The Room She Helped Make More Inclusive

It was importantly for me to create the Young Women's Empowerment Program to provide support, care and pathways for young women who were at risk or who had been victim-survivors of human trafficking. Graduates have gone on to live safely and empowered.

I attend a 12 step recovery meeting for women and we decided we wanted to be inclusive. I helped create the language for our meeting statement (specifically "gender expression"). Here's the statement... This meeting welcomes LGBTQ people who identify as women, regardless of gender expression.

I've learned that inclusion often starts with making sure the people closest to the work have a voice in the process. In proposal work, I've seen how bringing together different perspectives, expertise, and working styles leads to stronger outcomes and has taught me that creating space for others is just as important as having the right answer.

To me, diversity goes far beyond what we can see or what we can measure. It lives in the experiences, skills, backgrounds, perspectives, education, and knowledge each person brings with them. Inclusion begins by asking not simply, "Who is in the room?" but "Whose experience or perspective is missing from the conversation we're having?" In short… Pay attention to the people, experiences, and knowledge the room is missing.

I've been in residential construction most of my life and what I've noticed most over last few years is the distrust from clients. So many have had bad experiences with service pros and I want to rectify that and let them know that we're not all the same. I don't want to be paid for a job. I want a loyal customer as long as you own your home. I want your trust as much as I want your business. The reward is a happy customer that is comfortable with you in their home. That's when you know you've done a great job. That and a five star review! lol