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Welcome to the Leading Beyond the Org Chart Podcast by Rise Results, where we bring you real-world strategies to improve employee engagement, boost retention, and accelerate team development - all with a clear focus on driving measurable business outcomes.
Each episode features leaders who’ve successfully navigated these challenges, sharing actionable insights you can implement immediately.
We’ll explore how better people practices lead to better business performance - and how to turn strategic thinking into scalable growth.
Hi there.
Today our guest is Jill Feliciano, a DEI leader with over 20 years of experience and a
foundation in operational engineering whose work spans Fortune 500s and tech startups.
She led pivotal DEI efforts during the transformative period following George Floyd and
now uses predictive analytics and AI to elevate employee experiences and anticipate
organizational needs.
So Jill, thanks so much for being here.
We're thrilled to have you.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm looking forward to our discussion today.
Great.
So let's just jump right in.
So our first question for you is, you mentioned that your journey and diversity and
inclusion began when it was merely an extension to HR.
Can you share how your engineering background has influenced your approach to DEI?
Yeah, well, before I moved into uh this work, uh I was an operational engineer for a
financial services uh firm.
And one of my main responsibilities was building our global operations center.
So we wanted to develop a 24 seven customer service model where you can ditch the hedge
calls to different global regions at any time.
And at that time, designing systems was
you know, my core responsibility and I realized that creating a culture that you want to
cultivate wasn't just a side project.
It had to be a part of the very fabric of how it operated, right?
So, for example, we had to consider how we attracted talent and how do you reward
employees and what does accessibility look like in India versus Costa Rica?
And we had to intentionally design those processes.
to embed inclusion and belonging.
By the way, we didn't call it those things 20 plus years ago, ah but it was just a natural
part of the employee experience.
No one knew anything different, but this is just how we operate.
So that was my uh moment understanding that when inclusion is built into the processes and
it's owned by everyone, it just naturally becomes what you call culture.
So my engineering mindset taught me that you have to use data, storytelling, process
development.
And I think a lot of times when practitioners think about how they articulate DEI, they
really talk about it in the dimensions of diversity and numbers, right?
But in this engineering setting, I've learned that when you can...
use data to simply tell the story about what is, it gets people to lean in with real
ownership.
And at HighSpot, we do the same for our systems, right?
We develop system thinking approaches to inclusion.
It's not about heavy goals.
It's about looking at how people are experiencing the workforce, telling the story,
comparing it to what our peers are doing.
And then that brings people along the journey to want to learn more.
and want to take action where we see opportunities in just our operating model.
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
And every time we speak with you, Jill, we're so impressed with how you've leveraged your
two decades of experience that we share with you.
We've been on the journey with you over the last 20 years.
How have you seen the evolution of this work?
um You talked a little bit about what we used to call it when we were doing the work.
early on 20 years ago.
How do you perceive in the current landscape what the work is evolving to become, what the
unique challenges are, and what do you find to be most pressing in today's current
environment?
And we know that's shifting day by day next month.
It's going to be different than it is today.
So share a little bit about how you're thinking about things.
Yeah, absolutely.
you know, as you mentioned 20 years ago, an acronym for this work was not in place.
It was simply a HR initiative that was focused around compliance, just to be open and
honest.
It was about showing good faith efforts.
We were
being intentional or taking steps to diversify our pipelines through recruiting and
development programs.
it was really, it was a means to also uh being compliant and having good, faked efforts
with our government contracts um at that time.
And I do believe that
you know, a number of people thought it was the right thing to do, but the inception and
the idea came out of a compliance need, right?
So then you fast forward to kind of where we are today.
And I think, you know, where we are, we see many challenges to your point, Marilyn, in the
market.
uh People saw VI as this disjointed effort or this project that primarily focused on
catering to certain segments and diversity rather than seeing it as something that
benefits everyone, right?
And as more generations enter the workforce and our understanding of centering human
connection in the workplace, it just changed and evolved, right?
Leadership principles and ways of working evolved uh and so did this.
uh
But DEI, when we talk about diversity, equity, inclusion, uh it truly is about all of us.
It's about creating systems where every person, regardless of their background, their
generation, lived experience, has what they need to thrive in the workforce.
That is the simplest definition.
And I think we're starting to now understand that.
um Everyone.
needs are different and that is why data should tell just what those unique needs are by
employee segment.
And then we tailor, you know, those strategies to bring out the best, to create fairness
and inclusivity so that all employees can perform at higher rates.
And I think one of the biggest shifts I've seen is that companies are finally recognizing
inclusion as a formula that drives business outcomes, right?
things like innovation, customer satisfaction, employee engagement.
Back in my day, connecting the two just wasn't thought of.
They were absolutely in two separate boxes.
And now we're realizing that the boxes are interdependent of one another.
So we're learning that when inclusion is embedded into your business strategy, we help
organizations not only move from what I call unconscious bias to unconscious inclusion,
but we're
Inclusion becomes second nature, part of the everyday fabric of decision making and you
can tie it to the business outcomes, even revenue.
love what you're saying, unconscious inclusion.
I love um that we're going to punctuate that because I think that's a great takeaway.
I also think that, you know, back 20 years ago, we did talk a little bit about what is the
business case for this work.
And there were so few cases we talked about, you know, taco chips from an employee
resource group.
So we talked about
um The famous case of the car that was going out that translated in Spanish was don't go,
nova, which means don't go in Spanish.
So there were a few off, you know, um examples of how this work could actually move the
business forward, tie us closer to our customers, really help us understand how to grow
our businesses.
But never has it been more
critical than now to tie inclusion to bottom line revenue to client connection to
understanding what do your customers want what your employees want and how do we make
those connections really overt as you're saying rather than ah Maybe a side benefit that
no one's ever called out.
So thank you for making that clarification back to you Kim
Yeah, and sorry, if I can just share one other thought there.
think we often as leaders talk to think with a binary lens and this work is very much two
things can be true at the same time, right?
It could be good for business and we can tie it to business outcomes, but it's equally
good for people, for humans, who then pour into the business and results.
So I think leaders are now connecting the two in the,
uh importance in the way of one drives the other.
They're coexisting in front of one another.
Thanks for driving that home.
It's not an either or, it's a both and, and it's a win, win, win.
Win for the employees, win for the customers, win for the bottom line of the company
shareholders.
Absolutely.
Yeah, I was waiting for you to say both and Marilyn.
That's one of her, both and in that set are two of her favorite phrases.
So we know Jill, you've been doing this for a long time and Marilyn mentioned that.
And I would be remiss if we didn't talk about the George Floyd era.
um We all saw that same video.
We all saw what happened.
And in the work we do, we saw companies that really hadn't taken a stand around DEI.
really think about what they were going to do.
And it was no longer, there were still companies obviously that did check the box, but for
the most part, most companies really uh took a step back and thought about how they were
going to respond to that and the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion in the
workplace.
And when we did our prep call, we were talking about you expressed how some companies had
monetized that DEI efforts post George Floyd era.
building on that, those,
How do you balance those kind of commercial aspects with the general, know, the genuine
cultural and social impact in organizations in DEI?
Yeah, just being very candid, I can spend 15 minutes alone here on this topic.
It is so complex and intersectional.
what I can say is, I think we all agree that for a period for companies who were not
investing in DEI, because there were some, right, who have been established and were
committed on a path.
You know, there came a time where caring for humans and providing equal access became the
popular thing to do, right?
So much so that we also saw it influence consumer behavior and brand loyalty, right?
There's data now to really prove and back this, but, you know, let's be honest, you know,
we did notice that some organizations treated DI as a revenue opportunity rather than a
reflection of just who they were.
And now a few years later, we're seeing that difference
play out on the stage.
current landscape is the proof one.
We can now clearly see which companies built DEI into their core values and which ones
simply follow the moment.
ah But importantly, the data tells us a more nuanced story.
And you gotta be careful.
As a practitioner, we know that following headlines is dangerous to our ability to lead
this work, right?
So if you look at the recent study that Paradigm published, they said 443 organizations
found that while 19 % of companies have reduced funding, 23 % have actually increased
their DEI budgets for 2025.
So the narrative isn't that DEI is over or is dwindling, it's that the field is.
I think it's maturing and separating performance efforts from purposeful long-term
investments.
ah So what that means is, and something that I am really proud of when we talk about
HighSpot, we've been intentional about ensuring that diversity, equity, inclusion, and
belonging, you use four letters in per acronym,
is never a PR exercise.
Instead, we tie inclusion directly to the business outcomes, but it's woven into our
guiding principles, how we speak to one another, how we make decisions, how we care about
what happens to the humans, how we are all in for our customers of diverse backgrounds and
needs, right?
It's just what we do.
And it's easy to tell who was very authentic and who was just using the moment as a means
to drive.
uh
But I think it's important to acknowledge that this work is not easy.
the two of you know, DEI, being your DEI practitioners today are navigating a complex
environment, balancing human side of work with the external political noise and
polarization.
So I have deep respect for all practitioners and thank you for the work that each of you
all do to encourage the empathy that you move with every day.
But I think there's another part of this conversation.
um In an evolving workforce, we have multiple generations working together, right?
From, you know, baby boomers to Gen Z-ers, soon it'll be Gen Alphas.
And let me tell you the reality, oh work is not a part of some of our Gen Z-ers and Gen
Alphas identity, like it was for me, I'm a Gen X-er, right?
So they don't live to work, they work to live with purpose.
So their perspective will always bring and force companies to center human and inclusion.
So this work is an over.
They look different.
You may call it something else, but I do believe it's going to be instrumental and core to
companies ability to survive, to thrive, to innovate.
let's not talk about embrace AI as it needs to drive uh revenue.
But um I say all that to say that this work is here to stay in whatever form it shows up.
And I think the involved human expects for this to be a part of their employee experience.
Thank
absolutely.
think you could have said it better.
Gen Z demands it.
They demand it.
um And Gen Alpha behind them.
And then what's the new one?
just, Gen Beta.
But that one's 2025, I think, is Gen Beta.
So we have a few years for that before we...
And they'll probably rename themselves, oh no doubt.
uh
it's interesting, right?
Because I never thought that my children's generation would save the day.
mean, you know, essentially in terms of the human element and the workplace.
And I'm really excited to know that they will continue to push, right, for this to exist
in their experience and beyond.
And one of the ways that we have spoken about in our prior conversations, but I think it's
important to share with our audience that we ensure that this work continues because as
you've talked about during the George Floyd era or during other phases, we're in a new
phase right now.
um But these phases come and go.
What we know is the importance of this work on employees, on all of the constituencies
that we've talked about stays.
And so what you have done is embedded DEIB or the elements of this work into operational
processes.
And that is the best way to ensure
its longevity and that it becomes part of the fiber of the business.
And it is not a standalone bolt on so that because those standalones come and go as, the
political climate changes, as there's something, you know, it's human capital management.
Now it's ESG.
Now it's yes.
Now it's no.
so how have you done this embedding?
um into operational processes.
Can you give us a few examples?
Yeah, sure, absolutely.
um Well, in order to successfully do this, and I know I am repeating myself here, but you
need to step back and you need to collect data that matters in every piece of employee
life cycle, from recruiting to the onboarding experience to uh performance outcomes to uh
career growth or velocity and to retention, attrition, all
those pieces are important because that data will tell you, especially if you can segment
it by different employee communities or intersectionalities of employees, it'll tell you
uh who's being successful in those processes and who may need to, uh or who we may need to
consider to maybe evolve the process so that there's equal access and fairness.
So that's the first starting point.
And an example of that is, you know, we even have some employee communities, you know,
raise their hand and they're like, hey, we're looking around at our peers and it feels
like promotion rates, you know, for peers are moving faster, right?
If you're not a part of our community.
And we want to know if we can actually help and look at like, understand what is the
backend of that process?
How do you, how are leaders getting together in rooms and talking about talent?
ah You know, how are you rating people?
Is it a number system?
Like are you putting more weight on technical ability versus soft heels, right?
And is it applied fair?
Is it applied fairly to everyone?
So you know in my past and this is not a high spot experience, but in my past we brought
in ERG's to map out that process to be just open the hood of a car and then show them,
yeah, transparency.
demand.
Absolutely.
And we, you know, slowly uncovered the fact that different departments put different
weight on different competencies and skills than others, right?
And it was a, so that helped us as an HR people leadership team to go back and simply
calibrate the process.
And then once we did that, we took a step back and then looked at the data again and
all different backgrounds and career groups.
And we made sure that there was fairness and equity.
We did, we did, right?
So that's an example of just how you find to the process.
We didn't touch people.
We didn't tell people, hey, women aren't growing at X percent.
We didn't have that conversation at all.
We simply just took the process and looked at the data all out.
And that told us if we corrected where we saw some deficiencies or
and praise.
Well, data is, I mean, you're speaking in our language.
is so important across the board.
So thank you for sharing that.
Let's get into AI, because I think that's such a hot topic and everybody um is talking
about that for a variety of reasons, right?
But you've been pretty vocal about using predictive AI, predictive analytics in AI and AI
in DEI.
I will read, let me read.
All right, so you've been very vocal about using predictive analytics and AI and DEI, and
could you elaborate on some of those practical ways these technologies are enhancing your
organizational culture and employee engagement?
Maybe make them less scary.
So I have to practice this by saying, you know, we are all learning AI right now, right?
It is growing the sophistication of different platforms and tools.
We're, you know, at different places of adopting it.
So I want to acknowledge that.
um But, you know, one thing that I'm really excited about in terms of the future is that
now HR, people, teams, people leaders, and just business leaders can now lean into AI as a
tool to foresee
what the employee experience might look like based upon historical data and algorithms.
We can now knit all of those pieces together.
And here at Highspot, we invested in a people analytics platform called Included.
And Included allows us to not only have historical data of the employee experience, but
mesh it up with what's happening right now.
meaning your recent engagement scores, recent hires, recent onboarding class, and
understand based upon the historical patterns what you can predict in terms of attrition.
What you can predict in terms of, there's maybe a hotspot that will grow in this region on
this team in terms of the engagement score lowering, right?
Again, I want to say that AI is a tool.
We can't say for sure that those things will happen, but it's a way to kind of jump in
front of a trend from emerging and to lead into dialogue and conversations with HR
business partners and leaders and people managers and even people on team to say, we just
want to check in.
What's happening?
How's your experience?
And create those two-way dialogue bridges to pull in information.
and mitigate any trends from beginning or happening.
Same thing on the recruiting side, right?
If we see consistent recruiting, know, patterns that lead to disproportionate hiring,
right, of different backgrounds and types.
If we start to see it emerging before it happens, we can actually proactively have
conversations about it to make sure that we are set up for the best success possible.
So I think when
know, HR and leaders think about AI, they think about productivity gains, let's write this
email or let AI create my like team icebreaker activity.
It's so much more.
It's about detecting, proactively detecting hotspots and preventing them from happening
versus them happening, disruption to your business, to innovation, hiring costs.
I mean, there is a spiral fix.
We all know what that is.
So that's something that we've been really excited to do.
The last thing from an AI perspective is uh because we have those data and the analytics,
we actually use it to drive storytelling.
So now we actually can talk about what that experience is if you are a Gen Zer and the
workforce and we can tell you an average how often they're promoted depending on their
department and if they've been here for X amount of years.
So we can just really build out this journey back.
instead of a customer journey map, an employee journey map of just what that experience
is.
And that too allows us to advocate for the experiences people are having, show what's
really working well along their entire journey, and fix the things that we want to evolve
and improve on.
Love that.
um We're going to shift gears just a little bit because you have a wealth of experience in
guiding your ERGs.
And we do a ton of work with ERGs as well.
And I know that a lot of people tuning in will want to learn from the experience that you
have had.
So you have a maturity model.
And as do we, ah we leverage maturity model for ERGs.
What advice do you have for organizations wanting to develop effective ERGs while ensuring
they don't overlook those foundational goals?
How do you ensure that they have, again, another both-and solution?
Yeah, I mean, this is a really great question.
It's a very complex question because I think it's always a debate as to what looks good,
the gold standard for ERGs.
And I think what I found over my 20 years is that that will look different based upon the
company, the ERG, the executive sponsors, the resourcing.
There is not a clean formula here.
And I think it's important that people
really understand it.
But what's equally important to your point, Marilyn, is recognizing that ERGs, just like a
business, have their own maturity model, right?
Usually when you think about the four phases of ERG things, one is just about forming,
right?
They're coming together, building relationships, building psychological safety within one
another, and relationships, credibility, all of that, right?
And then, you know, your second phase is when you move to uh using that foundation of
relationship building to then start to build high level operational hierarchy, right?
So co-leaders and maybe, you know, one or two subcommittee leaders and really trying to
organize themselves to drive business change.
And when I say business change, could be
something connected to a business outcome and product innovation, or it could just be
improving the lives of retention of the people in the community.
process improvement.
We hear so many wonderful process improvements and we don't always call those out as
innovations or, you know, accelerating the business through the ERGs.
But I just wanted to make sure we don't miss those.
because it's equally important.
It's one of those invisible superpowers that ERGs possess.
But then you move to phase three where ERG is a little bit more mature.
They now have some structured executive sponsorship.
They should have a budget.
And now they have a little bit more data to create focus areas or goals.
And sometimes they're aligned to the business outcomes.
Sometimes they're aligned to the people outcomes, right?
Retention, uh engagement levels, et cetera, et So there are four phases.
And sometimes an ERG of 20 people may look at an ERG with 120 people who may be in phase
four and say, geez, I'm not being successful.
It can be the furthest from the truth.
So I think it's important to know there's no one-size-fits-all model for ERGs.
ah It's up to the ERG to really define what success looks like, not only for the members
that sit in that seat, those seats.
but also how they can contribute and use their intellectual capital and experience to
drive business outcome.
And thirdly, executive sponsorship should be fluid.
I know, I do want to talk about that a little bit more, but they should play a critical
role in helping kind of see those opportunities for them to be seen, to remove barriers so
that they're achieving the goals that make the most sense for that community and the
business.
And love, we promote maturity models in all of our work.
And it's just, you know, let's not judge the new ERG with one, maybe the women's group,
which was typically the first one that started and has maturity of 15 years and they're
clicking along and they've been, you know, they have 12 chapters in every location and
they're just.
at a different level, you can't judge them all the same.
I love that you leverage the same concepts that we do in terms of pushing them up through
the maturity model is the goal versus everyone has to be here.
And if you're not, you're not successful.
I think that's great.
And I'll turn it back to Kim to talk about em executive sponsors.
And Marilyn, sorry, this conversation is just so great.
I just have to say, you may find yourself where you have someone who is a phase four in
maturity model that's well established and something changes in the business and they may
find themselves reverting back to phase two.
That happens too and that's perfectly okay.
So it is a fluid model and I think that's important to set realistic expectations and make
sure they're walking through the phases that are appropriate
to driving what's good for them and the business.
And also, it could be that they're opening a new chapter in a new location.
And so that's going to start at phase one and learn from the others that are more mature.
So there's lots of reasons why that return to what we did in phase one or what needs to be
done in phase one is there for a guidepost.
I love that idea.
Thanks.
Yeah, and I mean, you mentioned executive sponsors and the importance of executive
sponsors probably, you know, from the beginning of that maturity model.
barriers, but in our experience working with executive sponsors, they often don't know
what success looks like.
um And there's a disconnect sometimes between the ERGs and the executive sponsor um in the
communication of what the ERG needs and what the executive sponsor can do.
so when you think about how would you recommend an executive sponsor and an ERG, for that
matter, that piece of measure, the success m of their role?
Yeah, yeah, well, you when we talk about executive sponsorship, I think it's important to
move beyond the checkbox approach.
You know, here are the four five things.
And a real executive sponsorship in my opinion is flexible and rooted in relationships
with the community.
Right.
What I mean by that is uh in some ways that I actually can share like at HighSpot, you
know, I think you're
three indications or three uh key areas we as executive sponsors to focus on, right?
So the first is, are the ERGs comfortable bringing you the hard truths?
Have you sat in it with them to build or to build those relationships to establish
psychological safety so that they can share and feel like they can co-partner with you,
right?
Why is that important?
Because without the honest, right truth about and lived experience, then everything else
an executive sponsor can do could be seen or felt as, you know, uh performative, right?
Open.
I think the second thing is data fluency.
uh Great executive sponsors.
They know their community data and they can tell the story about how they enter the
organization, how they progress, the type of managers that
bring out the best and those community members.
uh They know where barriers are and what the community is saying about the barriers and
how they want the company and executive sponsor to vouch to move those barriers.
And then I think the third is executive sponsors should track how they're helping move
barriers or connecting those communities into a seat to drive business impact.
That means that those three things may look different or may be defined differently and an
executive sponsor's rubic depending on the company.
But if an executive sponsor can display or drive those characteristics, I think we're on
to something.
ah I think many times executive sponsors are uncomfortable.
Because usually they're senior director plus, right?
They're uncomfortable with lack of structure and it's like they know exactly where their
seat is in your functional.
They know what they're responsible for, they know the decisions, but then you move them to
an ERG and they're like, well, I'm not sure, like, should I do this?
Right?
So we're also teaching them to build confidence, to help pave the way and have this two
way.
partnership with the ERG to establish what that looks like and what they need from the
executive sponsor, because it may vary by different ERGs.
So that's how I look at it, the three kind of that will set them up to be successful and
then defining the goals around that.
I love that.
Love it.
It's hard.
It's not an easy one to crack.
uh
of workshops and uh groups of uh sessions just with executive sponsors because we, and
they always tell us, and we hear not only from people in your seat, but from executive
sponsors, we wish we had a guidebook to give us to your point.
more detail about what you want us to do in this role.
And it feels a little amorphous, like someone saying, would you be my mentor?
OK, yeah, but what do you want from me?
And so we've put together a guidebook for being an executive sponsor that we share with
our clients and others, because it just seems like it's a little too open-ended.
um
But to your point, I think modeling it for them is important.
And essentially that's the guidebook.
But there has to be a combination of taking that guide and building the relationship with
the community and figuring out which guideline of best practice may work with this
community based upon where they need their executive sponsor.
So it's the same concept that we talked to people managers about.
Right?
They always say, Jill, just tell me what to do.
And I'm like, I'm so sorry.
Inclusion just won't work that way.
Right?
It's like any relationship in your life, you know, when you recording or dating your
partner, right?
Like you didn't say, Hey, can you give me your guidebook to you?
Because I think, you know, I want this to work.
You said, you know, you take the time, you go on dates, you have conversations, you ask
questions, and then you figure out how to create.
you know, an environment that's psychologically safe, right?
It's that same concept when it comes to humans.
And I know folks want the plate book, but unfortunately, humans just aren't wired that
way.
It is relational and at its foundation.
And so it's going to be very much customized for each group.
Plus, depending on the maturity of the group, it's going to be very, very different and
it's going to morph over time.
So my last question is about uh belonging around engagement and belonging.
And do you have anything that you would want to?
comment or share about in terms of um inspiring and maintaining a sense of belonging
amongst the entire employee population.
Yeah, think there are a things.
First and foremost, in order to create a sense of belonging, it means that we're creating
a formula that includes everyone to voice what it is that they need and what.
uh And I may sound a little cliche and guess, know, folks kind of lean into things.
A lever to do so.
Others, you know, have listening tours and groups.
We've launched some amazing AMAs where folks can ask very candid conversations to leaders
on spot.
I'm sure my leaders love that.
But it's been a really interesting day.
you.
Thank you.
template for it also that we share.
um AMAs have become very popular, and we know the acronym, but want to make sure our
listeners all know.
you.
Thank you for keeping me honest.
uh We're all learning and growing.
So we are creating different outlets to pull in the employee voice.
And what we've learned is while you're trying to create inclusion and belonging, it isn't
so much about receiving feedback and applying it right away.
Or you may receive feedback that maybe we just can't apply for different constraints and
reasons.
So I think what
We are all looking for, myself included, is to bring people along the journey of the
cultural evolution, right?
So you receive feedback, you make a decision point, whatever that decision point is,
communicate it.
Tell people, right?
uh We also found that people aren't expecting us necessarily to apply every
recommendation.
They just want to be heard and acknowledged.
And that was on top.
for inclusion and belonging because if you don't, shut down psychological safety and no
one will tell you anything else, right?
So bringing people along the journey, giving them sight to what's happening, how you make
decisions, why you're making the decisions that you're making, offering them a spot at the
table to help you champion and drive.
Contrary to popular belief, us as leaders, cannot do this work by ourselves.
It takes very much a...
concerted effort and an equal partnership between all in the organization to create
inclusion and belonging.
And one thing Marilyn and Kim, I'll tell you in my conversations with leaders, leaders
have a hungry appetite for inclusion and belonging themselves.
They too want to lean in with vulnerability or maybe a leader from a baby boomer
generation wants to say to a
Gen Z or like what is that term that you're saying or why do you want to have those
conversations and sometimes they're afraid right of their brand being tarnished.
So we're just learning that this really is a team effort and that journey that you bring
people through is the secret sauce and creating an inclusion of belonging.
Yeah, just amazed me in the work you're doing and the environment and the culture that
you're creating at High Spot and have done over the last 20 years.
m before we close out, we ask the same question to every guest.
And I'm interested to hear what your response is.
But reflecting on your career and achievements, what advice would you give to your younger
self looking to make that meaningful impact?
Yeah, thank you for this question.
This question challenges me to really dig deep in with vulnerability.
And I would say, I tell myself, don't wait for permission to lead.
Influence doesn't come with title.
It comes with courage and consistency sometimes.
uh Early in my career, I thought impact came from authority and hierarchy.
And that's when I learned influencing uh without authority was a real thing.
ah So I think that's one piece.
The second piece is trust your gut.
Use data, use insight, trust your gut and always do the right thing.
Right now, you know, just kind of looking at the social and political landscape.
That's one of those tenants that I pull from, right?
Regardless of what everyone's saying, what's popular, people wanna hide, Jill, just do the
right thing.
People deserve it.
This is a part of your legacy.
This is who I want my children to become.
Don't you be afraid, do it afraid.
You may cry, do it crying, just do it.
um And thirdly, always center who I am around my faith.
um I was often afraid to bring, you know, my faith as a part of my identity in the
workforce.
And my faith is that very thing that grounds me into loving, supporting, and advocating
for people, all people of all backgrounds and shapes and sizes and experience.
And I think, you know, that that faith has allowed me to see every human for who they are
and advocate for what their unique needs are.
So I would say those are three things that I would have gifted to my younger self.
I love that.
I wish I had known some of those things as well.
to your point about it, I think you never go wrong with doing the right thing.
and everything we do.
And thank you for the work you do and continue to do.
And the example she set within this industry and within your organization, it's been a
pleasure to have you.
And thank you for sharing all of your expertise and wisdom over the last 45 minutes or so.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
It's like we're a family.
No, we're the poor short cut.
Yes, it's been a pleasure and thank you for the work that you do.
Creating a platform to continue to create space for voices right now is the most critical
thing that many can do.
So I thank the two of you for allowing me this opportunity to share and be a part of this
courageous conversation.
Thanks so much,