EP52: Transforming DEI: From Surviving to Thriving

The Conscious Entrepreneur

"DEI is often seen as something off to the side—something we can easily discard because people still don’t always see its benefits,” says Ericka Hines, founder of Black Women Thriving. This week, she joins Alex Raymond to shed light on the vital role of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Drawing on over 14 years of experience, Ericka shares insights from her Black Women Thriving Report, which explores the unique challenges Black women face in the workplace and provides actionable recommendations for creating environments where they can truly flourish.

Ericka emphasizes the need to move beyond traditional DEI training to foster genuine cultural change. She introduces the concept of thriving—a state of vitality and learning at work—as the ultimate goal once diversity and inclusion are achieved. A striking finding from her report is that 88% of Black women experience burnout, often due to a lack of personal time and negative workplace environments. Ericka advocates for organizational policies that prioritize well-being, such as implementing rest periods between meetings and discouraging after-hours emails.

For entrepreneurs, Ericka advises embedding DEI principles into their businesses from the outset by tailoring them to their industry and integrating them into daily strategies and practices. She cautions against relying solely on unconscious bias training and stresses the importance of a comprehensive approach to building an inclusive culture. Ericka urges entrepreneurs to lead the charge in evolving workplaces to meet the expectations of millennials and Gen Z, who place a high value on diversity and inclusion.

Quotes

• “There are definitions of DEI, and you should have a shared language about those. But what I’m saying is, if we understand that diversity means we want different perspectives, lived experiences, and identities, right? What does that mean in the context of the business or industry I’m in? What does that mean to us? Once you have those operational definitions, I think the strategies and knowledge you need will flow from that.” (27:35 | Ericka Hines)
• “As an entrepreneur, I think DEI work should become one of the pillars of your business. In doing so, you want to embed it across operations, how you hire, how you conduct performance reviews, and how you choose vendors.” (29:24 | Ericka Hines)
• "DEI is often seen as something off to the side—something we can easily discard because people still don’t always see its benefits.” (40:20 | Ericka Hines)
• “People who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, trans, gay—we’re not going away in the workplace. So, yes, it’s still a good time to do this. To me, it doesn’t make sense not to be doing this. And this really isn’t from a place of, ‘Oh, this is my business.’ It’s more like, look at who’s in your workplace. Why would you not try to make it a place that people want to work in?” (41:25 | Ericka Hines)

Links

Connect with Ericka Hines:

Website: https://everylevelleads.com/

Connect with Alex Raymond:

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

Website: https://consciousentrepreneur.us/

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