Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

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LOCALIZING A GLOBAL CHANGE STRATEGY

Confined by the walls of the valley, the river runs freely, finding its own course.

—RAY BRIGGS, The Tao of Relationships

EVERY COUNTRY HAS ITS OWN LEGACY OF HURT. Every place has its history of exclusion, its discrimination, its web of attitudes and systems that fuel and justify marginalization. Every country has dominant and subordinate groups and unhealthy power structures. As I began the work of rolling out Sodexo’s DEI initiatives globally, I learned that one of my most important tasks was uncovering and seeking to understand those legacies.

Identity—the way it shows up and even the ways we define it— can differ enormously from place to place. I learned that I needed to strike a balance between rolling ...