NSGConnect

NSGConnect Spark!

This email is sent to NSGConnect members to inspire self-reflection and discussions with colleagues relating to professional development topics including leadership, self-care, research, and many more.  As a member of NSGConnect, add your thoughts to the NSGConnect Discussion Forum and visit the NSGConnect community page to find out other ways you can engage with the program!  You can also utilize the NSGConnect Library for additional resources.  We welcome your feedback on these memos at wdinonno@natera.com or salma.nassef@bcm.edu.

Special Edition: Being an Ally

"No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise." --- Marian Anderson

"In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

---Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

TedTalk Spotlight

Melinda Epler "Three ways to be a better ally in the workplace"

https://www.ted.com/talks/melinda_epler_3_ways_to_be_a_better_ally_in_the_workplace

We're taught to believe that hard work and dedication will lead to success, but that's not always the case. Gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation are among the many factors that affect our chances, says writer and advocate Melinda Epler, and it's up to each of us to be allies for those who face discrimination. In this actionable talk, Epler shares three ways to support people who are underrepresented in the workplace. "There's no magic wand for correcting diversity and inclusion," she says. "Change happens one person at a time, one act at a time, one word at a time."

Self-Reflection/Discussion

• Allyship is understanding the imbalance in opportunity and working to change it. It is really seeing the person next to us and the person missing who should be next to us. What imbalances do you see in the genetic counseling profession? How can we work to fix these imbalances?
• The speaker discusses that we must find our reasons to be an ally. What are your reasons?
• The speaker has three concrete ways to be a better ally. Reflect on how you can incorporate these into your day-to-day life at work and outside of work.
  1. Start by doing no harm. Know what a microaggression is and avoid committing them. Give your full attention to others, don't interrupt, echo and attribute, learn the language, and listen and learn from others.
  2. Advocate for underrepresented people in small ways. Intervene, invite underrepresented people to speak, refer and encourage. Normalize allyship.
  3. Change someone's life significantly. Mentor and sponsor; volunteer; transform your team, profession, and world.
• Being an ally means recognizing that someone in a different set of circumstances than you is bearing a heavy load, and doing what you can to help them carry it.

Additional Resources

• Systemic Racism Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrHIQIO_bdQ
• Guide to Allyship: https://guidetoallyship.com/
• Podcast: https://changecatalyst.co/allyshipseries/

Weekly podcast to learn how to be a better ally and advocate, and lead with empathy. Each week a new topic is discussed: xenophobia and Asian identity, islamophobia and Muslim identity, mental health, indigenous power, Black intergenerational trauma, disability advocacy, trans and gender non-conforming allyship, Latinx leadership, LGBTQIA+ leadership and much more.

• Book: How to be an Antiracist

By Ibram X. Kendi

Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America--but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. Instead of working with the policies and system we have in place, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it. 

In his memoir, Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science--including the story of his own awakening to antiracism--bringing it all together in a cogent, accessible form. He begins by helping us rethink our most deeply held, if implicit, beliefs and our most intimate personal relationships (including beliefs about race and IQ and interracial social relations) and reexamines the policies and larger social arrangements we support. How to Be an Antiracist promises to become an essential book for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step of contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society.

This SPARK! Memo brought to you by Wendy DiNonno with the editing help of Karen Corneliussen, Michelle Jacobs, Janette Lawrence, and Salma Nassef.