Tackling diversity: new academy trains community leaders.

AuthorMckimmie, Kathy
PositionDiversity In Business

DIVERSITY. IT'S CLEARLY one of those words that means different things to different people. Many think only of race and ethnicity Some will include sex, religion and age. Others might add education and sexual orientation to the mix. Today, the trend within government and corporate entities is the broadest possible definition.

At Anthem, diversity is "any collective mixture characterized by differences and similarities." Can't get much broader than that.

"Our company is obviously, just like our community, becoming more and more diverse," says Anthem's chairman, president and CEO, Larry Glasscock. "It's really about understanding and appreciating differences. The better we can do that as a company, the better off we'll be."

Glasscock continues, "Our mission as a company is to improve the health of the people we serve. But beyond members, the well-being of the community where we live and work is important." That's the impetus behind Anthem's decision to bring the American Institute for Managing Diversity in from Atlanta to run the Diversity Leadership Academy of Greater Indianapolis. Anthem put up $575,000 to train 100 community leaders over a three-year period. The academy recently collected applications for the second class of about 40 "fellows."

"We began thinking about how can we make this happen," says Glasscock.

"We talked to the mayor and community leaders and we spotted this program launched in Atlanta. Indianapolis is only the second city in the country to do this. It's a great example of another way of demonstrating how the public and private sectors can work together."

The American Institute for Managing Diversity is the nation's first not-for-profit think tank dedicated to the advancement of diversity management, and is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Through research, education and public outreach, it seeks to improve communication and highlight potential actions that lead to quality decisions about diversity.

Executive director Melanie Harrington says the institute added the Diversity Leadership Academy in 2001 with a $1.5 million gift from Coca-Cola, creating the first academy in Atlanta. Its success led to calls for information from other communities, and eventually resulted in the launch of the Indianapolis academy. "They are community-based programs," says Harrington. "They are customized and cater to the needs of the community."

In Indianapolis, that customization meant calling on the 36-year-old Indianapolis Urban League...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT