Thanks to funding provided by the City of Alexandria, LCNV was able to retain Sonia Aranza, a global diversity & inclusion strategist to provide a seminar to the LCNV Board of Directors and staff entitled: THE POWER OF INCLUSION: IMPACT OF UNCONSCIOUS BIAS©. This engaging learning experience is a vital foundation that provides a shared language and shared understanding of the impact of unconscious bias on organizational excellence. First, it showed the depth and breadth of Diversity & Inclusion beyond general knowledge. Second, it explored the neurology of bias based on scientific research on the brain. Third, it connected the learning to the workplace with a focus on decision making. Participants received insights and learned five action steps to mitigate bias.
The LCNV Board of Directors developed the LCNV Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement in February of this year. They incorporated what they learned from Ms. Aranza, the City of Alexandria’s Office of Equity, Fairfax County’s One Fairfax initiative and prior DEI workgroup sessions on racial equity held by Vernetta Walker, senior advisor on diversity, inclusion, and equity for BoardSource and Hanh Le, former Executive Director of the Weissburg Foundation.
View LCNV’s DEI statement here.