Changing faces and facades is simple, compared to changing mindsets and behavior, according to keynote speaker Trevor Wilson, a diversity consultant to dozens of organizations nationally and internationally in private and public sectors. Wilson then went on to distinguish equity from equality, two terms many people use synonymously. The distinction is crucial, though. When we talk about treating people the same, we ignore their differences. This is the management strategy that many people were brought up with.
Equity is about treating people fairly.
When you treat people fairly, you are acknowledging the differences. Half Indian and half black, born in England but reared as a Jamaican with Jamaican language and culture, Wilson said diversity issues cropped up early in his life when his family immigrated to Canada. The way I got to do this work has very little to do with my academic or occupational background and much more to do with the fact that a lot of these issues I have lived. Managing diversity successfully, he concluded, is a powerful weapon. The diversity initiative's new logo also debuted at the program.