September 8, 2020
Dear Friends,
This past Friday, September 4, we held our first USPAACC EBRG Leadership Caucus since 2019. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces as well as new ones at the event. A big thank you to all who attended!
I opened our Caucus introducing our moderator, Punita Patel, Vice President, Global Supplier Diversity at JP Morgan Chase. She directs the development and implementation of best practices and strategies for diversity in the Bank’s international inclusive supply chain. Punita did an excellent job interviewing and facilitating the conversations with Dr. Jonathan Fisher from Novant Health and Kandace Cook from Uber.
Dr. Fisher is a Harvard-trained physician, cardiologist and certified mindfulness coach. To paraphrase his words, he “trains the mind, to heal the heart.” Dr. Fisher took us through a short mindfulness practice that lasted all of three or so minutes. This was a welcome pause in the day for many, as our poll results show. I hope those who actively listened to Dr. Fisher and participated found benefit from the exercise. I know I did. He used the lessons he learned in life, his medical training, research and clinical work to counsel the value of training our minds to heal our hearts.
Kandace talked about her experiences in diversity and inclusion, and how she grew Uber’s EBRG from five to 12 groups with the CEO’s support. In a similar vein to what Dr. Fisher explained, Kandace shared how our ability to connect with others through EBRGs is not only good for us as individuals, we become happier and better employees. Her talk highlighted the business case for EBRGs.
The group breakout conversations that followed were equally engaging and informative. We heard what they are doing in their companies’ EBRGs. From the summary reports of the breakout group facilitators, we feel everyone gained much from their group conversations, what they learned from Dr. Fisher and Kandace, and the validations that our member companies’ EBRGs are on the right track.
It was delightful to see so many watching or joining the conversations. A big thanks to Punita, Dr. Fisher and Kandace for their inspiration and useful tips, to my USPAACC team for all the behind the scene work, and as important, to our sponsor, JPMorgan Chase. You all have made USPAACC’s 2020 EBRG Leadership Caucus the success it was.
Do continue to stay connected. Look out for the next Leadership Caucus, as well as other events at www.uspaacc.com.
Remember to stay safe, stay healthy, stay present.
In friendship,
Susan Au Allen
National President & CEO
