Widen Your Lens

You're the first African-American CEO of the YMCA. You grew up in South Philadelphia. You grew up in the '60s. You saw what happened in the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, and now we have Black Lives Matter, we have the demonstrations against anti Asian-American violence. How would you define diversity, and what role do these experiences and events play in your understanding of diversity?

The issues that happened as a result of the George Floyd issues and some of the API issues that have come out recently touch the soul of my heart, for me. I grew up, as you know, in the '60s, and I can remember watching the riots taking place, not only in Philadelphia but across this country. And when those things happened over the last year, frustration, anger, all those things, emotions came up, filled me up, because I kept saying, "How long? How long does it take for us to make significant change in this country?" But I was also hopeful, because what I saw on the streets was not just Black folks. It was a rainbow coalition, particularly young folks, which excited me because it gave me hope for change.

How would I describe diversity? I think it's absolutely recognizing that we all come from different perspectives, and our ability to listen and understand that those different perspectives makes us better. Respect those perspectives, because they can make us all better. So that's what I've seen diversity is. It's not just ethnicity, it's more about thought, perspective, and where people's experience come from that makes organizations better, and we all would be better for it if we're able to do that. But I think there are some people who fear it because they're looking at it through a very small lens.