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Briefly 1 Newsletter: Beyond Milestones
We are celebrating 1,000 downloads and community growth in our first audio newsletter.
What is covered in this newsletter:
- Thank you!
- Beyond the first time, every time
- Beyond safe spaces: building competent community
- 'No DNA, Just RSA'
- Feeling left behind: "When is our turn?"
- Evolving allyship for a more inclusive future
Creators & Guests
Host
Bandile Mndebele
Bandile Mndebele is a passionate advocate for intersectional inclusion, committed to creating equitable and inclusive environments. Their journey began at Stellenbosch University, where they pioneered a gender-neutral initiative, making it the first top South African university to recognize the gender-neutral marker, Mx. Following their academic pursuits, Bandile has held influential roles in various organisations, including serving on the Global Council for DEI and as a PRIDE Network Chair at a major S&P 500 company, where they co-founded Ubuntu South Africa. They have been instrumental in driving initiatives that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, particularly for marginalised groups such as LGBTQ+ individuals and neurodivergent people. They have also been recognized for their leadership and impact, receiving awards such as the Top 100 Outstanding LGBT+ Future Leader and Top 100 Outstanding Executive Role Model. Through their podcast, newsletter, and speaking engagements, Bandile shares insights and inspires others to create a more just and equitable world. Their work highlights the importance of intersectional inclusion.
What is The Add IDEAS Podcast?
Certain things in life are hard but belonging should not be.
Through inspiring stories, expert insights, and actionable tips, we help unlock meaningful ideas for a stronger sense of belonging in every aspect of your life.
From war to groove, there is a conversation worth having and lessons learnt about how we show up authentically as ourselves. Sometimes, we only want to afford a good groove towards a thriving community both individually and collectively.
Join me, Bandile Mndebele, as we explore the world of IDEAS: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Sustainability.
Our lived experiences matter and so should our ideas.
Thank you for following and listening to the show.
Thank you for being part of our community.
We recently talked about better communities and ours keeps growing and getting so much
better.
Thank you for helping us enjoy over 1,500 hours of listening to the show and also helping
us reach over 1,000 downloads, making us feel so extraordinarily seen and heard.
I am excited to bring this newsletter to its third installment.
Since our last Building Intersectional Community newsletter, a lot has changed.
We emerged now into Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness.
And I'm so connected to how this year continues to provide meaningful change despite so much
pause and fatigue.
Vice President Kamala Harris is likely to become America's first woman president.
Come November 5th at what promises to be another all-Ireland election.
Whether we check our candidate America chooses, it will be historical either way.
This is a refreshing and welcome inspiration to a touting and possible first presidential
victory for women's equality on many intersectional points.
The Harris search would not only highlight the part of why positive representation matters
beyond the milestones as we visited and touched on more with Leona van Veik in episode 4,
but also provides a strong intersectional win for many minorities since many historical
attempts.
This potential victory not only exposes a new forward way of freedom and opportunity
for people to prosper, but also brings much needed conversations on the actual lived experience
of those marginalized and feeling left behind.
Language plays a significant part, if not a cornerstone, of community.
Being first in anything comes with challenge.
Reflecting on the Harris moment brings me to wonder on how women continue to inspire
leadership that is people driven.
Christine Lagarde's opening statement in 2019 to the European Parliament drives the point
home.
Diversity means during on all talents from all backgrounds and committing absolutely
to all people being treated equally.
Be that on the basis of race, gender or nationality.
Illustratively, we need a better language to connect us to purpose and value.
The Trump era saw the waging war on DI with their language at its core, which in and of
itself represented a culmination of frustrations on the lack of community and tying DI to stronger
gains as Roy remarked with recently with us.
However, Vice President Harris promises a deep and different reversal from the era as
she gained a strong appeal that resonates well.
So then what does the future of woman leadership mean in its wide prospects?
And equally, what does this mean about our own biases, allyship and expectation?
In a world marked by war and cultural erasure, the Trump era highlighted the importance of
creating spaces that foster open dialogue and address the language divide.
While safe spaces often become limiting, competence spaces encourage frequent uncomfortable conversations
and genuine connection by prioritizing open communication and dialogue, focusing on understanding
and addressing complex issues holistically, not in a sequential manner, fostering trust
and a partnership, celebrating wins and integrating your diversity.
By prioritizing competence spaces, we can create a more inclusive and for more people not to
be left behind.
We recently talked about building better community, how, for example, everyone is doing the best
they can with the trauma they carry with the enemy reshouter recently.
2024 has been a year of significant stress for women in South Africa equally, despite
many challenges to safety and access with the victories on various fields emerging from
the beauty pageant stage to the highest courts, women have been breaking boundaries and inspiring
change.
The Smiya Leroo win at Miss South Africa 2024 highlighted the importance of neurodiversity
and inclusion.
Her journey showcased how embracing differences can lead to positive representation and a
more inclusive society.
Neurodiversity is rightly becoming a crucial component of workplace conclusion, offering
strong value propositions and fostering a more equitable environment.
Chief Justice Mandisa Maya's appointments lends itself once again to history as she
becomes the country's first female chief justice in South Africa.
Her leadership is essential for addressing corruption, boosting the country's value
morale and ensuring it's just an equitable democracy.
Maya's tenure has the potential to shape South Africa's constitutional progress for decades
to come.
The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's legacy serves as a powerful example of the impact
of positive representation and wavering commitment to equality, demonstrating that allyship can
be an important catalyst for change.
From Tyler's Grammy win to the Women's Sport 2024 has indeed been a year of victories
for many women.
These achievements highlight the importance in investing in women's empowerment and recognizing
their contributions and wealth facilitation in society.
However, we have to talk about how some people still feel like they are being left behind.
With so many people winning, when is our turn to thrive?
The desire to win is almost instinctively universal, fueling so much progress, fostering
a deeply rooted sense of belonging.
Yet the fear of being left out or behind persists, hindering talent development and threatening
social stability.
To address this more equitably, we must prioritize equitable social justice and break the cycle
of intergenerational trauma by ensuring everyone has a fair chance to succeed.
Deloitte's 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey recently came out offering a beacon of hope,
highlighting for example that a growing number of young people feel empowered to shape their
country's future.
This is the winning attitude that is needed to champion causes like environmental protection,
mental health awareness, education access, and better mobility and social equity.
To harness this potential, we therefore have to create greater agency.
Reward, pay, representation, and inclusive language.
Things like macro management, outdated leadership, laws, policies, and practices can further
alleviate talent and stifle the innovation of our community.
My experience working on institutional policies for better academic success taught me the
transformative power of inclusion.
While there may be many firsts, true inclusion empowers individuals, fosters a stronger sense
of purpose, and benefits society widely.
In the post-COVID-19 world, people still search for meaningful opportunities, safety, and
shared sense of purpose.
By creating inclusive environments that prioritize equity and opportunity, we can return talent,
build strong communities, and drive positive change.
And for this, our allyship needs to constantly evolve and adapt.
We have learned so much about kind leadership, about how, for example, communicating well
within our relationships helps provide and elevate community success or solutions.
We've gained valuable insights on how we can inspire belonging and create supportive environments,
such as our recent conversation on building startup giants, as well as on what rights
the LGBTQ people need in this year of chaos or in this era of endless chaos.
The key strategies for effectively should include continuous learning and adaptation.
Allyship needs to evolve.
It must constantly be shaped and informed by so many dynamics within the change landscape.
It also needs to be values-driven that seek to build and reinforce community.
There needs to be an intersectional focus.
Prioritizing intersectionality and perspectives of the community will help alleviate a lot
of issues that the community continues to face and struggle with.
We also need to be strategic, not just relying on data and evidence, but further going beyond
that lens to understand the stories that we could potentially be missing from this data.
So what are the four by four steps or areas in which we can really understand our action?
The first largely is around compensation and reward equity.
How are we going to close gender gaps, pay equity, and promote satisfaction?
Youth empowerment.
How are we investing in young leaders and creating more inclusive workspaces?
Are we creating better agency, not just in society, but also empowering to further develop
their talents and align their passions towards community?
And lastly, in understanding culture, we will be soon celebrating our 10th episode.
And this is an invitation from the newsletter to please submit any questions or feedback
via audio or video clips or in writing.
Thank you so much for bringing us to our first audio life of this newsletter.
And thank you so much for a thousand more downloads to come.
And thank you for listening.