In this episode Melinda Briana Epler, Founder & CEO of Change Catalyst and Karen Catlin, CEO of Karen Catlin Consulting and author of Better Allies, discuss how we can each build empathy and create positive change for others by first understanding our own privilege.
Additional Resources
- Book: Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces by Karen Catlin
- “50 Potential Privileges in the Workplace” & “Workplace Privilege During a Pandemic” by Karen Catlin
- “A shocking number of women dropped out of the workforce last month” by Anneken Tappe
- “Women accounted for 100% of the 140,000 jobs shed by the U.S. economy in December” by Maria Aspan
- “About 275,000 women left workforce in January in ‘critical’ pandemic trend, experts say” by Daniella Silva and Leticia Miranda
- “How the ‘shecession’ will cause long-term harm for women in the US” by Amanda Holpuch
- Leading With Empathy & Allyship Episode 22: “Becoming A Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate With Jeannie Gainsburg”
This episode is sponsored by AppDynamics, builders of the world’s only full-stack Business Observability platform. Join their team to help businesses thrive by turning performance into profit. Learn more at www.appdynamics.com/company/careers
The live show is made accessible thanks to Interpreter-Now and White Coat Captioning.
[Image description: Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo with Change Catalyst logo, photos of Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with long red hair, and Karen Catlin, a White woman with short hair, and text reading “Episode 36: Understanding Privilege & Using It To Create Change”]
#AllyshipPodcast #ChangeCatalyst #Empathy #Allyship #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #WomensHistoryMonth #Privilege #InclusiveWorkplace
Quotes
- “When I first started understanding privilege…. I went to an Ivy League school. And so I realized that’s a source of privilege for myself. But when people were pointing that out – like you have new computer science degree from an Ivy League school – you can go into that meeting with so much confidence that people will listen to you…. I get benefits.”
- “Privilege is just a set of unearned benefits we get because we are part of some social groups…. I think that people are uncomfortable with it because we tend to get a little defensive when we hear our privilege pointed out.”
- “When we understand our privilege, it allows us to be empathetic, which is a part of allyship… and then to take action in support of people who don’t have all of the privileges we have. That’s really why it is so important to understand this. Step one in the allyship journey is to understand the privilege.”
Karen Catlin
CEO of Karen Catlin Consulting, Author of “Better Allies”
After spending 25 years building software products and serving as a vice president of engineering at Macromedia and Adobe, Karen Catlin witnessed a sharp decline in the number of women working in tech. Frustrated but galvanized, she knew it was time to switch gears.
Today, Karen is a leadership coach and a highly acclaimed author and speaker on inclusive workplaces. She is the author of three books: “”Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces,”” “”The Better Allies™ Approach to Hiring,” and “”Present! A Techie’s Guide to Public Speaking.””
Host: Melinda Briana Epler
Melinda Briana Epler has over 25 years of experience developing business innovation and inclusion strategies for startups, Fortune 500 companies, and global NGOs.
As CEO of Change Catalyst, Melinda currently works with the tech industry to solve diversity and inclusion together. Using her background in storytelling and large-scale culture change, she is a strategic advisor for tech companies, tech hubs, and governments around the world. She co-leads a series of global solutions-focused conferences called Tech Inclusion, where she has partnered with over 450 tech companies and community organizations and hosted 43 solutions-focused diversity and inclusion events around the world.
Previously, Melinda was a Marketing and Culture Executive and award-winning documentary filmmaker – her film and television work includes projects that exposed the AIDS crisis in South Africa, explored women’s rights in Turkey, and prepared communities for the effects of climate change. She has worked on several television shows, including NBC’s The West Wing.
Melinda is a TED speaker. She speaks, mentors and writes about diversity and inclusion in tech, allyship, social entrepreneurship, underrepresented entrepreneurs and investing. She has spoken on hundreds of stages around the world, including SXSW, Grace Hopper, Wisdom 2.0, the World Bank, Obama White House, Clinton Foundation, Black Enterprise, Google, Indeed, Capital One and McKinsey.
Watch Melinda’s TED Talk
Speaking Engagements
Change Catalyst Co-Founder Melinda Briana Epler has spoken across the globe in hundreds of venues and virtual events. Empathy, Allyship, Advocacy, Microaggressions, Inclusive Leadership, and Building Inclusive Teams are just some of the topics Melinda has spoken on. Let us know about your next speaking engagement needs! Melinda has also spoken on how to build organizational capacity to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, such as how to lead behavior change or how to build allies and advocates.
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