DEI for the Startup Community 1: Why DEI Matters when Startups are Fighting for Survival

How can startups think about diversity, equity, and inclusion when they’re simply fighting for survival?  There’s limited time, resources, and attention available, and yet it’s imperative to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture from the ground up.  On our first series, DEI for the Startup Community, we explore how startups can get DEI right from the start, and the role that investors play in supporting them. On episode 1, we’re joined by CEO of The Diversity Movement Donald Thompson.

JOIN THE DEI FOR STARTUPS WEBINAR, presented by The Diversity Movement, with Donald Thompson, Shelley Willingham, and Lister Delgado.  And please donate any amount to the Thurgood Marshall College Scholarship Fund.

 

Transcript

Shelley Willingham:  Welcome to Winning with Diversity, a podcast to help you be the diversity champion in your business. This is episode 1 of our series on DEI for the Startup Community, where we discuss how founders can think about DEI when they’re just starting out, why it’s so important, and actionable steps you can take right away to set your company on the path to success.

I’m your host, Shelley Willingham, VP of Business Strategy at The Diversity Movement, and with me today is Donald Thompson, CEO of The Diversity Movement.

How’s it going today, Don?

Donald Thompson:  I’m doing good. It’s good to see ya. I look forward to  chopping it up with you.

I’ve been looking forward to this all week.

Shelley Willingham:  Yeah.

So I’m excited too. So we’ve been talking about this whole concept of DEI and startups for a while. So why don’t you share with the audience how we came up with the idea to do the series?

Donald Thompson:  So a lot of times innovation and ideation is just a function of pattern recognition, right?

When you start to hear the same kind of questions. Right? Over and over again, you’ve got to dig a little deeper and say, right, is there something there?

Full Episode Transcript

Winning with Diversity is brought to you by The Diversity Movement, hosted by VP of Business Strategy Shelley Willingham, and is a production of Earfluence.

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