The Somerset County Business Partnership (SCBP) virtually held the first annual Somerset County Diversity & Inclusion Summit on Thursday, September 24, 2020.
Presenters included Moderator Paula Gutierrez, Director, Diversity & Inclusion at the Babs Siperstein PROUD Center; Keynote Speaker Hester Agudosi, Chief Diversity Officer at the NJ Office of Diversity & Inclusion; Linda Bowden, NJ Regional President at PNC Bank; Mariano Gutierrez, Head of Global Marketing Operations at MetLife; Paul Grzella, Somerset County Diversity Committee; Sadaf Jaffer, Mayor of Montgomery Township; and Magda Yrizarry, Chief Diversity Officer at Verizon.
Issues addressed at the summit included: How to Practice Inclusive Leadership; Uncovering Unconscious Bias; and Making the Business Case for Inclusion.
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The Summit was a continuation of the SCBP initiative begun last year with the publication of “Somerset County: Embracing Diversity and Inclusion,” a report providing the business community with an overview of what they need to know about Somerset County’s changing population while also serving as a resource to better understand and embrace the growing diversity in Somerset County. The report was created by the SCBP Diversity Taskforce in collaboration with the Somerset County Planning Board.
In her keynote comments, Agudosi noted that as the first New Jersey diversity and inclusion officer, focus has been directed toward creating a model that others can follow with focus on leadership, commitment, and action.
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“It’s the penetration of inclusiveness and diversity that trickles down from a state level, to a county level, to a local level, when we are truly able to harness diversity and inclusion. You’re putting your stake in the ground to say who you are that defines and sets the tone for the operation of the county, towns”
She further explained that diversity is organic with a comparison to nature. “We see it and we enjoy the beauty of it. And the fact that we have differences does not mean that one competes against the other. They all add to the beauty and the value of what we enjoy.”
She concluded that the ability to leverage and harness the best ideas, products, and services are all things that help grow and promote the economy. Practicing diversity and inclusion adds to the beauty and landscape of our state.
Discussing the need to spread the word about positive actions, Paula Gutierrez noted “It’s ok if we don’t know something, but it’s part of our journey to be more self-aware and get to the root cause of the gaps in our knowledge.” Grzella further stressed that diversity, openness, inclusion, and being proud of who you are are integral to success in business, but also integral to success as a human being. “If you can’t embrace who you are, how can you help embrace others?”
Bowden suggested that individuals look for signs that people may be excluded and work to “bring them in by initiating the conversation and being prepared to listen, looking for signs that people may be excluded, and bringing them in.” Start the conversation by saying you want to listen. “Values flow down. Ideas flow up.”
Addressing the leadership needs for diversity and inclusion, Mayor Jaffer noted that it’s about having ideals and following through on those ideals with actual change with programming to engage and establish trust with both the community and employees.
Gutierrez focused his comments on the need to encourage space and opportunity to talk about sensitive topics. He explained that “By practicing inclusive leadership and activating conversations, real change can happen.”
Yrizarry concluded that the power of inclusion is important from an employer standpoint with no a cookie cutter approach to making progress on the issue. Executive leadership must be aware and care about diversity and inclusion in the workplace. “Diverse teams drive better returns. When leaders speak of this, it resonates with shareholders. Our leadership is committed to activating the awareness of our employees.”
The Diversity & Inclusion report may be found at
https://www.scbp.org/diversity-inclusion.
Video of the Summit is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBD3zPx5rK8&feature=youtu.be
Information on programs and activities at the SCBP is available by calling the SCBP at 908-218-4300 or email info@scbp.org.
