In this episode, Sarah Weisbarth, Leader of Alumni Engagement, has a conversation with two powerful, inspiring and leading women who have had a wide range of life experiences working in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion movement.
The first guest you will hear from is Latisha Cunningham.
Latisha was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She came from humble beginnings and was very interested in culture and people from a young age.
Graduating from Eastern Michigan University with a BBA and a Master’s degree in Human Resources and Organizational Development, Latisha started at the institution as a Human Resources-Affirmative Action Analyst while pursuing her graduate degree. This is where her interest in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was fueled.
She went on to take roles in Civil Rights divisions, looking at laws and policies and in 2017, Latisha established Leadership and Diversity Consulting, an undertaking that is very close to her heart.
She currently serves clients in the U.S. and Canada while feeding her passion for cultural immersion, by frequently traveling globally.
The second guest you will hear from is Anita Sanchez.
Dr. Sanchez is a brilliant international leadership, team, and organizational development consultant, trainer, speaker, and coach. For thirty-five years, she has provided services to executives and their teams in dozens of Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations.
Anita’s passion is bridging indigenous wisdom and the latest in science to inspire and equip women and men to live their higher purpose in service and joy.
Of Mexican American and Aztec heritage, Anita resides in the mountains outside Boulder, Colorado, with her husband and youngest son.
Join Sarah and our guests as they discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion, how the Our Community Listens training enhances their education and experiences, and how to approach situations with authenticity and self-awareness.
Please note diversity, equity and inclusion is occasionally referred to as D, E and I.
AI-generated dictation of the podcast audio
Please note that this transcription was completed using AI software. Occasionally, unanticipated grammatical, syntax, homophones, and other interpretive errors are inadvertently transcribed by the software. Please excuse any errors that have escaped final proofreading.
Adam Salgat:
Hello, and welcome to the Our Community Listens Podcast. I’m Adam Salgat. In this episode, Sarah Weisbarth, leader of Alumni engagement has a conversation with two powerful, inspiring, and leading women who have had a wide range of life experiences working in diversity, equity and inclusion. The first guest you will hear from is Latisha Cunningham. Latisha was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She came from humble beginnings and was very interested in culture and people from a young age, graduating from Eastern Michigan university with a BBA and a Master’s degree in Human Resources and Organizational Development, Latisha started at the institution as a Human Resources Affirmative Action Analyst. This is where her interest in diversity, equity and inclusion was fueled. She went on to take roles in civil rights divisions, looking at laws and policies. And in 2017, Latisha established Leadership and Diversity Consulting, an undertaking that is very close to her heart. She currently serves clients in the United States and Canada while feeding her passion for cultural immersion by frequently traveling the globe.
The second guest you will hear from is Anita Sanchez. Dr. Sanchez is a brilliant, international leadership team and organizational development consultant, trainer, speaker, and coach. For 35 years, she has provided services to executives and their teams at dozens of fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Anita’s passion is bridging indigenous wisdom and the latest in science to inspire and equip women and men to live their higher purpose in service and in joy. Of Mexican-American and Aztec heritage, Anita resides in the mountains of Boulder, Colorado with her husband and youngest son. Join Sarah and our guests as they discuss diversity, equity and inclusion, how the Our Community Listens training enhances their education and experiences and how to approach situations with authenticity and self-awareness. Please note, diversity, equity and inclusion is occasionally referred to as DE&I.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Latisha and Anita, I just really am so grateful for the two of you joining us today to have this important conversation around the needs and issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. And I just really hope to hear from the both of you, like what is your background and experience related to this topic? Latisha, if you’d be willing to go first for us?
Latisha Cunningham:
Sure. So I started diversity, equity and inclusion work, just being deeply engaged in it in 2009. And that was a mixture of developing programming and a huge amount of civil rights work. That was when I first started as a civil rights’ investigator in ’09. So I continued as a civil rights investigator for seven years at two different universities and then in 2016, I accepted a diversity, equity, inclusion and culture officer role. In 2017, I established Leadership and Diversity Consulting, which I still lead. And I’m now consulting and engaging in this work in the United States and Canada.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Wow. It seems like you have been deep in this work for a long time.
Latisha Cunningham:
Yes. It’s a passion, which I think that you can’t really, I think the most successful approach is to be passionate about it before you try to start engaging other people and getting other people involved.
Sarah Weisbarth:
I can see why having that passion and that commitment to it really brings power to the message you’re hoping to bring to people.
Latisha Cunningham:
Yes, because there’s a difference, right? So I talked about my parents that I have in civil rights work and there’s a lot of compliance in that and a lot of legislation behind that. And so you can always have some statutes to fall back on. When it comes to this work, when it comes to discussing human behavior and interactions and bystander intervention and these sort of things that help us connect better, and having empathy as humans, that is compassion work. And so you have to have some level of investment and deep involvement with it and connection to it on a personal level in order for it to be effective and to reach those in which you’re working with.
Sarah Weisbarth:
That’s a really interesting distinction because there’s certainly, like you said, compliance and laws and regulations that we have around DE&I, but that doesn’t always get to the heart of how are people relating to one another around these topics and these issues, there’s a real difference there.
Latisha Cunningham:
Yeah, that’s exactly right. And I think that although, there’s, it’s always important, especially in organizations to have that, the element of compliance, but I think with compassion work it goes beyond, no, it’s actually, not I think I know, that it goes beyond just within the four walls of your work environment. It’s something that relates to your personal life when you go out into the world, just grocery shopping, having that element, that compassionate element, and that I was talking about earlier, that empathy is a part of, it is pervasive into all areas of your life.
Sarah Weisbarth:
It has me thinking about, almost a quote or a tagline that Anita had shared with me in a previous conversation, and I’m probably not going to get it right, so she can correct me, but it’s something along the lines of, “Diversity exists and it’s everyone’s responsibility to include it.” Anita, I just would love to invite you into our conversation and have you share your perspective on maybe what we’ve been talking about and then certainly your background and experience around this topic.
Anita Sanchez:
Thank you. Yes. So my passion around this topic is about my life and my family and all the people I care about. So I grew up in Missouri. And I’m Mexican American, and Native American Aztec is my tribe. And going up in the 50s, 60s, 70s, I continued to be growing up because I really see this as journey. So on one hand, people hire me as an expert, 43 years, teaching and training in this whole arena to corporations, as well as community groups at the domestic and global level. But the real reality is I think this is work that’s a journey. And that’s what I loved about Our Community Listens is because it’s about a journey. It’s not that you arrive. However, there are fundamental skills.
So I feel that there’s personal experience, which of course helps me to have more empathy and understanding, but also with personal experience of being on the side of not being treated equitably or with dignity always or my groups of people. I have to weigh through that and heal that so I can be present to be able to collaborate and align with those of all different kinds of differences, to be able to create the world we want, which is of course what Our Community Listens, what I become such a… not only through training it, but really an ambassador in terms of integrating it in my own life and part of my work I do in DE&I, diversity, equity and inclusion.
Sarah Weisbarth:
So it really sounds like, that does, like I don’t even know how to capture this. There’s a sense of, because you’ve been living this, because you’ve experienced it, because you’ve had unfortunate circumstances happen to you. In order to stay committed to doing the work and maybe creating that compassion and that empathy that Latisha’s talking about, you’ve had to do some personal consideration and development and maybe soul searching as to how can you still engage with individuals that have offended you or done something completely oppositional to what you believe in.
Anita Sanchez:
Absolutely. What we’re trying to create, there are pockets of history of that as us being together and collaborating. But we also can’t deny not only the historical, but the present day of the separation that’s happening between us. And so if we want to really create a world that works for everyone, that requires us to constantly be doing our own healing and coming together. And as part of that, what that requires, what has required of me all my life, I was fortunate, I grew up in an all-black neighborhood being the only non-black family. So it allowed me to learn a lot about people that I don’t share that race experience, but I could observe and see how I was treated, how they were treated, what was better, what was worse, what was happening. But also I went to a school in Missouri and Kansas City where it was a third white, a third Mexican and a third black.
And those early 12 years, well, I skipped a year. So 11 years of elementary and high school was really valuable to learn to be with different people, from friends. And not let the media or the various things we see create the images, create, limit our possibilities of how we are actually one. And finally, I think the indigenous teaching about, there’s only one hoop of life. There’s only one world. When we talk about the developed world, the undeveloped world, the North, the South, okay, I know we need to focus in, but the reality is we are one world. What we do matters, no matter what we’re doing within the world. It has impact and implications that goes throughout the entire globe. And that’s really takes a presence and consciousness that Our Community Listens skills helps me along with all the other training I’ve had in my PhD program, my masters, all that to, and in my cultural trainings to be able to be present so that I can move forward in a heart-centered way, rather than the mind just spinning.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Yeah. You’re really speaking to really the mission and vision of what Our Community Listens is about. And both Latisha and Anita, you are facilitators, you are leaders of this work that we do. Anita, do you want to continue in that vein of what skills, like how does this all go? How does this all come together?
Anita Sanchez:
Yes. Well, when I came to get trained in this handful of years ago and I heard Bob Chapman talking about this, and I said, “Well, I’m into transformation, I’m a transformational leader, I’m a transformational trainer, this is transformational work, I want to know about it.” And I got to it and I got so excited. One, because the skills are really fundamental. So what I would say, what Our Community Listens teaches, listening, behavior, the differences that in a different way than we usually think about differences when we think about DE&I. So beyond race, gender, with some basic needs, the differences. And then I have dealt with people from warring countries, that was a specialty of mine in the 70s and 80s. And when I saw how Our Community Listens was teaching how to do conflict in a way that allowed for the dignity of the other, what we’re actually realizing when we have a problem.
When I have a problem, I go on bended knee. I am asking someone else to change their behavior, to help meet my need. That is a different posture than one of antagonistic. What I see it fits with all my other training and skills about being a pro activist standing for rather than standing against. So what I [inaudible 00:12:25] Our Community Listen skills are basically, they’re absolutely essential skills, and I will also speak, say they are not sufficient into themselves. They are foundational. So we need to have these skills. So we can go deeper into the healing and having the courageous conversations and the collaboration co-creation, these are essential, and we have other things to add to make it safe for us to really fully hold this to do the work in real time in this day.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Wow. I love what you’re saying about it being foundational, that it’s absolutely, it’s skills that we all need to have to bridge the gap of the differences, to understand one another, to be in a relationship with one another. And the more I listen and engage with both of you, I can see from a cultural standpoint that there’s also more, there’s also more about understanding and awareness and education. But these skills are a way to help bridge that gap in that understanding. [crosstalk 00:13:31] Yeah. Latisha, what do you have to share with us?
Latisha Cunningham:
No, I was just listening to what Anita said, and I agree that it’s the body of work that we cover in [inaudible 00:13:40] is just so that people are unique. So when it comes to how to connect with someone, regardless of their background, it’s just, there isn’t a one side to follow approach. And so when it, there’s cultural dynamics, right? And so that’s one of the things that I appreciate about, even taking the DiSC assessment, we have to be able to understand ourselves first and our, just our tendencies. And then be able to then take that and know, well, if somebody is not the same as me, then what do I do? And so how can I still be effective? And how can I she’ll show empathy or communicate with them in a way that is meaningful? So there’s the cultural dynamics, like I just talked about, also a person’s perception of the world based on their experience.
It could be media, family influence, or a number of factors that shape the lens in which we see the world. Now, the gifts of communication skill training, it brings a universal language of empathy, which has the capacity to bridge the gap. Like you were talking about Sarah, between a person’s lived experience, they found certain identities, and those who may or may not share that experience. Now, I think it will be remiss if we didn’t talk about that there are some people who cannot identify with those who may have those varying identities. But even in a position of privilege where one would have to be intentional to relate to another, this still can be effective.
So in order to inspire people, we have to find a way to connect with the community, the communication cycle, as we discuss and understanding our own tendencies and the different many aspects of [inaudible 00:15:23]. But, I think that through all these different avenues, we’re providing that opportunity to relate to others. But when we have that knowledge of the cultural component and these differences and the various ways that people come to the table with their lived experience, then we can be more effective and bridge that gap between those with varying identities and have a different way, different experience, different lived experience, and those who may not be able to relate to that.
Sarah Weisbarth:
I wish you could see my face right now, because I like have this, I’m just absorbing all of this in, and even considering how it relates to me. I’m a female white Midwestern, grew up in a nuclear family. I am guessing that there are a lot of cultural experiences out there that I have no idea about, no ability to understand or relate to. And I think I’m asking for help. I’m like, “What is the point of what I’m saying right now?” What happens when I walk into that wall of me having no concept of no understanding from a cultural standpoint.
Anita Sanchez:
Well, this is where I think it’s really important to see that our communication skills, these fundamental skills of listening, effective confrontation, understanding needs, it’s not all external. It really starts inside. It’s a both. And so it’s about taking them internally so that you can look at your own stuff. What do you have the different parts of yourself? And really is it listening to yourself? So many of us talk about, okay, we’ve got to listen to that person. Yes, we do. But guess what, we’re going to have limits if we don’t even listen to our own selves, the connection between our head and our heart. We’re moving at such a pace of do-do-do that we haven’t slowed down to be, to understand where our assumptions come from. What is it that we’re actually seeing? So when you ask the question that you do, and you have your beautiful pace, like [inaudible 00:17:35] says, “What does this mean?”
I’m a white woman from the Midwest. What does that mean? The fact that you can say I’m a white woman from the Midwest already tells me as a woman of color, this woman has spent some time thinking about she is. It is not trying to lay on the whole world that my experience is everyone’s experience. My experience as a Native American as Latino, it’s not everybody’s experience. But what does combine us is I think there’s some basic needs we all have. Not only for the oxygen, clean air, food, water, community, but also for dignity.
The basic of all human beings all over the world, just by virtue of being, we are worthy of dignity. And I extend that beyond even people that the earth is worthy of dignity, the water that’s in our bodies, all of this is worthy of dignity and as long as we keep having the illusion of we’re all separate, [inaudible 00:18:33] of things, whether it’s inside of a company, inside of a community, inside of our homes, inside of ourselves, that it makes it difficult to come together.
So what I think these essential skills, many of which I was being taught since a young child as an indigenous person in particular, but also from the Latino, Hispanic thing. And then having seen it and coming from the Midwest, which is my home state of Missouri. I’m so delighted to see these essential things can help bring us together. And so in my vocabulary, has been through some decades now, when I catch myself ever saying, I can’t, that is not true. That’s the illusion again of separateness. I choose not to. I am not aware yet of how to do it. This is what like I hear you saying is, “I want to have some of that, but how else do I bridge these huge gaps,” but you can choose.
And when we choose, then we can go silent and listen and learn and silent with ourselves to see what’s going on inside and then engage. And know that it’s not going to always be perfect, because we’re on a journey. But when you start where you did, “Hey, this is who I am, this is how I’m perceiving things, how do you perceive it?” That’s often how I start with people all over the world and people are delighted by that, it’s coming from not assumption of privilege or that everything that’s right, it’s my way. That’s why there’s many, that diversity is wonderful and it’s all, well, as you said it to start with, “Diversity exists while inclusion is everyone’s responsibility.”
Sarah Weisbarth:
Yeah.
Latisha Cunningham:
Yeah.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Go ahead Latisha.
Latisha Cunningham:
It’s this one thing I wanted to say, Sarah, because you said, “Help me offer some tips.” And so I appreciate that level of vulnerability and awareness. So the first thing I would say is get familiar with the unfamiliar. So many times people have come up to me and have said to me, “Man, I just, I really don’t know much about this group of people or I feel as though I don’t really have a connection with that group of people, regardless of if it’s their generational or religion or gender or sexual orientation, gender identity,” lets you fill in the blank. Regardless of what it is I ask that person, “Okay, have you allowed yourself to connect with people within that community?” And often the answer was, no. We can’t allow ourselves to grow and to become knowledgeable about a community that we are not involved with.
And so get to meet with the unfamiliar, connect with those that you consider the other. And when we become honest with ourselves, then that is when we can really say, “Oh wow, I have a bias towards this group of people.” And as long as we focus on the person before the culture, that is how we make a connection. So what I mean by that is we don’t go up to people and just say, “Hey, I was wondering, what is the best type of ethnic food when it comes to your culture,” or asking questions specifically about somebody’s culture if we haven’t even opened up the door to get to know them first. Of course, as I’m sure anybody can understand how that could be offensive. And so get to know the person before the culture, be okay with being wrong. As Anita was saying, “It’s a journey.” And only those who put their selves out there in an authentic way can truly begin to connect with someone else.
And that may take getting it wrong sometimes, it’s having someone direct you and say, “Actually, our, we prefer to be referred to as this.” And that’s okay. We learn and we grow and we move on. But as long as we’re open to that and we are not just approaching someone from the standpoint of, I’m trying to fulfill a goal, but there’s genuinely a mutual connection and there’s a mutual benefit from that conversation. I’ll open up myself a little bit, and in an authentically I’ll show a little bit of me. And then that can create a medium to really build meaningful connections with people who you consider as other.
Sarah Weisbarth:
I am, I have such a deep sense of relief right now Latisha listening to the both of you. One of my perspectives has always been, I just see people as people and until I can get to know that individual, I feel like if I make assumptions about their skin color, the way they style their hair, their background, their religion, as Anita said, there are so many things that we could categorize and create division around guys, it’s endless. It’s endless we can categorize. I just feel like I’m creating landmines for myself if I focus on the categories and try to make assumptions about people based on how I’m maybe categorizing them. Instead, what I hear you saying is if I just focus on the person and then really drawing into what Anita has been sharing is then focus on me and sharing me. Then that’s going to just bridge that gap.
Latisha Cunningham:
Yeah, because some…
Anita Sanchez:
That’s a good start. Go ahead Latisha.
Latisha Cunningham:
… the only point that I was going to add is, sometimes you might not even know the background, especially if there’re invisible identities, things that you just can’t look at somebody and tell that they’re, that is a part of their identity.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Yeah.
Latisha Cunningham:
Sometimes when you get to know that person, things come out, that you just would not have otherwise known. And just like I was kind of gave you the example of, if you meet somebody and you want to know what type of dances are associated with their culture, what are some historic milestones related to their culture? Whatever the case may be. Once you start getting to know that person and just open up the door for people to share a little bit more of that personal side of them, that they may, that you may not have known exists. And so you’re right. It does start with just a personal conversation. And then once we’ve put ourselves out there, because we really can’t expect for somebody to be vulnerable with us and share that side of them because hence telling your story is a gift. And so we can’t expect for us to receive it and refer someone if we do not put ourselves out there a little bit to give them something to work with.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Yeah.
Anita Sanchez:
I agree. I totally agree with you that, that’s where you begin with and we’re in such need to build community that we can’t let it just draw on forever. And I know that’s not what any of the three of us are saying. So one of the things that I think is important for people, is to look at your whole value of comfort. I think what has happened is so many people have become particularly into their comfort of valuing that. And when you are learning, bro, when you build relationship across difference, it’s just not something to put as a high value. So what, so I might get a little bit uncomfortable, like did I approach it the right way, did it, but to not take that step to get to know you, then I lose out totally. And when I think, I think of all of us think of our life where we’ve really made some leaps, it usually took a little bit of risk.
It may have felt, it’s not like the earth was going to fall apart, but it was just, it was different. But if we keep looking for comfort, then we’re not going to get it. And I will tell you in our community skills training, in that class, it isn’t always comfortable. And that was fine because that’s when the breakthroughs came through. And so instead it’s to change our mindset that, oh, I’m in a room and there’s lots of people of different races or wow, I’m in a room and it’s all men and there’s only two women or whatever it is. It’s like rather than get paralyzed, fight-flight-freeze in terms of letting your brain and your medical to take control, danger, danger, instead reframe that, oh, I have an opportunity here to learn, to become known, to help people expand their community, whatever it is. And that’s very important. And the other thing I want to add, so let’s value comfort a lot less. It’s become a barrier.
The other piece that I think is really important is we do need to take our precious time because time is the most precious, our energy to actively learn about other people. So when we talk about bringing community together, one of the things since I’ve been in the DE&I arena for all my life and then formally with my business for 40 plus years, is it really amazes me when people, when I ask them about their relationships with outside of their own culture, race groups, that they don’t have many. And I’m like, “Wait a minute, this is an ethical issue, a professional issue, you need to expand that, let’s expand it.”
Now, that’s not a thing to be ashamed of, but how can you teach something you haven’t gotten in there and done the experience with, both the joy of it, and also the challenges. We sometimes come to places where, I hear what you’re saying. I have a different experience. Boom. And it may never come beyond that, but at least we heard each other. And by hearing each other, I’ll have to say is that you’re not only sitting to listen to that other person in order then to, now it’s my turn, now I can get them. That’s not the listening we’re teaching, it’s listening. And actually in the listening process, I get transformed. You get transformed whether or not we ultimately agree on all of it. There’s a process that’s happening in that flow, in that intimacy of truly being with someone rather than being in competition with them, [inaudible 00:28:37] and everything else.
So please[inaudible 00:28:40], right now, there’s one last thing I want to say about this part is in learning right now. I just picked up a [friend 00:28:47], I with a friend and I got the New York Times. And the 1619 Project, the world that this country got shaped in a different way than what happened with indigenous people. And 1619, the first 20 slaves were brought here and bought. And we need to not shy away. Oh, that was back then. We need to look at what systems and structures are in place now that continues that inequity. And it’s not about beating yourself up, it’s about, we have to be knowledgeable about what we are experiencing because it doesn’t come out of nothing. It comes out of something. So we can be clear about what we’re seeing then together, we can move forward on this. Latisha, I think you were about to say something, sorry, I got a little passionate about that.
Latisha Cunningham:
No, I just, I hear you, and I like a passionate discussion. Sarah mentioned earlier about a comment that I often hear, regarding people, just wanting to see people as people. And you are not the only one who shares that opinion. I wanted to offer a perspective. So particularly for people who, when it comes to race and religion and people say, “I don’t see race, I don’t see gender, I don’t see religion.” Although the person who’s making that statement at times may say, “Well, I’m doing that because I want to make the people that are in those groups comfortable.” I believe that in doing that, it’s not making those other people comfortable with making the speaker, the person who’s actually making that statement comfortable. Because when we deny, when we say that we don’t see race, we don’t see religion, we don’t see these other things, it’s denying somebody of an entire huge identity that is front, out in front when they walk out into the world.
And so African-American, Latino, you fill in the blank, then that is a huge part of your identity when you walk out into the world. And it dictates a lot of your experience as a person. And so by denying that part of somebody, it takes away when they were to, if they were to have a genuine conversation with a person, and that person says, “I don’t see race.” It takes away the opportunity to be genuine and share your actual experience as a person with that identity, because that other person has already shut down a whole entire part of your identity by saying that they don’t identify with it. So that’s, one thing that I wanted to share.
The other thing is just, in terms of getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. I was born and raised in Detroit. I had never traveled before. And when I went to college for the first time, I traveled outside of the country and then it just opened up this space for me to see more. And so I’ve traveled to about 21 countries and every single country, I find something new that’s interesting to me, but there’s also this element of the unknown that I’m very, very, very uncomfortable with. But by the time I visited the third or fourth country, it became more so a challenge to myself to want to get more familiar, more comfortable with people that are different than me. It could be language, food, style of clothing, the norms, some of the ethnic customs, but it made me be able to connect more with people who are different than me.
And then now, when I come back and I travel to different places or even I come back home, and I meet somebody from those different identities, I have a common ground with them. Well, we could share, break bread, have a conversation and can relate to each other. And I think that is one of the joys of life, to not be so homogenous or stuck with a homogenous group of people because it’s comfortable. It’s so much more enlightening and brings much more of a joy to life to have those different experiences, to share with people. And I love the look on people’s faces when they’re like, “What, you’ve been to Romania, or you can say hello to me in German,” because you visited there. It’s a very, very, relatable feeling, feeling of elation, being able to connect with people on a different level like that.
Sarah Weisbarth:
I have run out of responses to share with the two of you. I have literally, like you have both rendered me almost speechless because I’m trying to in my head, bring it to this practical moment in our recording for our listeners of like, why this all matters and bring it back to our [crosstalk 00:33:40]. But, man, I am telling you, it is really about just connecting with people and being curious and humble and wanting to engage with others and just learn and grow together. And I feel like we’ve traversed from talking about diversity towards talking about, well, how can we include one another? How can we be in this together? I don’t know.
Anita Sanchez:
Yeah, [inaudible 00:34:14] well, and Sarah, you’ve just done it. You’ve just done it [crosstalk 00:34:19] in a bit more with the podcast. Our Committee Listens, we’ve been doing it with the… through the foundation, with the classes, taking them out. And then taking them out, not just to communities that are mainly white, but taken out to other communities that are more and more diverse who are… and then into companies through the private, Barry-Wehmiller’s Corporation. And so you asking for this podcast, you didn’t have to do that. You could keep going on. It’s, Our Community Listens is growing. However, because you’re staying true to what your mission is then that’s the pull. That’s the pull from the heart and the head comes along. The saying, “We’ve got to have these conversations and why not start here with Latisha and Anita and me,” let’s do that.
Here we got three women, different races, different backgrounds, different, lots of differences, and yet guess what? The sky didn’t fall in. We could talk about stuff that’s going on that’s difficult. The things that are happening in the news that we can see. And I love Latisha. I just love what you were saying about, just, you’ve got to get out there and really fully see everyone. So it’s not about being colorblind or age blind or gender blind. When that comes up in the communities by ourselves, we say, “Well, what’s wrong.” We need to give them glasses or we need something else. We know that intention is good. The intention means I want, I see you as a human being. And that’s what we are. The other part of it, like you were saying, Latisha is so critical. That’s part of what makes me fully who I am as those other experiences too.
And those are only a part there’s so many aspects, but I just, Sarah, I just want to applaud you and Our Community Listens that you’re continuing to hat on this, that it’s not good enough with what you have and your will going into schools and education and to cities. And that means it’s about all of us. And so a great start of course, is everybody matters. Our Community Listens class that you teach, there are other great books out. The Four Sacred Gifts is my book and it tells some basic things about how we be in right relationship with each other. And I just started reading one Latisha. I don’t know if either of you have heard of it, but it’s Our Grandmother’s Hands. And it’s beautiful because it gets into, it’s primarily white, black and police. And I care about all three of you, so much of what’s going on.
And, but I thought it was wonderful. Not only saying what is, but also how white people started, who came here. It wasn’t all wonderful and lovely. And it hasn’t been all wonderful and lovely. So we need to look at where all these hurts and mistreatment’s that may still be alive and showing up in the systems and structures we create so that we create whole and healthy ones. And so that’s where I just have a deep appreciation for the work that’s being done, in their foundation and the corporation that helped start that. And, yes. So just thank you.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Well, thank you, Anita, for almost bringing it around to it really being about a mission of creating this compassionate world, where we understand one another and that we grow in connection. And as we’ve been chatting, I’ve just been thinking through like, yes, if anyone wanted to make a first step, attend the communication skills train with Our Community Listens because as we’ve said forever ago, that’s the foundational work of, wow, I’m different than others. How do I understand myself and how do I understand others? And then how do I communicate? And then listen with empathy.
And then when the conversations get difficult and uncomfortable, and we know they do, what skills do I have then to have a humbled conversation so that I can bridge that gap and create that understanding and moving it from confrontation and instead moving it towards connection and understanding. And we teach very practical skills to do that. That’s why I’m like, “We have the answer.” We have the secret sauce, we can give you this, come join us and then we can tackle all of the difficult issues that we face as a worldwide culture together based off jumping off of those foundational skills. So in a final wrap up, is there anything that we missed in our conversation, any words of wisdom or insight that both of you want to share with our listeners before we sign off?
Anita Sanchez:
If I could say, a group that I don’t want to leave this conversation without naming, I suppose there’s so many, however age, I spent a great deal of time with entrepreneurs as well and young community leaders. I was just in Aspen with a young woman, [inaudible 00:39:28] and she’s part of the Friday’s strike group from elementary schools or pre voting age that are saying, “Hey, leaders, you need to think about our future, present and our future.” And galvanizing the way they can, but also inviting adults to be part of that. So why would it bring up the Gen Z and the millennials is because they have a different experience with the other groups, the Ys, the boomers, and others, that they there’s a different expectation about inclusion. And I’m not saying it’s all over the board, but in terms of a bell curve, it’s much broader of their experience of learning about other people.
And a recent start, I was just, I saw, it made me very happy actually, is that a reason for organizations or to need schools even to look at it, millennials left the job. 35% of them left their job in 2018 because they found that the culture was not inclusive. Now, when I dug further in that data, they didn’t leave because, oh, I’m African-American [inaudible 00:40:32] or I’m Mexican-American, or I’m a white woman. They left. A number of them left because they saw other people weren’t being included. That’s the good thing. When we see our communities, our neighborhoods, our businesses, and that saying, wait a minute, this is a value. This is our mission is to all of us.
And so I just want to acknowledge that this evolution, this journey we’re on is about all of us. And some of us is helping to pull and push us in that direction, which I spend lots of time listening to the younger people and sharing on panels and different things with them because they have a lot to teach us. And I know that Our Community Listens is doing more and more in education. And that makes me so excited because we don’t need to go and make assumptions, unexamined assumptions about whatever pace we’re going at, because it can always be different than what it is, we just have to choose. And so I think for me in closing, a place to start is we need to hold both. It’s in the inside and it’s out here. It’s not an either, or.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Thank you, Anita. That’s such a powerful, powerful statement. And it really does. It just brings it all together of this realization of how do we do this in connected relationship together.
Latisha Cunningham:
Yeah.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Latisha, anything you want to share before we sign off?
Latisha Cunningham:
Just, seek common ground that forms a connection, have dialogue and challenging dialogue. Go beyond the surface with people after forming that communication, after forming that connection. Get comfortable with the unfamiliar, speak up when people are being left out of the conversation. And just remember that open ears are useless to a close mind.
Sarah Weisbarth:
Thank you so much. You both have, you’ve helped me. You’ve helped me and I have great confidence that you’re helping our listeners understand what it feels like to be connected, to be inclusive, to see the beauty in the diversity and understand that through the way we connect and communicate with one another, we can bridge those gaps. So thank you both for your time, your insights, your expertise, and both of you are such a strong, long experience history in doing this important work. Thank you for sharing your time with us.
Anita Sanchez:
Thank you.
Latisha Cunningham:
Thank you. Thanks for having us.
Adam Salgat:
If you have any suggestions about subject for our podcast, feel free to reach out through our Facebook page. And if you’re interested in taking a class, visit ourcommunitylistens.org. Thank you again for listening to our podcast and don’t forget each word, each action, each silent moment of listening sends a message. Therefore, you are the message.
