DIVERSIFY Virtual Summit is our Chambers signature DEI event highlighting the culturally diverse businesses in our area and best practices on growing diversity, equity and inclusion across the region. The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce continues its commitment to creating a business community that includes everyone. A portion of this mission is accomplished by bringing keynote speakers to our annual summit and discussing how inclusive businesses lead to regional economic growth.
The dual crises of COVID-19 and the unrest that swept our country, last year, put a spotlight on the high cost of racial and economic inequality. The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce continues its commitment to creating a business community that includes everyone. Diversify Virtual Summit was hosted on June 18, highlighting diversity, equity and inclusion in the 21st century workplace. Diversify featured breakout sessions led by industry professionals and a keynote presentation by Rick C. Wade, senior vice president of Strategic Alliances and Outreach at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Organizations low on trust find it difficult to realize and sustain results in the area of diversity and inclusion. In times of crisis and uncertainty like we are navigating now, organizational trust becomes more important than ever. This session covers the definition of trust and the role it plays in sustaining diversity and inclusion. Attendees will be challenged to examine their own level of self-trust and begin to explore the concept of relationship trust. They will identify the role they play in moving these efforts forward and learn behaviors that will help.
The coronavirus cracked many of the ways we used to do things. Now we have the opportunity to ask: What are we going to build? How can it be better? How can we do it together? COVID-19 is changing generations. And generations are changing history. It’s all part of a larger cycle that — with the right understanding — can move your workforce from breakdown to breakthrough! In this insightful and interactive session, national speaker and author Jessica Stollings-Holder will share how a generational lens can help you prepare for a thriving future.
For the last decade, economic research has been showing that an Achilles’ heel for prosperity was inequality: Regions that were more unequal, more racially segregated, and more socially fragmented were unable to maintain employment growth over time. Meanwhile, qualitative work was showing that places that were able to better wed inclusion and growth did so through community — that is, by creating sustained, data-driven dialogues between diverse sectors that helped to forge a sense of a common regional destiny. What does that imply for the COVID crisis, a pandemic that has both lifted the veil on persistent inequalities and made it absolutely clear that we cannot protect ourselves if we do not seek to protect all of us? And what does that imply for recent efforts to advance racial justice, a response to the institutional and systemic racism that has plagued our country for centuries? How can regional leaders help metropolitan economies to not just recover but reimagine a more prosperous, more equitable, and more sustainable future?
In the past weeks, millions of people across the country have taken to the streets and raised their voices in response to the senseless violence and loss of life that continues to threaten members of the African American community, indeed our community. As well, the impacts of COVID-19 have thrown into high relief the toll that inequality has taken on those of us with diverse backgrounds. In this panel discussion, local leaders will share reflections on our community’s response, discuss the implications of this crisis for diversity and inclusion efforts, and share their ideas on how we can build a more diverse and inclusive economy as we move toward recovery.
