Inclusive Leadership In A Distributed Workforce With Dr. Nika White

09/15/22 • 38 min

In Episode 96, Melinda starts Season 8 with an extensive discussion with Dr. Nika White, President & CEO of Nika White Consulting, about inclusive leadership as a key to building empathy and understanding in a distributed workforce. They explore how to overcome proximity bias in a hybrid workplace, support team members’ well-being, and provide equitable opportunities for everyone. They also delve into how we can improve our cultural intelligence to encourage effective collaboration within diverse teams and how DEI practitioners and HR managers can approach resistance to DEI efforts across global teams.
About Dr. Nika White (she/her)
Nika White is a national authority and fearless advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. As an award winning management and leadership consultant, keynote speaker, published author, and executive practitioner for DEI efforts across business, government, non-profit and education, Dr. White helps organizations break barriers and integrate diversity into their business frameworks. Her work has led to designation by Forbes as a Top10 D&I Trailblazer.
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For more about Empovia, and to join us for our monthly live event, visit https://ally.cc. There, you’ll also find educational resources and highlights from this episode.
Connect With Dr. Nika White On Social
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikawhite/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikacwhite
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NikaWhite
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikacwhite/Connect With Us On Social
YouTube: youtube.com/@empovia
Twitter: twitter.com/empoviaco
Facebook: facebook.com/empovia
Instagram: instagram.com/empovia/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/empovia/

Production Team
Creator & Host: Melinda Briana Epler
Co-Producers: Renzo Santos & Christina Swindlehurst Chan
Podcast Rocket: Rob Scheerbarth & Nina Rugeles[Image description: Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo and photos of Dr. Nika White, an African American woman with short curly brown hair, fuchsia dress, grey blazer, and bird-shaped drop earrings; and host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with blonde and red hair, glasses, red shirt, and black leather jacket.]

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Previous Episode

How Exclusion & Epigenetics Shape Our Sense Of Belonging With Rajkumari Neogy

In Episode 95, Rajkumari Neogy, Executive Coach at iBelong, joins Melinda in an in-depth discussion about how exclusion and epigenetics, the study of how behavior and environment can affect the way our genes are expressed and inherited, can impact our sense of belonging. They explore meaningful practices of empathy and representation to address transgenerational trauma and recover the affected parts of our brains from discrimination, racism, and other stressors that destroy our psychological safety. Rajkumari also suggests how managers and employees can work better together to create pathways for healing and cultures of belonging in the workplace.
About Rajkumari Neogy (he or she)

Rajkumari has worked with organizations worldwide, including HelloSign, Slack, Glympse, Salesforce, Gainsight, Twilio, Google, Guidewire, Intera, WhiteOps, Trumaker, Stratus, Ever AI, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Wells Fargo, Cisco Systems, Facebook, United States Digital Service (USDS), Shuddle, HopSkipDrive, Autodesk, Amazon, and Adobe. In 2013, S/He founded iRestart, which provides expertise in the areas of leadership development and organizational epigenetics. S/He is the creator of the iRestart coaching framework, the Disruptive Diversity Boot Camp, and the author of The WIT Factor: Shifting the Workplace Paradigm by Becoming Your Optimal Self.

Possessing a rare blend of techno-babble and touchy-feely, Rajkumari brings my keen insight and systems-thinking perspective to provide holistic and integrative solutions when addressing complex problems. S/He believes that the qualities of passionate self-reflection and dedicated curiosity (two sides of the same coin) define true leadership.

Find Leading With Empathy & Allyship useful? Subscribe to our podcast and like this episode!

For more about Empovia, and to join us for our monthly live event, visit https://ally.cc. There, you’ll also find educational resources and highlights from this episode.

Connect With Rajkumari Neogy On Social

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rneogy

Connect With Us On Social

YouTube: youtube.com/@empovia
Twitter: twitter.com/empoviaco
Facebook: facebook.com/empovia
Instagram: instagram.com/empovia/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/empovia/

Production Team

Creator & Host: Melinda Briana Epler

Co-Producers: Renzo Santos & Christina Swindlehurst Chan

Creative Director @ Podcast Rocket: Rob Scheerbarth
[Image description: Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo and photos of Rajkumari Neogy, a French-Canadian/East Indian nonbinary person with short salt and pepper hair and a navy blue button-down with a black suit jacket; and host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with red hair, glasses, and orange shirt holding a white mug behind a laptop.]

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Next Episode

Creating A Culture Of Belonging For Latina Colleagues

In Episode 97 (recorded live), Melinda is joined by an incredible panel of experts to discuss actionable steps to creating a culture of belonging for Latina colleagues. Gabriela Chavez-Lopez and Maica Gil share meaningful ways to support Latina colleagues by addressing systemic challenges in the workplace and amplifying the voices of Latinas beyond Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month. They also dive into the importance of choosing the right vendors through supplier diversity programs and improving the workplace ecosystem to increase Latinx equity & inclusion.
About Gabriela Chavez-Lopez (she/her)
Gabriela is the first Executive Director of Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley. She is a community catalyst; passionate about uplifting and championing voices around challenging issues in our community — particularly those that disproportionately impact Latinas & people of color. She has an entrepreneurial spirit and is committed to systems-change work that removes structural barriers for women and the underserved. She is dedicated to empowering and cultivating Latina leaders prepared to make a collective impact now and into the future.
About Maica Gil (she/her)
Founder and Organizer of the SF International Women Entrepreneurs Forum and Co-Founder at Heroikka. Maica’s experience has helped her create a platform for diverse international organizations to collaborate, share resources and give visibility to various projects and initiatives. Maica is passionate and committed to closing the gap by connecting women-led projects, funding and support systems around the world. In 2020, she started organizing the Woman Impact Summit, the global conference that gives visibility to businesses, initiatives and programs created for or by women.
For more about Empovia, to find educational resources, and to join us for our monthly live event, visit https://ally.cc.
Connect With Gabriela
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gchavezlopez09/
Facebook: facebook.com/gchavezlopez/
Twitter: twitter.com/gabsRhere
Instagram: instagram.com/gabzrhere/Connect With Maica
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/maicagilConnect With Us
YouTube: youtube.com/@empovia
Twitter: twitter.com/empoviaco
Facebook: facebook.com/empovia
Instagram: instagram.com/empovia/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/empovia/

Production Team
Creator & Host: Melinda Briana Epler
Co-Producers: Renzo Santos & Christina Swindlehurst Chan
Podcast Rocket: Rob Scheerbarth & Nina Rugeles
This episode is sponsored by First Tech Federal Credit Union, a member-owned financial institution that is powered by a people-before-profit philosophy. Learn more at https://www.firsttechfed.com/.
[Image description: LEA promo and photos of Maica, a Latinx, Atlantic Islander with short brown hair, glasses, and a navy blue shirt; Gabriela, a Latina with long brown hair, chunky gold earrings, and a bright aqua dress; and host Melinda,

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