How can we move from fearing equity to championing it?
In this episode of Women of Color Rise, I speak with Celeste Warren, former Vice President and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Merck and author of The Truth About Equity. With nearly three decades of experience, Celeste has been recognized by Black Enterprise’s “Top Executives in Global Diversity and Inclusion.”
Celeste’s father was the first black teacher and principal in western Pennsylvania. She shares how her “dinner table lessons” taught her that while obstacles are real, they are never an excuse to stop succeeding. She opens up about the internal struggle of stepping into a DEI role as a woman of color and how she learned to stop “putting her blackness to the back.”
She shares powerful lessons for rising leaders:
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The Rocks and the Fence. Equity isn’t about taking things away; it’s about providing the “rocks” needed to see over systemic fences while we work to tear those fences down.
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Boil Your Own Pot. You don’t have to save the world alone. Impact starts by influencing the two or three people immediately around you.
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Growth vs. Fixed Mindset. View opportunity as a bar graph that can rise infinitely, rather than a finite pie where one person’s gain is another’s loss.
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Embrace Your “Lock and Load” Energy. Learn to balance your drive with a “servant leadership” heart that nurtures and protects your team.
Celeste’s journey to global DEI leader is a wonderful model of authenticity and intentionality.
Get full show notes and more information here: