Moving the Needle : Visible Change for Invisible Minorities
Published on May 26th 2022
TAIQ had the pleasure of hosting its second panel discussion moderated by Co-Founder Betty Ng, Todd Sears, Soon Mee Kim and Marlon Young to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Pride Month.
On May 18th , TAIQ hosted our third event in a series of panel discussions. We invited three thought leaders and trailblazers to discuss their perspectives and experiences related to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB).
They shared perspectives and solutions related to "Invisible Minorities".
" The number one reason the LGBTQ+ community still doesn't come out at work is that we don't want to make the people around us uncomfortable. It is the idea that we have to change to fit in with everybody around us vs changing the culture so that we're actually included."
"1% of the U.S population is in a wheelchair, including injuries about 5 to 7%. But who uses sidewalk cutouts? Everybody. The opportunity for diversity is the same. The idea that you're taking from the margin to impact the whole is an amazing opportunity. "
-Todd Sears, Founder and CEO of Out Leadership
" I think about the power of words. Were are not minor, if we look globally at those who are of Asian descent we are not minor, we are 60% of the globe."
" I think there is something very beautiful about the collectivist mindset. We are often creating space for others. It may be a different type of leadership but no less leaderly, no less important. I think this is what diversity is: when we can be all of who we are.”
-Soon Mee Kim, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Officer for Omnicom Public Relations Group
"Why should we have to take space from a small box? The circle has to be a bigger circle for all of us to participate."
"There is a tendency to aggregate data and say "We've made progress " as opposed to looking at specific issues. Averages are very deceptive. There are a lot of groups that are not moving up and not progressing."
-Marlon Young, Former CEO of HSBC Private
Bank Americas and Co-Founder of TAIQ
"We need to change the definition of what leadership looks like."
"As " Invisible Minorities", we must not forget the power of storytelling. To be more visible we need to put our stories out there. Change is driven by empathy and relatability. Personalizing things makes them more tangible."
-Betty Ng, Co-founder of TAIQ and CEO of Inspiring Diversity