My Teaching Philosophy

My goal as a teacher is to help people understand the foundations and pillars of Diversity and Inclusivity in the busines. Students will discover how Diversity & Inclusion can generate new ideas and ultimately have a positive impact on a company performance.  Students will learn to appreciate the importance of Diversity & Inclusion as if they lived the experience, such as I did.

In 1990, I was in my first management position in Boston, Massachusetts as the Berlin Wall came down in Europe. I worked in mergers and acquisitions for a US company and was chosen to move to Czechoslovakia to conclude deals for my company. Four weeks before my deployment to Czechoslovakia, I was called into the Company President's office and politely told that transferring me to Czechoslovakia was too dangerous for a woman. Despite being the most qualified candidate, I would not be sent. The company decided to send a male colleague of mine instead. This decision was my first taste of discrimination and sparked my initial passion for making the business world more diverse and inclusive. This soon became my goal as and educator. I want to help change discriminatory practices through teaching what Diversity & Inclusion means in business.

Over the next 25 years, as a CEO, I tried to change the practices in the companies I managed. In my classes I will help students learn how to strengthen  the continuing weak commercial practices around Diversity and Inclusivity that exist in many companies.

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I begin by helping students first identify unconscious biases within themselves before moving on to how to identify them in Diversity & Inclusivity programs.

My approach is like putting building blocks on top of each other with the top block being they must design an actual Diversity and Inclusion program. Each building block leads to the next.  I use active learning in each phase. This active learning may include having them list 10 of the closest friends and seeing if they surround themselves with Diversity or building a mind-map outlining the types of Diversity or debating the pros-cons of quotas.

Students  need to identify the challenges and opportunities that come with the implementation of a  D & I program.

My strengths as a teacher are I am a good communicator and  excellent public speaker.  I am a passionate about this subject that I believe it comes across in anything I do.  I am organized, every lesson is well prepared. I also know the subject and have lived its challenges as well as its opportunities. I believe that students experience what I have seen and lived in my class.

As I grow as an educator, I look forward to becoming even better at making each lesson count.  I want to use more backward design to help each lesson become more impactful I want my students to leave my course with the ability impact the world by implementing substantial Diversity and Inclusivity programs, which can help us all change the world, company by company.