Rethinking DEI

Recently I conducted an interview with Paolo Guadiano for my podcast, Forbidden Conversations. You can watch it here, but I thought I’d share some highlights:

With advanced degrees in aerospace engineering and neuroscience, Guadiano jokes that he had already done rocket science and brain surgery before facing a really complex problem: convincing business leaders they can make more money by creating more inclusive organizations. Paolo is founder of DEI tech company Aleria and the research nonprofit ARC. A former tenured professor, he is an adjunct at NYU and chair of the annual D&I Research Conference. Paolo is a sought-after speaker with two TEDx talks, author of the award-winning book Measuring Inclusion, and frequent contributor to leading publications. He has received numerous awards for his work, including fellowships in social entrepreneurship, robotics and neuroscience.

As he acknowledges, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—or DEI—has become one of the most polarizing topics. Depend…