How to Be a Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador

Using a proven three-part framework, this book shows how anyone—from a CEO to frontline employee—can play a pivotal role in creating a diverse and welcoming workplace.

Creating a diverse workplace needs to be an ongoing effort, not just the subject of occasional training. As Celeste Warren says, needed change won’t take place unless all employees feel that they have a role to play in creating the culture they would like to see in their organization.
 
Regardless of what position you hold, you have the ability to impact change and create a more inclusive environment. Anyone can commit to becoming an unofficial Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador in his or her organization. Warren offers a straightforward three-stage model:
 

Become aware of your strengths, weaknesses, and conscious and unconscious biases.

Take an inventory of your surroundings: what is getting in the way of there being an inclusive environment in your organization?

Develop a personal action plan.

 
Depending on your position, the actions you take can be as simple as consistently raising DEI-related issues in staff meetings or as far-reaching as leading an Employee Resource Group or developing a new hiring policy. In separate chapters, Warren offers specific advice for chief diversity and inclusion officers, C-suite leaders, first-line managers, human resources practitioners, and individual contributors. This book features examples, exercises, and practical tools that show you how to assess where your organization is at and develop a purpose and strategy that can make diversity a workplace reality.

Celeste Warren is vice president of the Global Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence at Merck. Prior to joining Merck in 1997, Warren worked for nine years in human resources at Kraft Foods and General Foods. She has been honored with many awards, including Black Enterprise’s Top Executives in Global Diversity and Inclusion, Savoy magazine’s Most Influential Women in Corporate America, Women’s eNews’s 21 Leaders for the 21st Century, and Diversity Woman magazine’s Elite100 List. She is also a member of CNBC’s Workforce Executive Council and World 50’s Inclusion and Diversity Impact Community.