Brian McComak

We need to reframe representation, as representation is more than just checking a box.

At Hummingbird Humanity (an LGBTQ+ owned company), we believe putting people first is essential to the success of any business. Historically, workplace diversity conversation has focused on whether women and people of color are included in an organization and its leadership. While it’s an important part of the conversation, it’s only the beginning.

Representation is a holistic reality that meets and values people right where they are. During this presentation, we’ll look at the Four Lenses of Representation: People, Culture, Customers, and Community.

This presentation will highlight some current-day inequities when it comes to representing varied identities across different industries, such as the lack of Black (only 4%) and Brown (only 3%) post-secondary school professors (Time 2019).

We’ll also discuss the latest initiatives companies are taking to move the needle, like Lily’s Reverse Mentoring Program to increase LBGTQ+ representation at the executive level (Lily 2020).

This presentation will be a springboard for you to begin understanding representation and its value to your business, employees, and community.

Companies with gender diversity are 21% more profitable than those who lack it, 72% of employees will leave a workplace for another they deem more inclusive, and a study by Harvard found that customer satisfaction is tightly linked to company culture (McKinsey 2018).

As you review the concepts and the real-world examples for each Lens, remember that any given situation may require more than one viewpoint to understand it fully.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand the growing implication for companies as current day inequities will be amplified with the future projections for historically excluded groups
• Expand the view of representation through a 360 approach that review representation through the four lenses of employee, culture, customer and community
• Demonstrate statistical data on how commitment to the 4 lenses of representation delivers a return on investment, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and sustainability