Earlier this year, on May 17th, Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr.—a pioneer in diversity management in the workplace—passed away. Some of his books helped shape my thinking on diversity and inclusion. It started for me in 2007 when as a participant of NASA’s Leadership Development Program, NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator Charles Scales recommended that we read Thomas’ Beyond Race & Gender—the best book on diversity management he’d ever read.
Coincidentally, while I was spending my year in Washington, D.C., I learned that Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. was scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the first-ever Federal Agencies’ Diversity Day on November 28, 2007. I attended and eagerly scribed notes on his talk about “Diversity Today: A Business Case for the Federal Government.” Thomas walked through the evolution in approaches to diversity from the Traditional (1960’s) focus on social justice and workforce representation to Diversity (1980’s), which introduced the concepts of diversity and inclusion. Thomas noted that we’re stuck on “numbers” and “relationships” because society rewards progress on both. Then, he went on to challenge the title of his talk, noting that diversity itself is not good or bad—instead, diversity management will help you move forward as a leader…
To learn more about Thomas’ views, continue here.
