Meeting/Event Information

NOTE: Online registration is closed. To register, please contact us at [email protected] or (314) 892-7994.

Why DEI is  Failing & How to Make it Work
Presented by:
Fred Falker
President
Falker Consulting Group, Inc.

An inclusive culture is one where everybody feels that they matter and belong. And while inclusion is a condition for employees, something they either experience or do not, it stems almost entirely from the acts and actions of leaders. Efforts that pit employees against one another will not succeed, wasting time and money, but most importantly, prohibiting work communities and the people inhabiting them from thriving.  

In this talk, Fred will cover:

• Why most current DEI efforts are doomed to fail (and, in some cases, make matters worse).
• Why inclusion is an act of leadership but a condition for employees.
• The mindset shift from difference to distance leaders must make to be inclusive.
• The role leaders must play in establishing inclusive cultures.

Our Speaker
Fred Falker is the President of Falker Consulting Group, Inc., a consulting and human resource development training firm, and former Director of Workforce Development for the Saint Louis Zoo. He has been an organizational development consultant for over 30 years, helping organizations with performance management, customer service, and inclusion & diversity consulting and training. At the Saint Louis Zoo, his work focused on helping the organization establish itself as one of the country's best places to work, serve and volunteer. 

Over the past twenty-five years, Fred has developed and introduced a fundamentally new and better approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This approach goes beyond today's anti-racism and unconscious/implicit bias training. Instead of focusing on the differences between people, Fred focuses on the distance between them and the behaviors that drive connection, inclusion, and belonging. 

Fred has partnered with Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute to develop a program called Include to bring distance paradigm thinking and behavioral change into organizations. Fred is also working on a book detailing this transformative way of thinking about inclusion and diversity titled, Seeing the Box: Connecting with People. 

A few of the organizations Fred has served are Spire Inc., BJC Health System, SSM Health System, Bethesda Health System, Miles Laboratories, Keeley Construction, Boeing, Johnson and Johnson, Washington University, Fontbonnne University, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Commerce Bank, Ralston Purina, Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, Saint Louis Zoo and U.S. Department of Education. 

Schedule
8:00 am Breakfast & Networking
8:30 am - 9:45 am Keynote Presentation

Fees
SHRM St. Louis Chapter Member - Included in Dues
Non-Chapter Member - $50