Leading Bold DEI Conversations with Valerie Williams

At their core, DEI professionals are change experts. They own the challenge of shaking the foundation of traditional corporate cultures to help leaders confront subconscious bias.

I usually talk to white male leaders who recognize that they are entitled and privileged, they will say “I’m the last person you should be talking to about DEI,” but that’s not true! For what they lack in lived experiences, can be made up by actively deciding to use that privilege to do better. We need everyone for diversity to flourish.

That’s just what Valerie sets out to do. Valerie Williams is Founder and Managing Partner at Converge Firm, a diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) advisory that helps organizations design and implement DEI strategies and have bold conversations. Converge aims to address equity issues at scale and drive systemic change within the workplace.

In this episode, we cover:

• Keeping an eye on the 30,000 level view
• Always coming back to your WHY
• Staying strategic as possible
• Leveraging the ability to improvise

We need to meet people where they are and not where we think they should be. DEI is a function where people can bring so many perspectives and value to work. Let's unleash this potential by giving them a voice.

Connect with Valerie:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamsvalerie1/

Converge:

https://www.convergefirm.com/

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