believe DEI should not be a “silo” or an “island”. It works best, most efficiently, (and easiest) when it is integrated into existing company core values, culture, talent management systems, goals, and success metrics.

8. White Man Whisperer’s™ and High Performance Edge’s success as your DEI partner lies in our deep expertise across all of these areas: corporate CEO experience internationally; deep lived cultural expertise across and between diverse employee segments (Black, Hispanic, Asian, LGBT, women); formal DEI strategy and planning expertise; and a unique ability to bridge the gaps between DEI and C-Suite to get Agencies “unstuck” to create bold action and results..

9. We pride ourselves on our ability to quickly and efficiently understand your organization’s unique values, culture, and place on the DEI continuum to provide you the educational forums, coaching, and custom DEI Plans to gain traction and to accelerate success. We scale our knowledge and expertise to any size organization to find the most agile, realistic, and cost-effective solutions that are right for you.

10. Whether this is your very first foray into DEI or whether you have an experienced DEI leader or team, we believe that High Performance Edge can provide an invaluable external perspective to help accelerate your growth and success.