Join Change Catalyst Founder & CEO Melinda Briana Epler with Rachel Williams, Head of Equity, Inclusion & Diversity at X – the moonshot factory to discuss Creating Structural Change in the Workplace.
Learn more about Rachel on her website: www.rachelannwilliams.com/
Additional resources:
- Equity 101: Learn the basics of Startup Employee Stock Options
- Suggested Reading: There Are Actually 3 Types of Empathy. Here’s How They Differ–and How You Can Develop Them All
- Learn from HRC President Alphonso David on the Hierarchy of Identities
- “Continuing DEI Work During a Pandemic” with Melinda Briana Epler, Rachel Williams, Ulysses Smith and Jennifer Brown at Tech Inclusion Global Summit 2020
- “Keeping It 100: What’s Next with Culture & Inclusion in Tech?” with Melinda Briana Epler, Rachel Williams, Aubrey Blanche, and Candice Morgan at Tech Inclusion 2019
Rachel Williams
Head of EID at X-The Moonshot Factory
Rachel Williams is a Bay Area native with more than 20 years of experience in Silicon Valley. Her experience spans human resources – recruiting, strategic employee relations and engagement, organizational change, culture & learning development, inclusion programming and implementation. Rachel is currently the Head of Equity Inclusion & Diversity Talent Acquisition for X – the moonshot factory. X creates novel technology solutions to address the world’s most challenging problems.
Prior to X, Rachel held roles as the first Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at StubHub where she focused her efforts on bringing equity to the company’s workforce, workplace and marketplace to drive inclusion.
Rachel is passionate about developing unique programming to help build a culture of openness and belonging that embraces diversity as a dimension of a company’s overall talent strategy. Prior to StubHub, Rachel was the first Head of Diversity & Inclusion and Corporate Recruiting at Yelp. Building Yelp’s diversity initiatives from the ground up to accelerate action, which led to a 10 percent increase in women in technical roles, as well as the creation of numerous employee resource and affinity groups that had more than 75 percent employee participation, among other accomplishments.
In addition to her roles within various corporations, Rachel lends her time to advise organizations dedicated to the improvement of diversity, equity and inclusion. As an early advisor to Diversity Advocates, a Kapor Capital empowered group that seeks to advance inclusion by providing resources, knowledge, and network to do pioneering work. As an Advisor to Village Capital, Rachel met with several founders of color to help with strategy and provide impactful feedback.
Rachel has spoken on her work and thought leadership at numerous conferences and universities like: Tech Inclusion Conference, SXSW, the White House, North Carolina A&T, Harvard Business School, Stanford Business School, Northwestern Kellogg School of Management and MIT Sloan. Rachel graduated from UC Berkeley (Go Bears!) and enjoys spending time with her more than 300 family members whenever she can.
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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.
Testimonials
The show shaped my scope of reasoning on the dynamics in the corporate world, brand building, harmony across board with team mates. Your series has helped me feel less alone and less daunted by the challenges I face as a leader at a company that is used to moving fast with decisions and making swift progress across the board. I so earnestly want to grow and deepen my perspective when it comes to diversity and allyship; it’s not always clear how to do it. This series has felt like a path I can follow and revisit and draw strength and insight from. Thank you.
This show has given me clear opportunities to learn in the midst of 2020’s numerous social and personal challenges, including engaging remote content. I’ve learned new terms, heard new voices, diversified my interests and internalized personal narratives that have inspired me to get more active.
I watched many of your live shows in 2020, and I learned something from every discussion. They were inspiring on many levels. Early on during the pandemic (especially), the show also provided me with a sense of community that I was sorely needing. Thank you.
