Breaking Barriers
When discussing modern initiatives built to increase equity, it’s also very important to understand those who have done work to create this conversation. These individuals have boldly knocked down walls, smashed glass ceilings and innovatively and disruptively shifted the way people think about diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. Here are some thoughts and insights from three unique barrier breakers.
Moderator: Scharrell Jackson
International Keynote Speaker and High- Performance Leadership Coach
Ambitious, high-performing leaders looking for clarity, confidence and courage elevate to the highest level of success with Scharrell Jackson. She is a top-tier operational and financial executive with over 25 years of corporate experience who is authentic, intimate and powerful. As a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, leadership coach and DEI specialist, her transparent approach captivates her audience. She transforms leaders, shifting them to clarity, confidence and courage, unleashing personal greatness and high-level success.
Panelist Robert W. Brown
President, University of West Los Angeles
Robert Brown is the president of the University of West Los Angeles and its school of business and school of law. UWLA offers access to opportunities in higher education for those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. During Brown’s tenure at UWLA, he oversaw an overhaul of the university’s mode of providing quality legal and business education - effectively democratizing education.
Panelist: Carlos Salas
President, The Change Company
Carlos Salas serves as president of The Change Company CDFI, a financial services company focused on serving underbanked borrowers and communities across the U.S.; as CEO of Change Lending, LLC, its mortgage lending subsidiary; and as director of The Change Company, certain of its subsidiaries since August 2018. Previously, Salas served as chief executive officer and president of COR Clearing LLC (n/k/a Axos Clearing LLC, a subsidiary of Axos Financial Inc.). Salas received a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts from New To view or share York University.
On the continued importance of DEI awareness and the fight for inclusion:
Robert W. Brown: I hear this a lot at these events - we’re preaching to the choir. Look around you, everybody here, they all believe in . It’s what’s outside of this room that we really need to be concerned about. Because when you go outside of this room, you have to deal with an environment of exclusion. When you start trying to put these labels of inclusion and diversity on that, fighting that war out there, how willing are you to really take on that fight? It’s especially true in a big corporate environment, where there’s a constant grappling for power.
Scharrell Jackson: In order to ignite change, we have to be willing to have tough conversations. I do believe that corporate America has a responsibility to ignite change, but it starts individually with you. How hard is it to have a conversation with your child, your husband, your wife or your friend about something that is difficult and that you disagree with? Yet there’s an expectation of others to change, and make these major shifts.
On the tangible benefits of breaking barriers:
Carlos Salas: The way that we built our business is to look at the edge spaces and find value in them. In our case, we have created a very successful business around the premise that minority and low-income borrowers are attractive customers. For me, it’s basically being a critical thinker, because if you think about the ills that we were trying to mitigate - racism, sexism or other forms of discrimination, fundamentally what they all share is that they are stupid. People who embrace those worldviews are no match for you.
On being true to one’s authentic self while still activating change:
Brown: If we’re holding ourselves to being the best that we can be and we’re projecting that out, you’re going to find people that resonate with that. You can start those conversations by walking into the room, as a corporate lawyer, the world I started out in, I was always the only person of color in every room. One thing I led with was my competency. I wanted that to come out. I knew I was accepted when we would have this conversation at the break: “Oh, what school did you go to?” I was accepted into the club at this point. I wanted to be the best lawyer in the room, but I tried not to project that out in a competitive way. Rather, I let them know that I was willing to engage and talk frankly.
Salas: With respect to one’s own individual success, each person is their own accountant, and you have to decide what balance is appropriate for you. If there’s something that is so essential to your identity - you should do that. There may be adverse consequences, but that is the individual strategy. I think it’s very different when you talk about the same point of view from an institutional perspective. I think an institution, whether it’s a business or a club, has a different set of requirements. The easiest way to state them is to make sure there’s a sharp separation between what you require of people that are job- and performance-oriented and all the other factors that aren’t essential - an institution has a requirement to have broad latitude.
On keeping DEI in perspective for all kinds of people:
Jackson: People fundamentally are afraid. They’re not just afraid because you’re an African American woman in a male environment, they’re not afraid because you’re a white gay, or because they have a disability or because they were treated poorly as a child and don’t have any self-esteem. People are struggling with mental health issues. We need to approach individuals with a level of empathy and understanding, but we also have to understand that we’ve got to let our guard down and become approachable. And collectively, we can start having collaborative conversations and moving the needle forward, instead of fighting or taking a stand on something that is not going to create change.