Michael's latest book, Koshersoul, was named the Jewish book of 2022 by the Jewish Book Council.
Topic: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Nadine Naber, PhD
It’s Complicated: Women’s History
Dr. Naber understands what happens when we celebrate women’s history as if all women are the same. We ignore the experiences of women of color and their diverse experiences, and we misunderstand relevant and necessary history that informs our world and workplace. For example, many people are unaware that women’s suffrage did not include all women; Black and indigenous women were excluded from voting rights. Through the inspiring stories of diverse women of color trailblazers–in sports, pop culture, government, and medicine, Dr. Naber will help audiences understand how women of color have persevered through racism and sexism in order to thrive and succeed. Audiences will better understand how to honor women’s diverse histories, and how to fully recognize all of the women around us in our daily lives.
Arab Americans: Beyond Invisibility and Stereotypes
Discussions about diversity rarely address the growing U.S. Arab American community. Yet Dr. Naber knows how misunderstandings and racial stereotypes about Arab Americans matter and have grave consequences in the real world and the workplace. In this talk, audiences will learn about Arab Americans beyond common perceptions of oppressed women, belly dancers, rich oil sheikhs, and terrorists. They will gain tools for understanding Arab American cultures in the real world, beyond stereotypes. She will help them see Arab Americans as individuals from 22 countries that span northern Africa to western Asia with many faiths and racial/ethnic identities. She also helps them recognize the Arab Americans all around us, from our neighbors and co-workers to to trailblazers like Apple founder Steve Jobs and actress Salma Hayek. Participants will leave this talk having shifted what they notice and remember about Arab Americans while growing a sense of belonging for all while preventing inequity.
“Nadine Naber is simply riveting! She is one of the most fascinating and innovative thinkers. She offers ingenious solutions to better understanding our world and the dilemmas we face. Nadine is such a brilliant engaging and dynamic speaker; you will not be the same person after hearing her speak—and the world and you will be better as a result.”
– Clarissa Rojas – Professor, Latino Studies, University of California Davis
“Dr. Naber’s was a key speaker at our 10 year anniversary event. I’ve also seen her speak at other educational and community events. She has a wealth of knowledge and a great presence. She breaks down information and makes it relevant so that it speaks directly to the audience she’s presenting to.”
– Chris Lymbertos – Associate Director, Center for Media Justice
With more than two decades of studying and leading movements to support diverse people around the world, Dr. Nadine Naber incorporates deep knowledge found in academic theory and translates it into action to support people of color in the workplace and in our communities.
Dr. Naber is an award winning Professor in the Gender and Women’s Studies Program and the Global Asian Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Her dedication to these fields has led to major awards including the American Studies Association’s 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award [The Oscars of academia!), the YWSA’s Y-Women’s Leadership Award, and the Silver Circle Teaching Award.
She is also the author/co-author of five books on race and gender, lead author of the 2023 report Beyond Erasure and Profiling: Cultivating Strong and Vibrant Arab American Communities, and serves as an expert author for the United Nations. She co-founded MAMAS, supporting mothers of color survive and thrive, and is the founder of Liberate Your Research, a highly sought after program that empowers diverse academic researchers to learn to write fully and authentically with the wisdom of their ancestors behind them.
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Candace Doby
Create A Courage-Ready Culture
What could your organization accomplish with a workplace culture that duly equips and rightly supports team members to take worthwhile risks and perform to their potential? A lot — including more innovation, higher employee engagement and increased productivity. In this presentation, speaker and coach Candace Doby shows leaders how to create a Courage-Ready Culture™ where everyone can contribute and own their brilliance.
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
- Follow the courage process its team members go through to prepare themselves to own their brilliance at work.
- Identify key opportunities within that process to deliberately engage and support their teams in taking worthwhile risks.
- Apply key strategies to those opportunities that, when repeated, start to create a culture where employees are ready, willing and able to courageously speak up, step up and show up.
Courage at Work: How to take more risks and own your brilliance
An organization’s ability to reach its highest level of excellence comes down to one thing: its people — courageously owning their brilliance, in both typical and transitional times. But how do you get them to speak up with divergent ideas, show up with authenticity and step up with confidence when failure and judgment loom as potential outcomes? In this leadership development presentation, speaker and coach Candace Doby blends storytelling and research to take participants through a process for how to manage fear, activate personal courage and take worthwhile risks — so they can unleash their potential and make a greater impact on their organization.
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
- Identify three key components in the development of courage that will eliminate the frustrating feeling of not knowing where to start when facing a new challenge.
- Convert those components into a process that prepares them to evaluate risks from insight, instead of insecurity.
- Leverage that process when opportunities arise for them to step outside of their comfort zone and demonstrate their brilliance.
The Courage To Own Your Brilliance: DEI In The Workplace
It takes a lot of courage to thrive in a world where you are challenged, questioned, and/or dealing with daily microaggressions as a person of color. In this talk, Candace shares stories of DEI + belonging through the lens of courage. She offers advice about how to conjure your courage to more fully embody your own brilliance — to lay claim to your uniqueness, skills, and experiences — to support the creation of space for DEI+Belonging initiatives to take root in organizations. This talk is ideal for corporate ERGs as well as youth (schools/colleges/organizations) and is ideal for Black History Month, too.
Calling On Courage: What Black History Can Teach Us About Taking More Worthwhile Risks At Work
What stops us from taking worthwhile risks in the workplace — risks like having hard conversations about diversity and inclusion, showing up authentically for ourselves and our teams, and challenging old systems that do not serve new workplace realities? The answer centers on courage. Speaker and coach Candace Doby leverages stories of incredible courage from leaders in black history to show participants how to conjure their own to speak up, step up and show up at work.
“Our organization was looking for an energetic and engaging speaker to motivate our attendees in their roles as advocates. We were incredibly fortunate to find Candace Doby to give the keynote during our annual Policy Forum in Washington D.C. She presented with a fantastic energy. Her engaging style is also approachable and down-to-earth, allowing attendees to connect to her message and see themselves within it.”
–Ashlie White, Chief Programs Officer – Amputee Coalition
“Candace spoke for us at our council conference, kicking off our main event which had about 1100 attendees. Having her speak really set the tone and filled everyone with excitement as we went into the week! Her message was well-delivered, inspirational and she tailored it to fit our attendees. She was professional, fun and relatable. I highly recommend Candace as a keynote speaker!”
– Cara Dollinger, League of SE Credit Unions
Featured on MSNBC and NPR, Candace Doby is a speaker, author, and coach who works with companies and organizations to create a culture of courage where employees perform at their highest potential.
Candace combines a decade of research on courage with her experiences leading marketing teams at Chipotle and traveling the world solo. This unique combination equips her with the implementable strategies she has shared with thousands of leaders to help them courageously speak up, step up and show up in the workplace.
Candace is known for delivering those strategies with a blend of truth, love and a bit of shade to match the realness of courage, which prompts clients to refer to her in-person and virtual presence as “captivating”. She has spoken with thousands of employees at organizations such as the The Timken Company, The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transportation Authority, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and The American Camp Association.
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Deirdre Cooper Owens, PhD
Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens is an award winning author and a historian most known for her writings on slavery and the history of reproductive medicine. She is also widely known for capturing the history of Harriet Tubman as a disabled woman and how it relates to DEI.
Desiree Adaway
Organizational Reckonings: Past, Present, And Future
As organizations work to challenge, address, and repair racial inequities in the present, we need to know the truth of our past.
The truth is that American industry was built on genocide and chattel slavery. It’s not surprising that the concept of middle management and many accounting practices were developed on slave plantations. One year, ten years, of anti-racism work won’t reverse 400 years of colonization and white supremacy. But a long-term, resourced, intentional commitment can transform our organizations into places rooted in transparency and trust, where People of Color experience true equity, power, and inclusion.
During this talk, we’ll explore our history, its impact on today, and look at ways organizations have successfully pushed back on the norms of white supremacy.
The History Of The Racial Sleep Gap & Creating Communities Of Care
Did you know that nearly 1/2 of of all Black, multiracial, and Native Hawaiians and Pacific islanders get fewer then 7 hours of sleep every night? And that the decrease in duration and quality of sleep leads to poor health outcomes?The history of racial inequities in rest and health pushes us to ask: What is the cost on our bodies and minds as we live with White Supremacy? We’ll also explore the Praxis of Liberation and what it takes to develop communities of care to heal.
Bipoc Resiliency
What would it look like to be a person of color in the US and flourish? To be safe and to thrive in our workplaces, in our communities. To thrive in our own bodies and minds, without the constant need to contort and conform? To move beyond the relentless pressures placed on us. This is a moment to push what we’ve been told is possible, to deepen our analysis and imagination of what justice, equity, and liberation can look like. To invest even more deeply in each other. This workshop will create space for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to be in conversation about racial equity, the pressures of dominant cultural norms, tools for resiliency, and building collective power.
A Critical Analysis Of Power: The Relationship Between Racial Equity And Truth
We’ll name different types of power that operate in the workplace and explore exactly what white dominant culture is, and how it impacts organizational culture, relationships, policies, and processes. We’ll look at what behaviors and practices reinforce dominant culture and share ways we can work to mitigate it.
Black Joy: Rest And Resilience
In this talk, we’ll talk about White Dominant organizational culture, the problem with expectations of constant resilience from BIPOC, and rest as a pathway to healing.
Black Joy: Waging Love And Claiming Joy
Are we treating ourselves with enough joy, tenderness, and peace? What practices are we engendering and developing in the community to support a love ethic and claim joy? In this talk, we’ll look at a framework for lifelong learning, pleasure, and Joy as resistance.
Sizzle Reel
At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Spring 2023
“Desiree’s teaching and mentorship have radically enhanced our leadership, focus and vision for our work at Be Nourished. Her wisdom and skillful presence has touched every layer of our business, imbuing each with a renewed depth of focus on equity and inclusion. Desiree leads with the kind of love that is fierce, true, and holds you to your wisest self. She embodies the kind of leadership that holds space for growth and depth of change. Working with Desiree will solidify your vision for a new world so you can stay in process with that vision for a lifetime.”
– Hilary Kinavey & Dana Sturtevant, Co-Creators of Body Trust®
“Desiree Adaway is a powerful doula for this lifelong process of inquiry and praxis. She takes participants down a sometimes painful and always revelatory path towards a deeper and more personal understanding of freedom, inclusion, access, race, and equity.”
– Tucson, AZ
“Desiree Adaway is a gifted coach and mentor.
I appreciate Desiree’s extensive wisdom, her direct, no-bullshit style of communication and her huge heart. With her guidance, I have not only developed and enhanced my leadership and communication skills but I have been able to gracefully navigate my transition out of direct leadership of the organization I founded and move into an emerging new role related to that work.”
– Amy Mandel, Founder and Funder, Tzedek Social Justice Fund
“Desiree brings compassionate rigor. She tells the truth about what she sees. Desiree challenges us to think deeply about what real equity looks like, and in the process, we live into our values and amplify our impact.”
– Danielle Keiser, Exec. Dir. and Founder, Menstrual Health Hub
“As an organization with a lot of energy behind DEI, but without much experience, Desiree Adaway has helped us navigate several important junctures on our still emerging journey. I’ve grown as a person and professional because of our partnership.”
– Carrie Meyer, Assistant Professor, Head of Special Collections and Archives, Leon S. McGoogan Health Sciences Library, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Desiree is a consultant, trainer, coach and speaker building resilient, equitable, and inclusive organizations. Desiree is the person who says the “thing”, who runs towards difficult conversations. She is an expert at teaching others how to handle complex, charged conversations (particularly around identity and power) with grace, assertiveness, and transparency.
Desiree has over 20 years of experience creating, leading and managing international, multicultural teams through major organizational changes in over 40 countries. As the Senior Director of Mobilization for Habitat for Humanity, she was responsible for planning the strategy and training for hundreds of membership organizations, totaling more than 50,000 members. She was responsible for the overall strategy and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) plans for 1,600 US affiliates and one million volunteers globally.
Her keynotes have a mix of thought-provoking content presented with humor and wit. She makes a point to create a safe space for growth. Desiree is known by colleagues, peers, and partners as being great at open, honest, and productive conversations. She is not afraid of addressing anything that gets in the way of great work. Her style is positive, approachable, engaging, service-oriented, and audience-centered.
Aman Ali
Creating Inclusive Spaces At Work (for virtual or in person teams)
As a person of color, Aman deeply understands the importance of creating safe and inclusive spaces for diverse people what true allyship looks like. In this talk, Aman uses storytelling to build trust and to remind us of how necessary DEI is in the workplace and what simple steps companies can take to make all people feel heard and seen.
Muslim In The Next Cube (for virtual or in person teams)
If you’ve ever wondered what happens when that Muslim colleague of yours slips out to pray, or what that unique food s/he is heating up in the microwave is, or why your colleague may avoid shaking hands with the opposite sex, you’ll be in for some answers! In true Aman Ali style, this is a fun and lighthearted way for human resources, employees and teams to imagine creating a welcoming and respectful environment for the Muslim employees in your office.Ask Me Anything – I’m Muslim!
Aman Ali was raised in Ohio and as he describes, he “was the only brown kid” in his school. As a result, he has spent his lifetime explaining his Muslim faith to others and has learned to do so with sensitivity, humor, and an open heart. There are NO questions that he won’t field as he has likely answered them before! If you wonder who Muslims worship, what it is like to fast at Ramadan, what happens at the mosque, how dating works, why some Muslims don’t touch alcohol and some do, why Muslims come from many different ethnic backgrounds, how praying in a language he doesn’t speak fluently is important, and why Mecca is a goal for Muslims, THIS presentation is for you! Through storytelling and humor, Aman presents a crash course in Islam 101 (in a playful way) and then fields questions.
Stand Up Comedy
Aman is a journalist by day, but a stand up comedian almost any other hour of the day! He is a superb storyteller and his humor crosses all faith, ethnic and age groups. His “funny bone” has been featured on HBO and in countless comedy venues around the world.
Aman Ali is an award winning storyteller in New York City and one of the most popular social media personalities in the Muslim community today. His passionate and animated tales he regularly posts to Facebook continue to go viral by the thousands daily. In 2015, he was named by YouTube as a “Content Creator to Watch” and in 2016 he was invited guest at Eid Al-Fitr at the White House.
Aman is also one of the only young American Muslims in the public spotlight today. He’s made appearances on dozens of media outlets such as the New York Times, CNN, HBO, BBC, and NPR to talk about the shenanigans of growing up as a Muslim in America. He has presented at Google, YouTube, The Newseum, National Association for Campus Activities (NACA), Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities (APCA), Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Film Institute, US State Department (and at 15+ U.S. Embassies around the world), The United Nations, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Good Pitch USA.
Aman has performed in 27+ countries and all 50 states to crowds of all ages, cultures and religions by bringing people together with his heartfelt stories. He was dubbed as one of the top newsmakers of 2010 by CNN for his project 30 Mosques in 30 Days – a 25,000 mile road trip he took driving to all 50 states in the U.S. with the mission of telling groundbreaking stories of Muslim Americans.
Aman’s skill in painting pictures with his words comes from his strong journalism background. Ali spent almost 10 years traveling the country as a crime and politics reporter for several news outlets including USA Today, Reuters, Yahoo News and CNN.
In his latest creative venture, Aman has served as the co-director of the documentary “Two Gods” about a group of Muslim morticians trying to stop gang violence in Newark, New Jersey.
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