Commercial Integrator September 2022 - 71

the need for continuing education, while
also articulating the imperative to reach
out to the right sources in order to make a
difference. (Unsurprisingly, female industry
leaders whom CI previously interviewed
also highlighted these strategies.) LaSalata
acknowledges that working for AVI-SPL
gives the team an advantage in recruiting,
saying, " Being part of a larger company such
as AVI-SPL puts us in a better position to hire
more diverse talent because we have more
job openings in more places at any time. "
Kaufmann seconds that point, adding,
" Companies that have only 18 or 20
people find it harder to bring in the talent
and develop it. Oftentimes, they hit the
ground running and don't have the dedicated
resources. "
Nevertheless, all three hope that, with
the NSCA DEI Action Council aligned with
livingHR, association members can start
to break down the barriers that prevail in
our industry. " It's OK to start even now, "
Kaufmann remarks optimistically. He continues,
" Our job as the Action Council is
to get to the level of engagement that has
been unseen so far. "
Looking Onwards
Turning to the question of future expectations,
Angelopulos propounds that the
way forward is through education. " In the
last few years, we've educated employees
on microaggressions and other aspects of
inclusion in the workplace, " she states.
Angelopulos then expresses her enthusiasm
for the impact that these education
resources have on affected demographics,
while also increasing workforce diversity.
LaSalata agrees, adding, " While we
livingHR: A DEI-Focused NSCA Partner Organization
According to Cara Hunter, who is its senior vice president of strategy, livingHR is a
woman-owned business whose mission is to make the workplace better for all humans.
Hunter underlines that the company doesn't see DEI as just an " initiative " or a " checkbox " ;
instead, DEI lives in the culture for all clients, across the talent lifecycle, and is
part of the business strategy. " We recognize that it is a different journey for everyone,
so we try to really get to know organizations and their current culture, " she emphasizes.
" Then, we focus on reasonable, achievable solutions that feel genuine and try to infuse
[them] throughout the lifecycle of the organizations. "
Likewise, Daniel Duckworth, vice president of people and culture, spotlights that it is
essentially about creating an environment that people want to be part of. He brings attention
to livingHR's approach of inculcating DEI in organizations, describing the process
as one that is " compassionate, but also delivering a reality check. " As Duckworth explains
it, " We really do our best to understand where they want to be and then show them the
gaps. We help build solutions and actions that become meaningful to the organization. "
Both Hunter and Duckworth stress that livingHR does not have a cookie-cutter approach.
After all, each organization's culture and values are different. Thus, the agency
bears the onus of providing solutions that make sense to the company's culture and its
work environment. This purpose aligns with that of the NSCA DEI Action Council. According
to Hunter, the partnership with the Action Council is relatively new, but it's one that
the whole agency is excited about. " I think our role is to really listen to the integration
industry and help integrators strategize their efforts, " she opines. " And since we work
with other industries, as well, we can provide that outside, well-rounded perspective. "
Duckworth chimes in, adding, " It's a great collaboration and a 'force multiplier,'
where we can multiply all our efforts in this space. It is important for not only the
integration industry but [also] the world as a whole. " He concludes, " We need people
willing to work together to make a [more inclusive] space. To have that truly harmonized
workspace, it's more than just having people who are different - it's helping
them come together as a community and really building that community so everyone
can be their authentic selves. "
commercialintegrator.com
'Our job as the Action
Council is to get to the
level of engagement
that has been unseen
so far.'
- Bruce Kaufmann,
Human Circuit
have all these tactics, the long-term goal is
to make [DEI] a natural part of the culture,
where it's intuitive and ingrained. "
Although the NSCA DEI Action Council
is still in its nascent stages, Kaufmann
hopes it can achieve meaningful goals in
the long run. Already, he says, the council
has 30 to 40 companies invested in the
conversation. " We plan to continue to
build the resources [with livingHR] and
take the time to get people's attention on
these matters, " Kaufmann promises. He
describes this as the process of enrichment,
which it most definitely is. DEI
enriches our work culture and experiences
and our business ethics; even more importantly,
it enriches our lives.
Going back to the alphabet motif, it
is time we center our attention on those
three letters - DEI - and bring them to
the forefront of commercial AV. Certainly,
there's momentum building...a powerful
snowball effect. It gives us reason to hope
for change not just in pockets but also
across the world. But only by making it part
of regular conversations and spotlighting
the need can we bring about the change
that we seek.
As LaSalata puts it eloquently, we need
to reach the stage where DEI is not an
afterthought but, rather, is embedded in
our culture. CI
SEPTEMBER 2022 Commercial Integrator
71

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Commercial Integrator September 2022

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