Embracing the Future of Work with Luaskya Nonon, Esq.

Workplace culture strategist and corporate attorney Luaskya Nonon, author of Embracing the Future of Work, joins us this week for a powerful conversation on what it really takes to build thriving organizations. Luaskya shares how well-intentioned workplace initiatives often fail to reach everyone and what leaders can do differently.

Drawing from her expertise as an Afro-Latina attorney, executive coach, and author, Luaskya explores why belonging, equitable opportunity, and psychological safety must come before wellness programs can succeed. We discuss how to uncover blind spots in program design, why middle managers hold the keys to safe environments, and how servant leadership, authentic communication, and personal accountability can reshape organizational wellbeing.

If you’re ready to move beyond surface-level efforts and embrace the future of work with humanity at the center, this episode is for you.

Connect with Luaskya Nonon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luaskyanonon/

Visit her website https://equityprinciple.com/ to learn more about her consulting services.

Purchase her newest book, Embracing the Future of Work—15 Actionable Strategies for Inclusive, High-Performing Organizations 

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Education Burnout Crisis
• 2:03 Meet Luasca Nonen, Culture Strategist
• 5:21 Who Benefits From Workplace Programs?
• 9:42 Building Allyship and Psychological Safety
• 13:13 Creating Effective Organizational Change
• 19:30 Trust-Building in Dysfunctional Systems
• 28:01 Humanity in the Workplace
• 35:21 DEI and Creating Level Playing Fields
• 39:24 Closing Thoughts and Resources

Transcript

Amy Schamberg: 0:05

Hi everybody. This is Amy Schamberg and you're listening to TAUGHT, the podcast for education change-makers who want simple, effective and actionable strategies to make schools healthier, safer and more sustainable places to work. By now you've probably heard it loud and clear Educator burnout is a compounding global crisis. Teachers are leaving in droves and students are paying the price, but despite the scale of the problem, most teacher wellness efforts still focus only on the individual, the least effective level of intervention. It's time for a new approach, one that looks upstream, moves beyond surface-level fixes and focuses on real organizational solutions, because, let's be honest, you can't self-care your way out of systemic dysfunction. Thanks for being here. Now let's dive in. Hi everybody, and welcome back to this episode of TAUGHT. Today we have a very special guest with us.

Amy Schamberg: 1:10

Luaskya Nonan is a workplace culture strategist, executive leadership coach, author and attorney with over two decades of experience helping senior leaders navigate legal complexity, reputational risk and organizational change. As the founder of Equity Principle Consulting, she partners with CHROs and culture teams to lead through political pressure and cultural disruption without compromising their values or their influence. She's a trusted voice at the intersection of workplace culture and organizational risk. She helps clients redesign both human and AI-powered systems to protect people-first cultures and strengthen long-term performance. Luaska is the author of Embracing the Future of Work and a sought-after speaker on workplace culture, strategy, responsible AI, women's leadership and the realities of leading under pressure. Luo welcome.

Luaskya Nonan: 2:03

Thank you so much, Amy. I appreciate you having me on your platform,

Amy Schamberg: 2:07

Absolutely

Amy Schamberg: 2:08

I am so excited for this conversation. To start; big picture- how did you get to where you are today? What led you to this work? What were your original interests? How did it evolve?

Luaskya Nonan: 2:19

I am originally from Brooklyn, new York. When I decided to go to law school, I was going to do child advocacy work. I changed my mind because law school loans were very expensive and I needed to figure out how to pay for my law school loans and still live a good life, and so I decided to go in-house and I'd been working as an in-house attorney for, as you mentioned, 20 years now. In that time, I primarily focused on HR, employment related transactions, employee relations matters, as well as doing some corporate transactions, but in support of HR organizations, I really focused on creating cultures that prioritize their people. I don't know that you know, but attorneys in the US, only 5% of them are people of color, or rather black people, and 6% of the US attorney population are Hispanics.

Luaskya Nonan: 3:05

I am an Afro-Latina and so I fall in both of the 5% and the 6% of all the attorneys in the US as part of that demographic.

Luaskya Nonan: 3:13

I'm often the only attorney of color in most of the spaces I've been in in corporate. I know what it's like not feeling completely included in these spaces, and particularly when I'm speaking with C-suite level folks. There may not have been a lot of people that look like me over the last 20 years. So when I work with HR organizations, I really try to prioritize the impact of the initiative or the policy or the program on the people that are being targeted to support. I represent an Afro-Latina, so I am Black and Hispanic. Recognizing that I am part of that demographic impressed upon me that I needed to ensure that people that fall in the margins, what some may call minorities, are also appropriately represented in the workplace they go to every day, and part of that, in my role as an attorney supporting HR, was to ensure that when they are proposing initiatives or policies or programs, that they really consider the impact on the individual, particularly the individual that may not be the priority focus, or of the general population, those that fall within the margins.

Amy Schamberg: 4:25

I love what you said about focusing on the individual. You can't just go in with an initiative thinking that it's going to impact everybody in your organization the same. When there are disparities, inequities and systemic barriers, we have to dismantle and acknowledge that.

Luaskya Nonan: 4:40

And so when you think about attempting to create organizational change within a company or any organization, you have to start with the people that create that organization.

Luaskya Nonan: 4:50

Sure, there are policies and programs that you may propose that you think supports everyone, but if you're not first asking the people that create that organization how best you can serve them, how best a particular policy or practice may serve them, the objective to be successful in promoting this policy or practice will fall short if it doesn't actually support the people that it's intended to support, and that's all people, not just a subset of the population within the organization.

Luaskya Nonan: 5:21

In my practice, when I'm working with corporate leaders within the organization, In my practice, when I'm working with corporate leaders, I really ask them the question how are they serving their people and I mean all of their people and really looking at their data to understand who's not being served, who's not represented by this particular policy or who's not taking advantage. Participation rates is a really great way to assess how effective your programs are. When you draft it, you think you're drafting it in a way that allows for everyone to participate, but when you look at the numbers of participation, you've got to ask yourself why is certain groups participating in this program and others are not and really dig into that to understand how best you can support all of your people to benefit from this program you've offered.

Amy Schamberg: 6:07

Yeah, absolutely. We need to find out what the people need and want before we provide something. I'm curious if you would be open to sharing a bit more about what you are noticing. Senior leaders are often missing. So when you say who is not benefiting or who is not accessing or who is not utilizing these programs, what's the answer that typically comes up the most and what does the data show? What's interesting?

Luaskya Nonan: 6:30

I think in this present moment, hr organizations are led by value driven leaders. In my experience, hr organizations HR leadership, are very value driven. They have a desire to do good work, to support their people, to really be the advocate for their people, to really be the advocate for their people, and so in their policies and practices they attempt to ensure that the program that they're promoting or the benefits that they're offering benefit everyone across the board. The myth there is really assessing who is taking advantage of these opportunities, because when they're drafting these policies or programs and promoting them the way it's written, it appears that it's benefiting everyone. It doesn't exclude anyone. But when you look at who's participating, you then discover something else, one of the programs or two of them that I can think about, where you are wanting to encourage your high performers to continue to persevere within the organization, and so you offer them either a sponsorship program or mentorship program. But you realize that the demands of the program require an individual to perhaps attend evening events or have meetings with folks in a different country, that requires them to work at off hours or things like that. That otherwise would not be a major issue, but if you are a family man or family woman. You know, if you have children, childcare responsibilities, and these meetings are always at the time that you put your kid to bed and it's like the one time that you and your kid get to bond, that's something that's going to prevent you from participating in the program. You may just say you know, I'll do it next time, I'll do it when my kid gets a little older, where they're not needing me to put them to bed at night, right, yes? And so those opportunities become missed, missed opportunities by some of the people that you would tend on targeting and supporting, but you're not really supporting them because you've not taken the time to ask them. Hey, I'm putting out this program. I would love to have maybe a pilot of the program where we bring a couple of high-performing employees and you assess the program, you break it apart, you deconstruct it, you tell me what you think works about it, what doesn't work, what may be a challenge that we've not considered, because everyone has different lived experiences. When you bring it to the table, you can discover that there are nuances in a program or offering that, because of someone's lived experience, they're able to identify, but you may not because your lived experience is different. Other kind of scenario would be like.

Luaskya Nonan: 8:52

Many companies have promoted ERGs employee resource groups which are a great opportunity for folks to come together, be in community and really discuss some of the challenges that they're facing. One of the misses that, I think, is an opportunity to raise up allies within the organization, perhaps considering an allyship ERG. You know, an ERG of people who really want to support other members within the organization and they may not know how to do that. And everyone, right, everyone can be an ally, irrespective of your identity group. I think it'd be super cool to have an allyship ERG where everyone within the organization is able to come and learn skills and obtain tools to better support their colleagues yes, by standard training.

Luaskya Nonan: 9:38

Right, when they're seeing microaggressions happening in the workforce against a person of color or a woman in particular, how does someone stand up for that person? I have been in situations because of the level of seniority that I have in organizations. I've called out microaggressions of senior leaders. The authority and power that someone has in different spaces can be leveraged to squelch some of that bad behavior, and some of it may be known, some of it may be unknown by the perpetrator, but nevertheless, building up communities within your organizations that support each other is critical, and I think that that's a missed opportunity that organizations are not focused on right now.

Amy Schamberg: 10:21

I love those examples. Thank you so much for sharing them. So I want to go back to the first one. You said pilot group. You talk about that in your book, right, Rather than just okay, fine, you gather your data, you do a needs assessment, whatever that looks like.

Amy Schamberg: 10:34

You're taking a look at turnover, absences or healthcare costs, whatever that might be, and so now you've decided that this is the initiative that we need to roll out to address this. But something that I actually have never heard of happening or seen in practice is a pilot group give a test run on this intervention, and that sounds like a beautiful way to not just get feedback on the intervention or the program, but also to notice those missed opportunities, or who are we missing that? We, you know. We racked our brains ahead of time and couldn't think of anybody. I love what you said about the ERG, because I think that people often believe that they're allies and upstanders, but when it comes to the moment where it's time to act, a lot of times people stay silent or retreat. Later they'll say I didn't know what to do or didn't know what to say, and if you're empowering, everyone to be that upstander.

Luaskya Nonan: 11:25

if you're empowering everyone to call out the microaggressions or to call out those opportunities where someone is being talked over, it creates an environment where everyone is appreciated and they feel seen and it engenders psychological safety within this space, because then everyone is empowered to step up and say something when something's not going the way it should.

Amy Schamberg: 11:45

That's right. It sets the tone for the culture that this is what we really value. It's not just what we say we value Absolutely. When you have seen an organization that is functioning well and they have addressed the misses and they really are walking the talk and their practices match the policies, can you give some examples of what that actually looks like or where you've seen that happen and maybe what it takes to get to that place? Because I would assume it's not just an accident. There's a lot of intentionality and it takes time.

Luaskya Nonan: 12:18

These initiatives take time to really assess whether they're effective. You have to be patient and intentional about any of this culture, work that we're talking about. Companies that do it well prioritize their people by listening to them, giving them the opportunities to share their concerns, to raise up issues of focus that should be looked at and then issues that folks may not be aware of. And so, as I think about this in particular, I'm very much aware that organizations they have employee surveys. Often, many organizations have employee surveys. However, if you've not created an environment where someone raising a concern, where someone saying this, is not going well, if you've not created that environment, that psychologically safe environment where someone could object to a behavior or a program that everyone loves, but this group of people and this one representative is able to say but it's really not working for that or it's really not working for us. If you've not created that environment, your employee surveys are trash because people aren't being honest in those surveys. The companies that do this work well, not only have the employee surveys where they respond on the survey, but they have conversations. They have either fireside chats or courageous conversations or whatever you want to call it, and they have those opportunities where they're constantly talking to their people and they're really getting an understanding about what their experience is in the workplace because everyone's experience is different and then they're making decisions based upon that. They are also utilizing their data. Their data is driving their decisions.

Luaskya Nonan: 14:00

Companies have a ton of data and many don't have data specialists.

Luaskya Nonan: 14:06

Their sole job is to evaluate the data, not only collect the data, but evaluate the data, sparse it out, cut it up like, do all the things to really assess what this data means.

Luaskya Nonan: 14:17

Their data can be used for multiple things within the organization, externally, for the company, but, as we're talking about culture, there's not a lot of companies that have data specialists that do that work. And so when you have that level of focus on your data, you're able to make really sound decisions. And so, as you propose new initiatives based upon your data, you test it out by communicating to your people through pilot programs to validate that the data suggests this proposed initiative is where we should be going. Hey, people, do you agree with that assessment? And then you test it out in real life. And so those are the primary things talking to your people, prioritizing your people and talking to them, really getting an assessment of what their lived experience is in the workplace and leveraging your data to make the decisions that you need to make. And then, of course, keeping that constant circle around where you're communicating with your people about the data that you get, yeah, such great advice and you lay it all out so nicely in your book.

Amy Schamberg: 15:17

I'm wondering if you've seen a disconnect ever. So, like, top level executives have the values, they care about people, they want a psychologically safe workplace for all and they're walking the talk. But where I see it break down and this is, of course, in education, which is a little different, but I would equate it to middle managers. So when I think about principals in a school, if we have a school, a large school district that has 150 schools and each of those schools has the middle managers which are the principals, so maybe the upper level district people are really trying and the HR folks are really trying to create a place that feels welcoming and belonging for all and, you know, allow access to the perks and programs. But then you have the person that is your direct supervisor, that is stressed themselves and under a lot of pressure. They're not modeling these things. Therefore, you don't feel safe taking advantage, right.

Luaskya Nonan: 16:17

So that would be if I were to continue, the imagery, the structure that you've laid out, that first line manager, right. You've laid out that first-line manager, right, that first-line manager in a corporation, which I believe is a critical component to establishing that workplace culture that those senior-level folks really aspire for and they talk about and believe to be true. If the first-line manager is not modeling those values and is not truly creating that culture, then the subordinate employee is not experiencing that beautiful imagery that's been laid out by the senior leadership. And so when I speak with corporate leaders about those structures, I really impress upon them the value of training their first-line management, because they are the key to the whole picture that you're trying to paint here, right? Training that first line manager to have them really understand what you're wanting to do, what the vision is. They've got to buy into that vision and if they don't buy into it because they are not fully aware of it, then they're not going to model it and create that environment for the sporting employees. The other issue too is first line managers are often under a significant amount of pressure, which leads to burnout In corporate spaces. I find that many first-line managers are former high performers that were individual contributors. Now they've got people management responsibilities and so they don't know how to manage people and that adds a layer of stress which, over time, leads to burnout.

Luaskya Nonan: 17:42

Speaking with corporate leaders, I tell them it is important to support their first line managers by offering them training and coaching. I believe in coaching because when you have someone in your corner to help you unravel the mess in your head and all the things you're seeing in your workplace, it enables you to come back to that workspace with a level of clarity and it's empowered you to really assess things in a different way. And coaching gives you that toolkit to really delve deep into and access resources that you may not have known you had access to, and you can then approach those situations in the workplace differently and better and more equipped and more grounded within yourself. Because there's a lot that goes on in these workplaces, and especially in the education setting. I impress upon them the importance of knowing themselves. You have to know your limits and what environment you need to thrive in right, and so certain workplaces are not conducive to create an opportunity for that first-line manager to thrive. They're not offering them the support they need. They're not offering them the tools that they need, and so they're now compounded with the stressors of the job and lack of support.

Luaskya Nonan: 18:58

So when I'm speaking to that first-line management, I tell them that it's important for them to understand and assess within themselves what they need and then to be able to articulate and advocate for themselves for those things, because no one knows what you need better than you. And if you don't know what you need, then you really need to take the time to assess that, because everyone's different and everyone may not have the same needs. But if you yourself know that you're approaching a point in which you're burning out, like you sense it, you stress it, like you've got to know that within your body, then you have to be able to articulate that to your management team and seek out opportunities to create healthy boundaries, to create the space that you need to recover, to heal and then to continue to do the work. And some of that has to operate in tandem. Your healing process may actually have to happen while you are continuing to do the work, but if you're getting the support that you need, it is possible.

Luaskya Nonan: 19:50

Maybe not easy, but it is possible. It's important to advocate for yourself, to ask what you need and for management to actually provide the support that their people need. Because we all know burnout is a real thing and in the education space, the administration they know that it's a high probability that their teams will reach a point that they're going to be burned out. So why not anticipate that? Why not put the infrastructure in place to provide the support that your people need in advance, so that it is less likely, and maybe farther out, that they may experience that burnout?

Amy Schamberg: 20:22

Be proactive. Let's address the root cause. And it's interesting I've worked in various schools throughout my 15-year career in school psychology. I've worked in places where the district itself is not prioritizing well-being, but I've had a really great principal who really cares about the people in his building, takes care to give people what they need and listen, and that really helps lessen the pressure, Even if you're in the system that might be overall toxic. If your little microcosm of that system is healthy and thriving, you're fine. And on the other side, I've been in places where the district as a whole has won awards for being employee-centered and wellness-focused, but the actual building I was in was highly dysfunctional and I didn't feel any of that. I would talk to a colleague in a different building down the road and they're like wow, I have a very different experience than you.

Luaskya Nonan: 21:16

Yeah.

Amy Schamberg: 21:16

We need to make sure that we are providing the intervention, the support. I like what you said before when you were describing the mentorship program and how that's not always fair.

Luaskya Nonan: 21:28

if somebody has things they need to do outside of work, it's not a benefit if they have to do it on a time that's otherwise allocated in their life? We're supposed to have lives outside of work.

Amy Schamberg: 21:39

Let's talk about repair when a system is dysfunctional or broken. What does effective repair or rebuilding look like?

Luaskya Nonan: 21:48

I am all about communication and understanding what the issues are For an administration. One of the things that caught my eye was you had mentioned you've been in situations where the principal was providing you cover and create that workplace culture that really allowed for you to prioritize well-being, prioritize people, and then, above him or her, the entire administration may not have been as supportive or did not promote that structure. As you said that, I thought to myself how amazing it is to have that leader provide that for you, but then who's providing that same for that leader? Like that leader is not also getting the support that he or she needs to continue to thrive, so they are likely to be the first to burn out. They are feeling that pressure. And so one of the things that I stress when I have opportunities to speak with corporations is really talking to them at every level.

Luaskya Nonan: 22:43

Well, at the highest level and then maybe first line managers, because I want to understand what everyone's experience is. Oftentimes the administration or senior leader does not have the same experience of the workplace environment that a first line manager does, too far away from it, right, and in a school system absolutely not, because they're not even in the same building. So the experiences are different. Folks at the very high level really need to have a moment where they actually enter the spaces and spend some time with the workforce. Spend some time with the people in the spaces to really get a sense of what's happening.

Luaskya Nonan: 23:20

If you're talking to the people and really understand this is why communication is priority and really understand so what is happening Like what's your experience Like?

Luaskya Nonan: 23:27

I want to know. There is no retaliation or repercussions for you sharing truthfully what has happened, and it takes time to build that level of trust. But without trust then you have nothing, and so leaders need to have conversations with people within the workplace to understand their experience. Organizations doing this work well have those conversations regularly. They either have ambassadors that are at different sites that have the responsibility to do this work on behalf of the most senior leaders. The senior leaders may not be able to attend these events, but nevertheless those ambassadors are empowered to take action and bring the information back up to the senior leadership and also to give direction to the individuals on site on what they've experienced, what they've shared, what they've learned from employees and how to make changes right. And so that's one of the things that I think is critical is the communication piece and really understanding how the people that are living in this space day to day are experiencing the workplace.

Amy Schamberg: 24:30

And that comes from having off-the-cuff conversations. It doesn't come from completing your once-a-year survey.

Luaskya Nonan: 24:37

Because you can't ask all the questions that you really need to ask in the once-a-year survey. Like, you need that fill-in-the-box and no one fills in the box on any survey because no one's got time, right, Right, but you really need the fill-in-the-box information. You don't need the. Strongly agree. Strongly disagree.

Amy Schamberg: 24:53

Right. We need to get a pulse on what's happening at various times throughout the year. You talk about trust and I agree. What are some ways that first-line managers, senior leadership, can build trust? What do employees need to see and hear in order to feel that the organization is trustworthy?

Luaskya Nonan: 25:14

Using the example that you shared in the education space about having that principle, that what I would say covered you all Having leadership that is honest and authentic about whatever's happening in the workforce. I understand that many can't share all the things just yet, but when they do share, it's important that you're sharing authentically and truthfully. If you don't know, say you don't know. When you're committed to what you say and you believe in what you say, that's felt by your employees Also being truthful to your word. And so if you are allowing your employees to take advantage of certain benefits, give them that time to do so. Make it such that it's an easy thing for them to do. I think trust is also built when you go out of your way to be of service, as a servant leader myself, when I am able to serve my teams in a way that helps them realize oh, she didn't have to do that, but she did, taking something off of their plate. Don't worry, I've got that. I can do that for you, or I can lead that, or I can have that conversation for you. If you can be a servant to them and help them help, because everyone's got a tough job. You build trust. By being of service. You build trust by being authentic in your communications and being true to your word, advocating for them.

Luaskya Nonan: 26:30

The worst leaders are those that leave their people out to dry when something blows up. You've got to be the one-stop shop. So if something goes wrong on your team, it's your fault. It's not your team's fault, it's not Susie's fault or Janie's fault. It's your fault. It's not your team's fault, it's not Susie's fault or Janie's fault. It's your fault as the leader. It's your fault and you need to take that up and you need to take the brunt of that. Those are the ways in which you build trust. I also believe a level of vulnerability is important, because when you tie vulnerability to authenticity, it's magic. And I'm not saying you bring all of your junk to work and share all of the things that are happening in your life.

Luaskya Nonan: 27:04

I am saying when a tough decision has to be made in an organization and you as a leader are having to make the tough decision, you tell your team I am having to make a tough decision. You don't say senior leadership made me do it. You've got to represent the senior leadership and own the decision. Just like when you make a mistake, you've got to own it with your team when the senior leadership make a decision.

Luaskya Nonan: 27:25

But you say I'm being asked to make a tough decision I know that this is going to impact so many of us and, unfortunately, this is a decision that I've come to and you own it right and you say I welcome any feedback that you guys have. I know that you guys are thinking a lot about this and have some feelings about it. I'm here to listen, yeah, like they're not going to change the decision right, similar to what you would do if you have a child, right, and you're in a parent-child relationship. You make a decision as a parent, your child doesn't like it, but maybe you tell your kid. I'm happy to hear what your thoughts are because I want to help you process this, but the decision is a decision, absolutely.

Luaskya Nonan: 28:03

And I think that builds trust, just like it builds trust in a parent-child relationship 100%.

Amy Schamberg: 28:08

It's being authentic, being helpful, keeping your word, being genuine and showing some vulnerability. Aka, all of us is basically being a good human Human Right.

Luaskya Nonan: 28:19

Yeah, over the last right after COVID, I feel that as a society in the US, we were the most human we had been in a while In our interactions with people, acknowledging that we're human. There was social justice unrest during that same time and maybe that, all coupled with COVID, right. We needed that environment where we're all recognizing that people are people, created that environment where we're all recognizing that people are people. Shortly after that, I felt that corporations were taking a greater focus on people and attempting to create a people first workplace culture. I know some of that was performative.

Luaskya Nonan: 28:52

I am not that pie in the sky kind of girl. I know that some of that was formative, but there are companies that were not acting formatively and had just then like in 2022, really began to understand what this people first culture was and really was trying to do the work and really advancing that. But since then, I feel we have lost some of that. As a society, I'm scared to say we're losing some of our humanity, and AI is not helping. I am a proponent of AI, don't get me wrong, but it's not helping that at all, things have shifted in the wrong direction.

Amy Schamberg: 29:24

That is a whole piece we can talk about, but I do want to honor what you just shared, because it's so important. We have this racial reckoning and this social justice movement, and all of it coinciding with COVID and the disparity between who is dying from this pandemic, who's not, all the things. And then it's like, okay, well, we're five years later and now it's the complete opposite. It's like a blip in the whole history books. Yeah, and there's just so much. Why don't you talk a little bit about the future of work with this in mind, with the current political environment and with AI and where that might be going? You know, how is this impacting companies, organizations, school systems and what do we need to be very mindful of? Moving forward?

Luaskya Nonan: 30:10

We should not be complicit in this movement. To erase humanity is not the right word, but to move away from prioritizing humanity to this quiet erasure of what I call the people first workplace culture. We should not be complicit in that. Ai will allow us to be complicit in that. This political climate is proposing, recommending and encouraging organizations to be complicit in that, and that will be a not great place for us be complicit in that, and that will be a not great place for us. And so my recommendation is to do the exact opposite Prioritize humanity, build people-first workplace cultures, really understand and appreciate that as humans, we all have value.

Luaskya Nonan: 30:57

Ai is a tool to help us advance whatever initiative we have. It is not intended to replace us as humans. It was intended to support us in doing the good that we do in the world. We need to put a stake in the ground on that issue and do all that we can to support that.

Luaskya Nonan: 31:15

When I wrote the book and entitled it Embracing the Future, work for diversity, equity, inclusion and all of these practices that we talk about when we talk about creating an inclusive workplace culture, all of that is grounded in prioritizing humanity right, leading with people-first workplace cultures, and if we do that, then we can overcome all of this other noise no-transcript, continue to move away from these initiatives.

Luaskya Nonan: 32:12

We're losing ground and we need to push back on that, just like we need to push back on the political climate that we're in and really focus on the humanity of everyone. Right, prioritizing humanity. The way in which you do that is to have conversations to really understand people and who they are and what their lived experiences are and how they are suffering or how they're experiencing a particular space that they're in whether it's work, whether it's church, the office, the schoolhouse or the school building and how can we create environments where they feel good about where they're at inside themselves as well as within that space, because it impacts us internally and that internal impact results in burnout, right. So how can we create environments where that's not the normal, that's not every day?

Amy Schamberg: 33:00

That's right, and leaders have actual leaders on paper, have a unique opportunity to really stand firm in that. And I also believe that we are all leaders and we all are upstanders and can lead the charge and can model for others how to embody humanity and being a good person and speaking up when something's not right, showing others how to take care of themselves and also, if you're stuck in a really toxic place, it's how to take care of themselves. And also, if you're stuck in a really toxic place, it's okay to look for something else and you don't have to stay there.

Luaskya Nonan: 33:30

And the first person we lead is ourself. That's right. I'm also a proponent for self-advocacy. I tell everyone that I mentor on every opportunity when I'm speaking. You have got to advocate for yourself, but you also need to know yourself well enough to know what circumstances, situations and environments that you're in that may not serve you. If you acknowledge that they're not serving you, that it is beholden upon you to do better for yourself and find another space to be in, find a space that's going to value you, find a space that's going to really support you. And as we talked about this foundational premise of prioritizing humanity, we then move to the systems. Right, because once you are grounded in prioritizing humanity, you can then look at the systems and the infrastructures that don't do that. The many spaces that we operate today have systems or are part of a system that doesn't prioritize humanity, and humanity of all people, humanity of some and not all that's so important.

Amy Schamberg: 34:33

That's so critical of everyone, right, Not just of some Of everyone of everyone.

Luaskya Nonan: 34:38

And so, once you in my leadership trainings with executives, my goal is to ground them in the humanity of all of their people, right, and then we can look at the systems to see well, how are the systems not serving all of the people? Because if you don't have that foundational premise of prioritizing all people, all humans, then you're never going to be able to acknowledge that the systems don't serve all the people.

Amy Schamberg: 35:05

So well said, absolutely agree with everything. My area of focus is organizational wellness, but DEI, DEIB is a huge umbrella over all of that and what I'm gathering and understanding with clarity from our conversation is that before an organization can even start thinking about the step challenges and the healthy lunches and all these other perks and programs that you know fall under that umbrella of wellness, step back and look to find out how are people experiencing the workplace? Start there. If I don't feel like I can speak up or I don't feel like I belong or I don't feel like I am represented, that's where it has to start.

Luaskya Nonan: 35:45

Right and those initiatives are worthless.

Amy Schamberg: 35:47

Absolutely. That is such a huge component that I think is missed. I mean, I haven't done any research on that to confirm that statement, but I can see anecdotally that that is a huge missed opportunity.

Amy Schamberg: 35:59

I feel like I could continue asking you questions for the next day! But we don't have time for that. What haven't I asked you yet that you you feel is important to share?

Luaskya Nonan: 36:23

I think, well let me say this. Many people think they understand what diversity, equity and inclusion is- DEI. It's a term that's thrown out to refer to certain Black people mostly, or people of color. It's been characterized as a negative thing initiative. This belief system is because it really is grounded in creating environments and opportunities for everyone to thrive. That's right, In whatever space you are in. When you're able to acknowledge that you're going to prioritize humanity and people-first workplace cultures, then you can appreciate that there are certain opportunities that everyone is not given the chance to really thrive, given the chance to realize success, however they define it.

Luaskya Nonan: 37:13

And at the end of the day, when we all go to work, whatever that looks like, we all have a desire to feel good about the work that we're doing. So we want to do dignified work, to feel good about the work that we're doing. So we want to do dignified work. But we also have a desire to realize success. Again, however you define that, and if the opportunities are not present for everyone in the workspace to realize their measure of success, then that's an inequity that one would argue. Dei is intended to adjust and address, and that can be true for any person of any identity. It is intended truly to be a leveling of the playing field so that everyone can have an opportunity to thrive In the current environment that we're operating in the US. The playing field is not leveled. That's right, it is not leveled.

Amy Schamberg: 38:03

That's right. It is not level. And DEI is not a checkbox. It's not a list of things to do. It's a deliberate strategy. It's recognizing and valuing and celebrating differences, and race is part of that, but so is gender identity, sexual orientation and age and ability or disability and all of these other components. And then you have to look at the intersectionality of all of that, because we are not just one person. We don't fall under just one category. I really appreciate you highlighting that and bringing that up as we come to a close here. Everybody should get your book and I will make sure that I link it. It's called Raising the Future of Work 15 Actionable Strategies for Inclusive, High-Performing Organizations. You do such a beautiful job of laying these strategies out in a very easy to understand, easy to implement way. Anybody can really take this and run with it and start taking action. That was my goal, so I'm glad you felt that way. Yeah, absolutely. I had the pleasure of reading it on my plane ride back from Europe the other day. So where can people find you?

Luaskya Nonan: 39:03

back from Europe the other day, so where can people find you? Well, I am on LinkedIn mostly. That is my primary platform that I am present on, so I'll be sure to leave you my LinkedIn info so that folks can access that.

Amy Schamberg: 39:13

Perfect, and we'll link your website as well. Yes, equitycom, this has been such a powerful conversation. I appreciate you so much. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much, amy. It's been great. Thanks for listening to TAUT. If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a colleague and leave a quick review, and be sure to follow the show so you don't miss what's next. For more tools to support educator well-being, visit amyschamburgcom. Backslash TAUT. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. I'd love to keep the conversation going. Finally, remember to check the show notes for links to today's guest and additional resources. See you next time.