Clearing Paths to Opportunity For All

By Ed Madden and Thyra Austin

As our communities become more diverse and as globalization begins to impact business at every level, corporate and community leaders are realizing the importance of diversity management and promotion. The Diversity Leadership Academy, which began with an inaugural class in Columbia this fall, promises to help shape discussions about diversity in the Midlands.

Sponsored by the Riley Institute at Furman University, the Diversity Leadership Academy (DLA) is a five-month training program that encourages community leaders to consider the challenges and opportunities presented by many elements of diversity. The program was developed by the Riley Institute in partnership with the Atlanta-based American Institute for Managing Diversity. Corporate sponsors include Michelin North America, Wachovia, the South Carolina Research Authority, and Coca-Cola.

The program began in Greenville in the fall of 2003 with the Upstate DLA, followed by the Low-country DLA in Charleston in spring 2006. The first Midlands DLA began with an orientation in August. The program includes six full class days in the months of September thru December, along with small group workshops and projects. The program is facilitated by Juan Johnson, a former vice president of Coca-Cola and president of Juan Johnson Consulting and Facilitation. The program is designed to develop leadership skills and competencies for addressing issues of diversity. Discussion often centers on actual case studies from workplace or community situations. Course work also includes group projects, in which participants are charged with applying the ideas and skills learned in real diversity challenges in the Midlands. We are excited to be part of the inaugural Midlands DLA class, which includes public officials, community and non-profit leaders, attorneys, corporate executives, and educators.

The DLA program challenges us to think in new ways about diversity in the workplace and in our communities. It spans the real range of diversity, not simply the top-of-mind categories of racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual orientation, but also the range of diversity impacted by such variables as physical ability, religion, and cultural background. Furthermore, the DLA program pushes participants to move beyond traditional ways of thinking about diversity, such as affirmative action influenced attitudes about representation and multicultural thinking related to tolerance and understanding. Instead, we are encouraged to evolve toward a more strategic focus on diversity management, in which representation and understanding become part of a more integrated focus on the culture. We are asked to question what it is about our organizational cultures that may not allow all participants to bring their best and fullest talents to an organization and its mission. The program asks us to think hard about ways to create workplace and community environments in which everyone can live up to his or her fullest potential.

Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas, founder of the American Institute for Managing Diversity, defines diversity as the differences, similarities, and related tensions that exist in any mixture. This program provides us with tools to effectively manage these issues toward our common missions and goals. The DLA has had tremendous success in the Upstate and Low-country due to recognition of the importance of this issue by the leaders in the business, non-profit, and civic sectors. We are charged in the Midlands to keep the momentum going through our participation this year and that of future classes of the Midlands DLA.

The Diversity Leadership Academy (DLA) is designed to develop leadership skills and competencies for addressing issues of diversity.

Dr. Madden is an associate professor of English at the University of South Carolina.

Austin is human resources manager at Lamson & Sessions