Race at Work with Porter Braswell Diversity Explained / Porter Braswell

In the final episode of Race At Work Season 3, Porter chats with Michelle Gadsden-Williams, Managing Director & Global Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at BlackRock. They discuss the costly mistakes companies make when it comes to retaining employees of color and the milestones that indicate successful DEI initiatives.

BlackRock recently released its impact report and launched a 1 billion dollar fund to invest in businesses and projects owned, led by, or serving people of color. Michelle is also an author. Her most recent book, out now, is titled “Driven by Intention: Own Your Purpose, Gain Power, and Pursue Your Passion as a Woman at Work.”

In this episode, Porter chats with Deb Liu, CEO of Ancestry. They talk about why diverse teams in tech build better products - from design all the way through the review process, it all matters. And when it comes to talking about race at work, Deb thinks pretending it doesn’t affect the workplace only alienates your employees. Deb’s book “Take Back Your Power” is all about lessons from tech, leadership, and motherhood. It will be out Fall 2022.

In this episode, Porter chats with Tom Naratil, Co-President Global Wealth Management and President Americas at UBS. They discuss why for leaders, it’s not enough to just be supportive of diversity, equity and inclusion at your company, but you must be committed. Tom also talks about why empathy is an important skill for a leader to develop - he believes the more you work at it, the better you get.

In this episode, Porter chats with Erika Irish Brown, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer and Global Head of Talent at Citi. They discuss the elements needed for a DEI leader to thrive - like support from the top and having the human capital as well as budget resources - and how data can help stakeholders understand why DEI isn’t a “nice to have”, but an important business case.

In this episode, Porter chats with Jason Mayden, CEO of Trillicon Valley, a modern design collective. They discuss the record-setting projects he worked on at Nike, why he left a dream job to build Superheroic, and why the impact he aims to have with Trillicon is meant to be multigenerational. Jason’s forthcoming book “A Kids Book About Design” comes out this May. 

This episode is the second and final part of Porter's conversation with Ryan Williams, co-founder of Jopwell. They share personal stories from the Jopwell journey, like a rejection from TechStars that led to a yes from Y Combinator, what it means to be Black founders in the tech space and the challenges they face when it comes to leading a diverse company.