3 ways to advocate for a more inclusive workplace | Melinda Epler

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2018

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We're taught to believe that hard work and dedication will lead to success, but that's not always the case. Gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation are among the many factors that affect our chances, says writer and advocate Melinda Epler, and it's up to each of us to be allies for those who face discrimination. In this actionable talk, Epler shares three ways to support people who are underrepresented in the workplace. "There's no magic wand for correcting diversity and inclusion," she says. "Change happens one person at a time, one act at a time, one word at a time."

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This TED Talk features writer and advocate Melinda Epler recorded live at TED Salon Brightline Initiative 2018.
0:09.6	In 2013, I was an executive at an international engineering firm in San Francisco.
0:15.7	It was my dream job, a culmination of all the skills that I've acquired over the years.
0:23.6	Storytelling, social impact, behavior change. I was the head of marketing and culture,
0:25.6	and I worked with the nation's largest healthcare systems,
0:28.6	using technology and culture change
0:30.6	to radically reduce their energy and water use
0:33.6	and to improve their social impact.
0:35.6	I was creating real change in the world.
0:38.3	And it was the worst professional experience of my life.
0:45.3	I hit the glass ceiling hard.
0:47.3	It hurt like hell.
0:51.3	While there were bigger issues,
0:52.3	most of what happened were little behaviors and patterns
0:57.2	that slowly chipped away at my ability to do my work well.
1:01.2	They ate away at my confidence, my leadership,
1:04.0	my capacity to innovate.
1:06.3	For example, my first presentation at the company.
1:09.3	I walk up to the front of the room to give a presentation
1:11.6	on the strategy that I believe is right for the company,
1:14.6	the one they hired me to create,
1:16.6	and I look around the room at my fellow executives,
	...

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