Championing Diversity, Fostering Inclusion: An Interview With Rebecca Harris

International Women's Day (IWD) amplifies the voices of women, champions their accomplishments, and reaffirms a commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable future for all. In honor of IWD and Women’s History Month and in alignment with this year’s theme #InspireInclusion, we're shining a spotlight on Rebecca Harris, a Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practitioner. 

Meet Rebecca Harris, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Strategist

Rebecca is passionate about building inclusive spaces that fuel innovation and team success, where everyone feels that their differences are valued and that they belong. “I have always been interested in understanding and appreciating diversity,” said Harris. 

“Moving from the UK from a small, homogenous village to Southern California in elementary school gave me a real appreciation for the power of difference. I experienced being “other” as a kid at an American school with a British accent as a very positive thing. What I learned has fueled me to focus on the value of acknowledging, appreciating, and celebrating diversity and ensuring folks feel they are welcomed and included for the differences they bring because I have experienced the power of that firsthand.”

She has incorporated her personal experiences into fostering diversity and inclusion throughout her professional career. Read on to learn more about Rebecca and how she cultivates a safe space for all.

Q. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role.

A.  “As someone with a non-apparent disability, I’ve only really come to appreciate how that has impacted me and come to appreciate that experience in the last few years. On a professional level, early in my career, I worked in community development, where I learned a lot about the power of focusing on increasing representation and equity, particularly as it relates to housing, transportation, childcare services, and workforce development.

I started my DEI career in earnest when I got my first corporate job in 2011 and worked with our then head of DEI to put together the first women’s leadership conference for the organization. For over 10 years, I’ve worked to develop and support employee resource groups, build diversity and inclusion workforce strategies across tech, consulting, and biopharma. Typically that means working with companies to understand their strengths and challenges relative to workforce diversity and inclusion.”

Q. The International Women's Day 2024 campaign theme is 'Inspire Inclusion.’ How do you define inclusion in the workplace?

A. “There is a great quote by Vernā Myers that says, “Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance; equity is allowing you to choose the music; belonging is allowing you to rock out in your own way.

Diversity is a fact—it’s all around us. We each have different attributes and experiences that make up who we are. Inclusion is an intentional action—it’s what we each do to ensure that we are creating an environment where differences are acknowledged and valued.”

Q. What role does a DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) group play in fostering a more inclusive and equitable workplace culture? What does this mean to you in regard to this year’s #IWD theme?

A. “In the simplest form, DEI is the practice of empathy-building and perspective-taking and ensuring we are “leveling the playing field” so everyone has a chance to succeed. DEI is both an individual and organizational journey. As individuals, we are on a mission to ensure our everyday actions are inclusive. As an organization, we also need to ensure our practices, whether they relate to our employees or our customers, are inclusive and meet the needs of our people.

Internally, DEI efforts are often focused on a few different areas: workforce (ensuring a rich mix of diversity and equity in hiring, developing/promoting, and retaining employees) and workplace (policies and practices to ensure a culture of inclusion). 

Externally to organizations, DEI often includes the ‘J’ element, which stands for justice. This group looks to change social, economic, and political structures to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion in societal systems.”

Q. You mention that DEI is an ever-evolving journey–an act of self-awareness. How do you get comfortable speaking about something that may be uncomfortable? 

A. “I think it’s important, particularly as a DEI practitioner, to admit that you don’t know everything and to be vulnerable enough to put yourself in a place of learning. To be human is to have bias, and it’s important to acknowledge that. 

It’s also about living what you believe and finding ways to amplify voices that are not being heard/experiences that are not being seen. Being an ally means not talking over or for people but actually actively listening to and amplifying historically marginalized perspectives. When it comes to IWD, that means putting an intentional focus on not just the experiences of white women but women with different intersectional identities as they relate to race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and nationality, so you’re capturing the varying identities that make up the experience of being a woman and being mindful of existing structures of power and privilege.” 

Q. In what ways do you practice “learning, unlearning, and relearning”?

A. “Active listening, empathy, and emotional intelligence are important traits to build and it starts with developing your own self-awareness around your biases.

I try to intentionally connect with many people who are different from me, whether that be gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, or thinking style. Proximity matters and is a good way to understand and connect to people’s experiences that may be different from your own.

People often say ‘trust your gut’ when hiring or promoting people, but in DEI, I think you need to question your gut and understand whether your reactions/responses are coming from a place of bias. One of the most common biases that creep into our decision is the ‘like me’ bias - where we are naturally favoring people who remind us of ourselves. That can be problematic when it comes to decision-making. It’s important to stay humble, curious, and be open to having your worldview evolve. I also actively follow people in my field and do my own research. You need to connect with different communities to understand what’s important to them.”

Q. In addition to inspiring inclusion, IWD ‘24 is also centered on investing in women. Why is this crucial, and what role do businesses play? 

A. “Women make up 50% of our global population, and yet women represent roughly 1 in 4 C-suite leaders, and women of color just 1 in 16. Women also receive about 1.9% of VC funding. So we know that we’re not only missing out on a richness of perspectives, viewpoints, and experiences, but we’re also missing out on the economic contribution that a focus on gender parity could bring.

Businesses have economic and cultural power, so the examples they set have repercussions within society; they can spend their dollars with women-owned small suppliers; they can create women’s leadership programs to ensure advancement in their organization; and they can actively invest in girls' programs in fields where women are underrepresented so the future of the workforce is being formed with parity and inclusion in mind.”

Q. When investing in women, what’s the importance of allyship, especially for those in positions of leadership? 

A. “Allyship is critical because ‘if you can see it, you can be it’. We need more women in roles of leadership to mentor/sponsor and bring other women up the ladder. We also need more men to make space for women at the table.

As an example, how many panel discussions have you sat through that are all white men? Having one of those men think about who is missing in that conversation OR recommending a woman to speak on a panel is a micro-action of allyship that sends a strong message and also helps to distribute power more equitably.

We can support more women and girls through strong development programs, economic empowerment, healthcare, and schooling from a very early age. There are some fantastic girls and women-focused STEM organizations that are doing work in this space to help bring more women into fields like tech, where women are typically underrepresented.”

Q. Looking ahead, how can companies inspire inclusion in their branding and other HR efforts?

A. “Don’t be performative! Make sure that the actions you’re putting out there in the world/social media match what you are committed to internally. More and more employees are holding companies to account to be authentic and ‘put their money where their mouth is.’ 

Don’t just focus on diversity in your external-facing or customer branding if you have no diversity in your company leadership or board….it looks performative and feels tokenistic. Do the work internally to match what you’re putting out externally. Listen to your employees and the communities you serve to understand what’s important to them, and then take appropriate action. Your words should match your actions. 

Continue to speak out and recommit to the value of DEI - whether that’s through taking a stand on issues that are important to you, supporting historically marginalized groups through funding and dollars (eg, supporting women-owned businesses), standing up for legislation that actively champions diversity, signing on to UN Sustainable Development Goals, or actively encouraging affinity networks/employee resource groups and finding ways to acknowledge and celebrate diversity internally (eg, spotlighting and highlighting the contributions of women in your organization this IWD).”

Let’s Inspire Inclusion

Join Emily Carpenter, Director of Marketing and Chyna Inez Davis, Marketing Content Manager for an IG Live with Rebecca this Thursday at 1 PM EST. They’ll delve into this year's IWD theme #InspireInclusion and discuss how companies can infuse inclusion into their branding and HR practices.