How could we raise awareness of I&D issues, help employees have difficult conversations and share how we were building inclusion and diversity into our products.

In 2018, we initiated a monthly Inclusion & Diversity Speakers Series. The purpose was to raise awareness of inclusion and diversity issues, provide a forum for employees to learn how to have difficult conversations and share with our employees how we are building inclusion and diversity into our products.

We invite inclusion and diversity experts and thought leaders to speak to employees. All sessions are recorded so employees who are in different time zones or are unable to attend, can view the session when it is convenient for them. Recordings have closed captioning for those who have hearing impairments or simply prefer to read rather than listen.

Speakers and topics are tied to our business goals and I&D strategy. They have included Scott Hoesman, founder and CEO of inQUEST, a firm that specializes in helping companies with their I&D strategies, who talked about the complexities of sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace. Scott also hosted a session for MH employees with his colleague, Gloria Cotton, “More than Black or White: Our Quest to Be More Consciously Inclusive.” For Veterans Day, we had a panel of speakers talk about the effect of military training on leadership. Last November, for National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we had a panel of our internal experts discuss how we are making our products more accessible for everyone. Alvin Hall, the creator of the podcast, “Driving the Green Book” spoke during Black History month and recently, NPR’s legal correspondent, Nina Totenberg, talked about how the Supreme Court helped shape women’s rights. Other sessions included our own McGraw Hill authors discussing microinequities, women in leadership and generational differences.

After each session, we survey participants to understand what they learned, how effective the conversation was and what other speakers/topics would be valuable to them.

Employees have a better understanding of how we are making our products more accessible and how we are reflecting the experiences of diverse populations in our course materials.