What does it mean to you to be African American?

For me, to be African American means remembering and appreciating my history and heritage. I come from people who triumphed over unfathomable adversity. I recognize the strength, courage, and perseverance it took for them to survive those adversities.

Being African American means acknowledging I owe a debt of gratitude to my ancestors, and I must never forget the sacrifices they made that allow me to be where I am today.

How do you work with people to create or foster diversity in the workplace?

Diversity is defined as the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders and sexual orientations.

The workplace provides an ideal environment to foster diversity and inclusion. My goal is to create a space where the norm is embracing the broad spectrum of social, ethnic, and gender differences.

I value and respect what diversity brings to an organization. As chair of Ventera’s Employee Resource Group DRIVE (Diversity, Representation, Inclusion, Values, Equity), I leverage the ERG as our platform for planning, discussing, and actioning activities and opportunities that strengthen diversity and inclusion.

Has diversity played a role in your leadership style? How have your past experiences influenced how you approach your work, your colleagues, and the world as a whole?

I have learned there is immense value in embracing cultural, ethnic, and gender differences. I embrace those differences and perspectives in my leadership and work style.

From a leadership perspective, it is a disservice to let prejudgment and assumptions lead exchanges and interactions. My past experiences with diversity as a leader have taught me to see color and people’s differences, but to not define anyone by it.

What does it mean to you to have a commitment to diversity and inclusion? How do you think we can continue to support the need for social change?

Commitment means walking the walk. Simply saying you embrace diversity and inclusion means nothing without acceptance and application.

At Ventera, we can continue to embrace the need for social change by leveraging DRIVE as the platform to consume and implement change. We can also continue to prioritize embedding diversity and inclusion within business and hiring practices.