Diversity, equity, and inclusion roundtable.

• Author: Malan, Mekenna
• Position: ROUNDTABLE

This month, Utah Business partnered with Comcast to host a roundtable event featuring Utah's DE&I leaders. Moderated by Trina Limpert, founder and CEO of RizeNext, and Deneiva Knight, external affairs director at Comcast, the group discussed how to approach DE&I conversations in the workplace and how the execution of DE&I is changing. Here are a few highlights from the event.

Why is it so uncomfortable to talk about DE&I? What can individuals do to get over that discomfort?

Garrett Jones | Senior Technical Recruiter and DE&I Program Manager | Weave

For conversations to happen, we have to work with our leadership teams and individuals to actually create a safe environment where people feel that it's OK to be vulnerable and have these conversations. Individuals who don't identify with--or who aren't an ally of--these individuals can witness some true, authentic conversations--it will allow them to see DE&I from a more human perspective and question their own thoughts and biases. Once we create an environment where these conversations can happen, and people aren't afraid to share their real, lived experiences, I think that's how you can create a culture and conversation around what action needs to happen.

Gladymir Philippe I Founder & CEO I Kado Inc.

I think being uncomfortable is outdated. There is no such thing as an "unconscious bias," and we ought to stop entertaining the concept. It is a diversionary tactic. Again, regular human interaction with guidance to focus on compatibility will take off at an incredible rate. That's where corporations should focus their foundations.

Bassam Salem I CEO I AtlasRTX

I think what is missing is conversations with people who don't understand what everybody in this room understands. We're all sitting here. We all agree. I really think that the problem in our country, and in the world in general, is that we polarize and sit in circles where we all agree. We have to bring up these topics with folks who are not in this room to appreciate and tackle the really uncomfortable questions that are hard for us to answer--questions like, "I'm the CEO of a company. I want to hire the best people, but I am so passionate about DE&I." How do you reconcile those two objectives? How do you reconcile wanting the best engineer, the best head of sales, the best everything, with wanting to make sure that you are open and inclusive of everybody?

Adrienne Andrews I VP, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion I Weber State University

...