Editor’s note: Steve S. Rao is a Council Member At Large and Former Mayor Pro Tem for the Town of Morrisville and an Opinion Writer for WRAL Tech Wire. He served on the Board of the New American Economy, now the American Immigration Council, and on the NC League of Municipalities Race and Equity Task Force. He is a regular contributor to WRAL TechWire.
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RALEIGH – This week, I attend the Raleigh Chamber Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Conference at the Raleigh Chamber Convention Center.
Although my time at the Summit was limited, I left the conference motivated and inspired to share with my colleagues across the region and state, that DEI policies, can bring economic benefits, and unite many of us during very divisive and turbulent times.
The interactive workshop on DEI and Data validated for me how companies and organizations can collect and utilize DEI data to gain insight into where more work can be done to help them have more diverse workforces. In a data economy, I see great opportunities for companies, local and state governments, to leverage innovation in data and analytics, i.e. smart technologies to make great strides in these efforts.
Steve Rao
During the lunch session, speakers and panelists continued to inspire attendees, including myself, on how much more work we need to do to address systemic racial bias in the workplace, and discrimination against anyone due to their gender, race and sexual orientation. The LGBTQ panel, was also a real eye opener to me on how staying silent on these issues in the workplace can hinder productivity and successful growth of companies.
Danye Perry from the Raleigh Chamber reminded us that if we had effective DEI policies in place, we could add trillions of dollars to our economy.
An eye opener: Disabilities
Finally, the last session I attended on disabilities in the workplace, really opened my eyes.
I was very moved by the panelists, a number of them with disabilities, who addressed how companies and organizations, can often have built in biases in their recruitment, retention and hiring practices, along with advancement within the organization. For some reason, I could not stop thinking of my family friend, John Chambers, who, as a dyslexic, was able to lead a multibillion dollar company, Cisco Systems, and transformed the networking world alongside Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and other Tech icons.
Although July 26th was National Disabilities and Independence Day, (the day the ADA Act was signed into law) I was concerned that even as an elected official on a City Council, addressing the needs of residents with disabilities never seems to be a high priority.
The ways we design our buildings, plan for our cities and towns, and the services we provide our residents should also reflect more the needs of this community and we need to ensure that they can have the opportunity to live as productive lives as possible.
My takeaways from the disability panel was that we must do more to raise awareness for this common and pertinent subject It took years of struggle for people with disabilities to have the rights they have today. This day is to commemorate many people with disabilities are still being discriminated against because of their disability.
I thank Dr. Tori Staton, the Raleigh Chamber Staff, and the sponsors for an enlightening and informative day on the work we need to continue in this area.
