Many of my colleagues at major corporations aren't able to speak their mind on this out of fear of…

Many of my colleagues at major corporations aren't able to speak their mind on this out of fear of government reprisals against their employer so I'm both happy to be able to speak up and proud to have been publicly quoted on the topic.

Thank you to Linda Rosencrance for writing this piece in CSO Online (linked in comments) on government-led attacks on initiatives intended to make roles more open to everyone.

Teams made up of great people from different backgrounds have greater diversity of thought. This inevitably leads to better solutions.

Teams where members feel included and a sense of belonging regardless of their background feel strong psychological safety. This enables them to identify shortcomings in a blameless manner which again, leads to better outcomes.

Framing the fight against diversity as one where they're championing meritocracy and qualified candidates is deeply ironic considering where the attacks are coming from.

Merit exists in all communities, we just need to spend the effort to remove the barriers to finding it.

Innovation and problem-solving are critical leading indicators of future success across all industries, limiting who gets a seat at the table doesn't protect excellence, it stifles it and hurts us as a country.

Thanks as well to the others quoted in the article for sharing your thoughts Matthew Sharp, Sam McMahon, Sara (Lambert) Gutierrez, Paolo Gaudiano, Monica Landen, Matthew Rosenquist