Shaping Inclusive Environments
Bio for Rhonda Moret
Rhonda Moret is the Founder and CEO of Elevated Diversity. Recognized as a trailblazing figure and thought leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as health equity, Rhonda has dedicated over a decade to helping organizations advance their diversity and inclusion mission and objectives through the development of equitable practices and strategies designed to benefit the workplace as well as the communities they serve.
A first-generation college graduate, Rhonda Moret began her career working at a multicultural ad agency on several accounts targeting traditionally marginalized populations. Using these experiences, she built a 20+ year career as a communications strategist for some of the world’s most recognized brands, including Universal, Nike Golf, and the PGA TOUR, creating campaigns rooted in the promotion of equity and inclusion. In her role, however, Rhonda was consistently the only woman and the only person of colour, and navigating the environment proved challenging and disheartening at times.
Motivated by the situations she faced, she founded Elevated Diversity in 2017 with a mission to help organizations embed the key tenets of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging into their cultures in actionable, sustainable, and financially impactful ways. Due to its innovative, customized approach, the company’s clients include Berkeley Symphony, Boston Beer, and Homeland Security, among others.
Episode highlight
In this episode, Rhonda discusses the impact of racial makeup and background on one’s perspective, drawing from her personal experiences and insightful reflections on childhood experiences. She delves into the significance of diversity in personal and professional contexts, shedding light on formative incidents from her own childhood and the value of reinforcing respect in various settings.
Links
- Website: www.elevateddiversity.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhondamoret/
Quotes
- “So much of who we are today and how we present ourselves to the world is based on all of these situations and occurrences that we have lived through.”
Takeaways
Childhood Experiences:
Rhonda grew up in a tight community of Creole families. As an adolescent, Rhonda and her family moved to a different state, which brought it to her attention that she was different from other children. Not only was she different visually, but her perspective and point of view were different from the other children.
Influential Groups:
Rhonda’s family did not have a lot of money growing up, and Rhonda realized that if she wanted to move beyond that social class, she needed to develop a strong work ethic. She was never satisfied and was always looking for the next thing to work on. Religiously, Rhonda grew up Catholic, which gave her some sense of identity.
Cultural Influences:
Over the years, Rhonda has gravitated towards helping and supporting women find opportunities, especially where there are pay disparities. Helping women has opened Rhonda to new experiences, and she has learned things about herself that she didn’t know before.
Temperaments and Personality:
Curiosity has always been a part of Rhonda’s life. She remembers growing up and, together with her brother, spending hours reading encyclopedias that their parents had bought for them. All the effort was in pursuit of curing their curiosity.
Rhonda was born in the sixties, and she was brought up in a traditional way; they were not allowed to speak out of turn. Today, Rhonda has become outspoken, and sometimes she has to rein herself in when responding in certain situations and conversations.
Cultural Epiphanies:
Growing up, Rhonda attended Catholic schools where respect for those in authority was mandatory. For instance, if a nun walked into their class, they would all stand up and greet her. When she moved to a public school, she realized that kind of respect wasn’t there, which was disheartening for her.
Soapbox Moment:
Rhonda’s organization helps other organizations create a workplace where people feel they belong. If you are looking to create a workplace culture where respect is valued or want to solve issues around it, Rhonda invites you to check out their website.
Extro:
Coming from a working-class Louisiana Creole heritage but living in different states throughout her life, Rhonda rose from what many would consider a disadvantaged background to be the first person in her extended family to graduate from college. After working in the marketing and communications world for 20+ years, Rhonda now heads the organization Elevated Diversity. I enjoyed her recounting of experiences reading and discussing encyclopaedias with her brother as children and the contrasting levels of respect for authority she saw moving from a Catholic school environment to a public school. Here are some of my takeaways from our conversation:
- A family’s sense of identity as separate from the dominant culture endures through adulthood.
- Our dimensions of diversity are rich and varied. Different aspects come more or less to the fore as we experience life.
- Childhood experience of religion is formative, even if as adults, religious observance takes different forms.
