December 2013 ESSENTIAL Class Day Takeaways

Guest post from ESSENTIAL Class of 2014 participant Leslie Wingo, reflecting on the December class day on Austin's diversity and inclusion. Leslie is a partner with Sanders\Wingo Advertising.
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We define others and ourselves by how we see the world and how we see our place in it.  For as long as I can remember, I have always been "the only" one in the room. Often I feel as though I am the only female, the only African American or the only person who feels singled out. As I learned from our December ESSENTIAL class day, being the only one in the room is not a unique feeling. I learned that others seem to have the same feelings, and this shift in my perception is like jumping into Barton Springs on a hot Texas night—surprising and refreshing.

The day had a lot of great content and reflection. Some of the information was new and unexpected. And some of it was really hard to hear. In my mind, I have been the only one for so long, it was great to get a different perspective from others who where the only one in their demographic or culture.

We each seem to have our own boxes, which shape how we are perceived and how we see the world. Ms. Joyce James explained during our session that this begins at a very early age as we learn to socialize with others. Think back to the last time you filled out the required paperwork for the U.S. Census. The form asks very specific information about what box you see yourself and your household fitting into. Needless to say, I have spent a lifetime of having people (including myself), advertisers, and others putting me into some type of labeled box.

There are over 170 of these types of categories (culture codes), which shape our opinions and beliefs. Culture codes are not monolithic and cannot be applied or assumed to the only people in a particular group, economic background or zip code.

Perceptions and assumptions about groups of people can be changed; however, there are many challenges such as institutionalized thinking, lack of resources, and historical policies and procedures, which prevent change or make it difficult at best.

In order to make positive changes within our community, we need to have honest and difficult conversations regarding race, diversity and inclusion. Stepping out of our own comfort zones and taking the time to listen to others who are different. As the demographic makeup of Central Texas continues to change, diversity and inclusion must work together in creating a cultural competency.

The ESSENTIAL Class of 2014 is comprised of sixty amazing and diverse individuals, who want to continue to make Austin and Central Texas a great place for everyone to live, work and play.

I cannot wait to see what The Best Class Ever will do this year.

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NOTE: The opinions of Leadership Austin alumni, faculty members, and guest bloggers are their own, and do not represent an official position of the organization.

November 2013 ENGAGE Wrap-Up

Guest post from 2013-14 ENGAGE Breakfast Series guest blogger Alicia Dietrich. Alicia is a public affairs representative at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin. See the end of this post for the podcast from the breakfast.
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Everyone knows that Austin is growing at a rapid pace, but did you know that 23 percent of new residents moving here are international?

With this growing global population and rapidly rising cost of living, what does it mean to Keep Austin Weird?

This was the question explored in the November installment of Leadership Austin’s ENGAGE breakfast series last week with panelists Kevin Johns (City of Austin Economic Development Department), Jakes Srinivasan (WobeonFest Austin World Music Festival), and Jim Swift (retired KXAN journalist). The discussion was moderated by Shannon Wolfson (KXAN News).

The City of Austin’s Economic Development Department has played a crucial role in shaping the impact that this influx has on our region, and the city’s efforts earned the 2013 Gold Award from the International Economic Development Council for their Global Commerce Strategy earlier this year.

Kevin Johns noted that the city has launched many programs to support small businesses owned by international residents. The city has a program that awards small business loans to merchants that agree to hire hard-to-employ people. The city tapped contacts in various ethnic groups as they conducted outreach to other countries with similar ethnic makeups for F-1 promotion. Johns also supported the idea of working with local merchants associations to create ethnic commercial pockets around the town so that Austin could have its own versions of Chinatown, Little Saigon, or perhaps a Hispanic downtown.

"If we are able to use the cultural diversity we have, we have a way to revitalize our city over and over again," said Johns. "Our economic strategy is to embrace diversity as one of our building blocks."

But everyone on the panel agreed that top-down solutions cannot sustain the growth and support the new populations on their own. For Austin to embrace this diverse new crowd and make it an asset for the city, people with leadership abilities must step up and take action on the ground, and folks must step outside their comfort zone and explore the unfamiliar.

Jakes Srinivasan is exactly that type of person. He plays with six different bands around Austin, and he’s used those connections to help promote the international music scene in Austin by launching a blog and keeping track of world music events around the city. He encourages everyone to join a band because music has united diverse crowds in Austin for many decades already. But if you can’t join a band, he encourages you to explore and take advantage of the diverse cultural scene that Austin now has to offer, because those personal relationships are the best way to fight back against cultural stereotypes.

Jim Swift has seen firsthand the evolution of the city. He moved here in 1965 at age 17 and witnessed how the music scene brought together a diverse crowd at the now-defunct music venue Armadillo World Headquarters - with performers like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. He saw how the savings and loan industry boom fueled downtown growth in the 1980s and how the tech boom of the 1990s powered further growth and development that drew the ire of environmental groups.

"Through it all, a powerful sense of tolerance and acceptance coursed through the town’s veins," said Swift. "The city grew because people heard about this place, and what they heard sounded good."

But Swift pointed out that the city must continue to adapt and address affordability issues as ethnic groups and artists and creative types are priced out of their central neighborhoods. "I believe that without a vigorous and sustained campaign to infuse the city center with affordable housing options, the heart of Austin is destined to atrophy."

Swift recalled a TV report he did back in 1995 when the area’s population hit 1 million, and there was a quote from then-Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle in the piece that is just as relevant today: "We can’t build a wall around the city. There’s lots of us who would love to do that, but we can’t do it. So what we have to do is shore up our wall of the spirit so that people who come here get affected by the magic of this place."

Full Audio from the Event


Download this audio file (MP3)

April 2013 ENGAGE Wrap-Up

This month's ENGAGE breakfast looked at the growth and impact of the Hispanic population on Austin and Central Texas. Panelists discussed how this influx is far reaching in its influence on our community's economy, education, culture, and politics. Speakers included Perla Cavazos (Office of Texas State Senator Sylvia Garcia), Dr. Paul Cruz (Austin Independent School District), Mando Rayo (Cultural Strategies), and Geronimo Rodriguez (Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce). The panel was moderated by Sally Hernandez of KXAN-TV.

Panelists at the April 2013 ENGAGE breakfast

Below is the full podcast of the event, along with links to media coverage and resources from the discussion.

Audio Podcast

Download this audio file (MP3)

Subscribe to the Leadership Austin Podcast via iTunes

Media Coverage

• Impact News - Growing Hispanic population brings challenges, opportunity to Central Texas

List of Resources

• Austin Independent School District
• Cultural Strategies
• Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Office of Texas State Senator Sylvia Garcia

Our next ENGAGE breakfast will be Wednesday, May 1 when we will discuss housing in Central Texas. Click here for more details and ticket information.

We hope to see you there!

December 2012 ESSENTIAL Class Day Takeaways

Guest post from ESSENTIAL Class of 2013 participant David M. Williams, Ph.D. Dave is Founder and Improvement Advisor at TrueSimple Improvement.
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I moved to Austin in 1998. My sister lived here and made it easy to meet friends. We enjoyed sipping Mexican Martini’s at Cedar Door, watching live music at Liberty Lunch, and talking about our young lives as we were at the beginning of our careers. Everyone was young, educated (mostly UT), and the future was unknown, but bright. It was so Austin, or was it?

Among my friends, I was a little unusual. While they went off to work in non-profit offices, at the Capitol, or at young start ups, I hopped on an ambulance to serve as a paramedic in East Austin. My days and nights meant racing across city streets with lights and sirens, going from house to house, and transporting patients to the hospital. I saw the whole beautiful and sad spectrum of Austin, one person at a time. My experience of Austin was very much like the description a former democratic senator (not to be named) once described so eloquently as “Two Americas."

In September, our ESSENTIAL Class delved into U.S. Census data with City of Austin demographer Ryan Robinson and learned about the transformation of Austin as populations change and shift. It provided color to our own picture of Austin, which is sometimes only partially visible to us from where we live and work. December’s class day continued the discussion with a focus on diversity and inclusion. Here are a few of my impressions from the day.

Silent Beats Video
As part of a discussion led by Ashton Cumberbatch, Jr (ESSENTIAL 2002), VP of Advocacy and Community Relations for the Seton Healthcare Family, we were presented with the Princess Grace Award winning video “Silent Beats” - written and directed by John M. Chu and starring Antoine Grant. Watch the video below or on YouTube.

In this short, 5-minute video we watch a young black teen walking through a convenience store owned by a middle aged Asian man, and there is a white elderly woman customer present as well. As the young man walks through the store, images of stereotypes and biases pop up about the characters. None of which prove true in the end of the film.

For many, it was frustrating to feel or see these themes emerge. For example, the black youth as a person to fear. It also brought into focus how our biases or perspectives are rooted in our own experience, race, upbringing, etc., and how that may differ from the person sitting right next to you. The film and discussion that followed was a reminder of the journey and opportunity still ahead for change.

Building Trust
Sometimes the most powerful statements are those without words. Bobby Garcia (ESSENTIAL 1994), Director of Human Resources at the Seton Healthcare Family, facilitated an exercise that was new to many of us.

Bobby took us through an exercise where class members deeply and confidentially shared a series of their own life events that have shaped who they are as individuals, and that may have caused them to be discriminated against, or discriminate against others. We disclosed a great deal about ourselves, and it was powerful to see who shared your own experiences and who did not. Seeing very different people who shared common experiences - people you would have never imagined having been through such things - reminded us of our commonality. There were many emotional moments and big smiles throughout the exercise, and we sat down with a different perspective.

This is only a sample of the day’s activities. In each segment, participants broadened their learning about others, expanded their understanding of themselves, and realized common connections that were not readily apparent at breakfast.

As one man in my group said, “I feel like I know some of you better in this moment then I know some of my best friends.”

The day’s content and experience reminds us that we need to step out of ourselves, our norms, and our neighborhoods and discover all who are fellow Austinites. To realize that there are many differences worth understanding, but more in common worth embracing.

Thanks to the Leadership Austin team and the volunteer facilitators and coaches for a valuable day.

November 2012 ENGAGE Wrap-up

Earlier this week we held the second in our 2012-13 series of ENGAGE breakfasts at the Long Center. This month focused on Central Texas' growing veteran population and how our community is supporting these men and women as they return to civilian life. Panelists included Allen Bergeron (City of Austin Veterans Consultant), Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Kopser (United States Army and Chair and Professor of Military Science at The University of Texas at Austin), Steven Pullin (military veteran and advocate for the Heart of Texas Healthcare Network), and Texas State Senator Leticia Van de Putte (Chair of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations). The discussion was moderated by KXAN News Anchor Shannon Wolfson.

November 2012 ENGAGE in the Long Center Kodosky Lounge

Below is the full podcast of the event, along with links to media coverage and resources from the discussion.

Download this audio file (MP3)

Subscribe to the Leadership Austin Podcast via iTunes

Media Coverage

• Read a recap from Community Impact News

List of Resources

• White House Business Council's Guide to Hiring Veterans
• Central Texas Veterans Healthcare System
• New SE Austin VA Clinic Nearing Completion
• Texas Veterans Land Board
• Texas Veterans Commission Employer Services
• Texas Veterans Commission Entrepreneur Program
• TVC Fund for Veterans' Assistance

Our next ENGAGE breakfast will be Tuesday, December 4 when we will explore new and innovative models for philanthropy. Click here for more details and ticket information.

We hope to see you there!

October 2012 ESSENTIAL Class Day Takeaways

Guest post from ESSENTIAL Class of 2013 participant Kathy Green. Here Kathy reflects on the presentation on Austin's demographics by City Demographer Ryan Robinson, and the Economic Forecast for Central Texas provided by Jon Roberts of TIP Strategies, at the October 17 ESSENTIAL Class Day.
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On the screen in front of me - in bold colors and graphs - was a story I already knew. A story that gets replayed daily in our pantries and soup kitchen and the shelters we serve at the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB). On a daily basis, the population we see are mostly people of color and many families with children. And their numbers haven’t decreased since the Great Recession.

Hunger is the condition we treat at CAFB, and is a symptom of poverty - the chronic illness we face in Central Texas. In advocating for these neighbors, I often struggle with where our mission should lie at the food bank - are we here to simply feed the hungry, or are we here to end hunger? I would argue it is both.

As leaders in our community, our ESSENTIAL Class can affect both. The first is ensuring our neighbors have consistent access to healthy food - no matter in which color block on that map they live. Tackling the latter is much more challenging, but still doable.

Being a leader in Austin means doing what we can to ensure that families all across our city have the same opportunities, and their children have a positive future. Children have little choice in their family situation or environment, and the ramifications of growing up poor are grave. A low-income child is often a hungry child, a sick child, a truant child, and a delinquent child. The parents of these children love them as much as we love ours, but often have neither the time nor resources to change outcomes.

The human service agencies like ours across Austin do what we can to help change these outcomes, but we cannot do it alone. It will take the leadership of all of us - in resources (both financial and volunteer), in partnerships, and in political will - to make it happen. It means access to solid education and training so everyone can make a livable wage. It means quality healthcare, and yes, preventative healthcare measures such as safe and clean parks and soccer fields so our kids can run and play. It means a strong economy - all over the city. It means going outside our comfort zone to tackle the hard issues. It means recognizing that a city divided among income, race, and culture is destined to fail.

I am thrilled we have the opportunity.

Kathy Green is Senior Director of Advocacy and Public Policy at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas.

December 2011 Essential Class - A Day for Diversity and Inclusion

Guest post from Essential Class of 2012 participant Ruth Gardner-Loew. The December 2011 class day theme was "Diversity and Inclusion."
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December 14 was the third time since September that the Leadership Austin Essential Class of 2012 met for our monthly, all-day class. Each session had been inspiring and uplifting, but as I sat there and listened and learned and marveled at what was presented throughout the day, I felt deep gratitude and joy to be a part of it.

We were just a few weeks past Thanksgiving, and still a few weeks away from Christmas and the New Year - the perfect time for introspection and “next step” planning. This “Diversity and Inclusion” class day offered lessons that obliged each of us to take serious, personal stock of the meaning of those ideas. Ultimately, we saw that no matter how liberal and open minded we are, we still form stereotypes about people – especially those different from ourselves – and we observed how we interact with those who are “different” than us and our friends. The goal was to structure what we observed and learned into strengths that help us become better leaders.

Dr. Jean Latting and Stephanie Foy of Leading Consciously lead a workshop that helped us reflect on our personal leadership style and its effectiveness (or lack thereof), and gave concrete examples of how to bridge communication gaps. They helped us recognize how Dominance Dynamics work in society, and personalized it by separating the class into Dominants and Non-Dominants based on obvious characteristics like race, gender and religion. The differences between the experiences of Dominants and Non-Dominants becomes pretty obvious when you own being a part of a particular group, and when you own how you operate as a leader depending on whether your decisions are based on Dominate or Non-Dominate experiences. To be clear, most of us belong to many different groups and experience both roles, depending on the situation.

The exercise that intrigued me the most was “Perceptions of Power & Privilege.” Think about it:

• Dominants are presumed to be competent – Non-Dominants have to prove themselves again and again
• Dominants are more likely to find doors open to them – Non-Dominants are denied regular access to the opportunities Dominants take for granted
• Dominants assume their opinions and perspectives will be treated as normal, general and universally true – Non-Dominants have their opinions and perspectives labeled as “special interest

Even more intriguing was that Dominants are typically unaware of Dominance Dynamics, while Non-Dominants are acutely aware of Dominance Dynamics. Leading consciously, facilitating good communication between vastly different groups, and getting us out of our comfort zones to become stronger leaders was high on the agenda.

Classes are structured to provide food for the brain and for the body, and a day of learning wouldn’t be complete without healthy living guidelines. Paul Carrozza of RunTex gave us his tried-and-proven-successful approach to healthy living balanced with exercise and diet. Before offering expert advice on how to prepare for marathons, he equipped us for training for the Statesman Capitol 10K by offering each class member a pair of custom fitted jogging shoes and a 2012 Leadership Austin team, t-shirt. I love exercising, but I’ve never been a jogger, and Paul’s advice for first time runners or walkers to start out very gradually was welcome news.

H-E-B Dietician Kylie Bentley

Lunch was fun, because not only did H-E-B dietician Kylie Bentley plan the healthy, tasty menu that was presented, she also showed us how to prepare delicious, health-supporting holiday snacks like Tamale Sliders, Dark Chocolate Mint Covered Pretzels, and Berry Cheesecake Bites. Yummmm... now all I need to do is find time to cook!

Finally, communications specialist Barbara Miller showed us how to speak from the heart, and introduced a session in which Essential Class alumni guided small groups on an introspective journey designed to make us aware of how events that took place early in our lives marked us and helped shape who we are today. We were all surprised by how deeply we’ve been influenced by seemingly small, sometimes long forgotten incidents. Well done, and a very fitting close to a day that allowed us to look into the mirror and study ourselves with honesty and impunity, and to continue towards our goal of becoming stronger leaders who know how to bridge communication barriers.

Ruth Gardner-Loew is Executive Director at Atticus Circle and a Certified Feng Shui Consultant with Healthy Homes and Workplaces.