Thank you so, so much for hanging in there with me. I'm going to try and make this super, super fast just to make sure we stay on track.I'm Tapia Jala, global inclusion and impact officer at OvalV. I have a presentation that I'm more than happy to share straight after, so let's get to it. Let's share my screen. Thank you all so much for hanging in there. Technology decided to essentially film me today. But, hopefully, you can see my screen. Oh, okay. We're just gonna have to work with this just for the, sake of time. So the next iteration of inclusion in the tech landscape and beyond is what we're essentially going to cover. And I like to start with saying inclusion is not a nice to have. It's a competitive edge.

So in the chat, I would love for you to answer one question, which is how are you embedding inclusion into your innovation? Now let's talk facts. So for me and for most people, diverse teams mean better decisions, more trust, more growth, and what we see often is creative thinking. We see faster innovation. And a lot of companies know that, you know, with an inclusive culture, you're two times for some companies, it's actually three times more likely to exceed financial targets. And that's all because you have, diversity of thought, diversity of leadership, and so on and so forth. But what are we seeing right now? Right? Well, let's talk about the landscape. The landscape is uncomfortable at the moment. And what we're seeing is a shift in language. So we're still seeing seeing the same mission. However, there's a new framing. So a lot of companies are moving away from saying DNI or having DNI in individual's title.

And what you're going to start seeing is belonging, cultural impact, inclusive innovation, which isn't a bad thing. I always say to people, you're supposed to innovate and move with the times. Because what's essentially happening is we're reframing and we're avoiding the, polarization while also deepening our commitment. So while others get triggered by the term DNI, what should really be happening is the mission's just staying the same. So whether you call it inclusion, whether you call it community, whether you call it impact building, it should not change the direction that you are going in, which is a commitment to creating an an inclusive world. So now with both comes good and bad. Right? There's a risk when DNI gets dismantled. And then what are companies actually doing who are succeeding and excelling? Right?

So what happens when you start dismantling DNI? Well, the equity gap widens. You start seeing organizations not focus on groups that have historically been marginalized, whether that's women, whether that's veterans, whether that's our disabled community. Trust and leadership declines. The saying I have this season is a lot of employees are managing grief, and they're also managing the silence of a lot of leaders. So you start seeing the erosion of leadership and the trust in the leadership that you have, and your brand starts losing relevance. And when we start thinking about the Gen z's and, you know, the generation after that, they care about how inclusive a company is. We know that by 2050, most of the, especially The US, but most of the global landscape will look very different. Right?

So that generation are looking at companies and organizations from the lens of, are you reflecting who I am and the people that are in my world? What are people doing who are actually ready, from a more inclusive society? Well, their hiring and promotion pipelines are strengthened. These are the changes that I'm seeing in some of the clients that I consult are, doing. Supplier diversity is so important and the vendor partnerships. How we're bringing in different voices and perspective into our organization. So whether that's production, whether that's some of our product team, all of that is going to add to the products you put out into the world, but the inclusivity of thought that we need to see happen that allows us for future proofing our companies, our products, and our brands.

And it's not all about, you know, promises. I always say, you know, words are good, but what are we building? Right? Are we using the data to design the next iteration of our businesses? We should be. Data tells us what's working. It tells us what's not working. But it's also the only way that we can measure ourselves and also stay accountable, hold leadership accountable is by having some metrics in place. But the companies that are doing really well at this, those are the ones that are understanding that how do we, change the makeup of our supplier metrics, our vendor partnerships, our product designs, the teams that sit in them, but everything is rooted in data. And I think that's really important. And I know I'm moving really, really fast, but, you know, your story is only as strong as the voices you include. And what that means, oh, oh, what that means is, essentially, if you are just making sure everything's working. Yep. Okay.

Your story is as strong as the voices you include. And that's true for every area of your life. And I say to people, your business, your personal, and anything else that falls into your life includes a variety of voices, whether you go down to the coffee shop, whether you're on vacation. You're gonna meet a variety of people. Right? So leadership traits should be empathetic. They should adapt to the seasons that we're in. We should see more coverage. We should see, more relatability and more vulnerability, honestly, as a leader. Because the voices that you champion, the voices that you show others matter is truly what your employees are looking for. So the framing, I initially kicked this off with the framing has changed. Right? We've seen inclusion go from DNI, now it's communities, now it's belonging.

But how we talk about the work is actually what matters. So whether we're telling a strategic story, the thing that really has to resonate with our audiences is representation there. Right? Can the community see themselves? And, again, that's how brand loyalty builds. Right? It's not about campaign. It's about the commitment to culture. And, you know, I was saying to, a team literally yesterday that language right now is just us being pedantic. Like, if we wanna go into the granularity of it, whether it's d, whether it's e, whether it's I, we still have to innovate. Right? We still we still have to innovate, and we have to consider the people where that language may feel like it's isolating.

So what are the language we should start using to feel more inviting? Access, belonging, trust, community. These are words we use every day, and inclusion truly should be embedded in every framework and fabric of the business. But we should also understand that it's not necessarily watering down the mission or the vision. All it's doing is creating more invitation to those who historically may have been opposed to it or those who feel like, you know, the inclusion landscape has gone to extreme. I always say language matters. Let's talk about the impact of, you know, if you hired a minority owned supplier to support you on a product build. That has changed generations. Right? That has allowed money to flow into communities that we don't even see or understand. And that to me is the storytelling.

What are the stories we can be telling about the impacts of inclusion? And I think that's gonna allow us to reframe how we see inclusion, how we see the work, and also it allows us to free ourselves essentially from the pedanticness of Dee and I, which oftentimes can be polarizing especially in this season. It's okay to understand that for some, it can be triggering. So with two minutes left, and I know I'm rushing, I you know, inclusion isn't a department. It should be in your business, and it's about how your leaders think. So are your leaders empathetic? Are they vulnerable? Are they seeing the world truly as what it is, which is a world that is built for diversity of thought, diversity of people, and just an inclusive space where we all feel like we belong? So with that, what's next?

So what I say to people when you're building anything, center inclusion and innovation, make it measurable, speak the language of change, and stay responsive, not reactive. We've seen what a reactive system looks like, and that is everyone making pledges that they then cannot uphold. What does creating sustainable change look like? Well, let's create some measurements that are realistic for where you and your organization are at in this present day. Does it have to be grand? Absolutely not. It just has to be impactful. So I say this to say, as we think about DE and I inclusion within the tech landscape and beyond, my request to everyone is see this as a personal your personal mission to add impact into the world, and let's not get caught up into the semantics, but really truly building a world and an environment where everyone feels like they belong.

I will stop sharing because I know I went super quick. Thank you. Thank you so much. If you have, if you wanna reach out to me, I'm top edge across all social platforms, And I have this presentation to share and a deeper presentation that we didn't get to cover, but please reach out. We'd love to talk to anyone, around the iteration of DNI, especially in this season as tech and AI feel like it's taking over. There's so much more we can do as leaders. Thank you.