“LGBTQ+ folks aren’t some hypothetical person in your audience that you need to pander to,” says Raquel Willis. “Your company actually has these folks internally. So there’s a shift in culture that needs to be happening.”
In inspiring talks for Pride, Black History Month, DEI events, and much more, Raquel draws on her singular experience—encapsulated in her forthcoming memoir, The Risk It Takes to Bloom—to show how we can achieve real belonging in the workplace for everyone. She explains what she calls “the three C’s” of real DEI: commitment, culture, and content (and a caveat). She demonstrates why you need to develop a company culture of real inclusion and solidarity, and shows you practical ways to ensure everyone at your organization can be their true self and do their best work.
This trailblazing Black trans activist grew up in the South, in a Catholic family. Over the course of her groundbreaking career, she’s become a crucial voice in the conversation around the intersections of gender and race and the fight for true diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition to her positions at the Ms. Foundation and Out Magazine, she was the national organizer for the Transgender Law Center and has contributed to several anthologies including Ibram X. Kendi’s Four Hundred Souls.
“I want people to walk away with a curiosity about how the world could be better,” Raquel tells Lavin.
Watch an exclusive Lavin interview with Raquel, where she explains how we can use our different interests as a “painter’s palette” in our fight for equity.
