Emotional exhaustion and burnout is real and has a disproportionate impact on women, BIPOC and others who face systemic challenges.

Honestly, I don't think I've ever felt more emotionally exhausted, and getting more sleep doesn't help.

So it was that Brene Brown's podcast interview with authors of the book "Burnout: the secret to unlocking the stress cycle" resonated deeply and also provided insights and practical strategies for dealing with stress, even when we have no control over the stressors.

Read more about my takeaways, then go listen to the podcast episode, then go read the book!

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickOctober 18, 2020#stress, #burnout, #brenebrown, #pandemiclife, #selfcareComment

More on the dilemma of fall school reopening decisions (why aren't we listening to those most impacted?)

The data shows that low-income, Black and Latinx families are the least in favor of re-opening schools. They place a higher priority on not dying (ie containing the virus) than on restarting the economy or getting their kids out of their hair so they can get work done more peacefully at home (which is the priority for many white and more privileged parents who are otherwise shielded from the worst effects of the virus).

As Jen Roesch argues in her article "If Opening Schools Is About Equity, Why Aren’t We Listening to Those Most Impacted?", instead of forcing students back to school, we should support them and their families to learn at home.

How are you approaching fall school reopening decisions for your family, if you have school age kids? What is your company or organization doing to support working parents? How can you advocate for working parents, especially those who face the most systemic challenges?

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickAugust 9, 2020#onlineschool, #schools, #DEIinapandemic, #DEIforthelonghaulComment

Lowering the cost of speaking up

One of the things I've realized that I can do as a DEI consultant, along with my team at Co-Creating Inclusion, is to lower the cost of speaking up.

And now what we're seeing across the country and even across the world, despite my misgivings about a "woke wave", is a systemic and cultural lowering of the cost of speaking up.

Change can happen

Change is a funny thing. I find that people, myself included, often get stuck in either being resistant to change because it's happening too fast and is out of our control or not in the direction we wanted, or being frustrated and feeling like we're banging our heads into walls and screaming into the wind because change isn't happening fast enough. Sometimes it feels like change isn't happening at all, or it's one step forward and three steps back.

What does equitable and inclusive leadership look like at this time?

We’ve been having frank and open conversations with leaders and HR folks at our client organizations about what equitable and inclusive leadership looks like at this time.

Based on these and various other conversations across multiple sectors and communities, here are some of our takeaways.

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