By Lynne Williams

What do you do when one person says something to you that makes a very deep impression? You write about it and share it with a bigger audience!

Hello audience! Let’s discuss Diversity and Inclusion and LinkedIn.

The Philadelphia Area Great Careers Group is an all inclusive and diverse organization and everyone is welcome. We have run a bunch of Job Search Accelerator Workshops (JSA) over the past couple of years. After a recent JSA, an African-American male participant shared with me that he did not want to put his Linkedin profile URL on his resume, as he wanted hiring managers to judge him on his skills, work experience, and formal education and not his color. (Need an HR professional in Philly? I have a terrific candidate to refer!)

Nonetheless, I’m just SMH (check the Urban Dictionary if you don’t know what that means). He sent me a link to this Youtube video, which makes me continue to SMH in disbelief.

In case you are not aware, there is a Diversity and Inclusion Committee at the Chester County Economic Development Council led by Dawna Hankins, who is the Assistant Director of Human Resources at the Downingtown School District. I am on that committee with others and we are sharing information and best practices with each other. Join us!

Last month, I attended a terrific Diversity and Inclusion Awareness workshop run by the Montgomery County Foundation.

Two weeks ago, I attended the LGBTQ+ Inclusivity in the Workplace breakfast at the Chester County Human Resources Association (CCHRA). The speaker came from Maryland and provided valuable content, so I booked him to speak for my nonprofit. I requested that he provide me with locations where I could post open Board positions and he shared two links: Pink Jobs and Transgender Job Bank. Employers may want to post jobs there also. Please share other locations with me if you are aware of any. We are seeking to expand our Board.

I’m also looking forward to the CCHRA’s January 24th meeting that will highlight Mental Health in the Workplace. As my late husband was on the Spectrum, this topic is of keen interest and certainly relates to D&I.

This past Monday, I was honored to be invited to a DiverseForce on Boards (DFOB) holiday gathering in Philadelphia by Pressy Abraham, the VP Operations on my Board of Directors and a jobseeker herself. We are very fortunate that she currently enrolled in the Board Leadership and Governance Program at the University of Pennsylvania and we are the recipients of her class projects. Had it not been for her, I never would have known about the DFOB and this gathering with State Senator Vincent Hughes and Sheryl Lee Ralph. As a follow up, I was able to fill out an application for Board positions we are trying to fill with the DFOB. If you have a need for a diverse board, you now know about this organization.

So what does all this have to do with LinkedIn? With over 660+ million people on the platform worldwide and two people joining every second, Linkedin is full of diversity. I connected with so many incredible people that I met at each and every one of these events … on LinkedIn … either by invitations on my desktop, on my mobile app, via the QR code on the mobile app, and especially with the LinkedIn Find Nearby feature on the mobile app.

So, as we are at the tail end of the year, let’s celebrate diversity, inclusion, equity, and unity as we get ready to roll into 2020 and let’s make new diverse friends and connections on LinkedIn.

Make sure that if you are attending the LinkedIn Part 1 of 3 and free headshots workshop on Sat Dec 21st at the Chester County Library, that you have the app downloaded on your phone, as we will all be connecting on Find Nearby.

Don’t miss our upcoming featured events. If you are a working adult, come learn and network with us.

• 12/21/19 LinkedIn Part 1 of 3 and Free Headshots – Lynne Williams
• 12/27/19 Career Success Group in Wayne – Michelle Mathis
• 12/31/19 Deadline to save $5 to register for the 1/27/20 org nonprofit conference
• 1/6/20 What’s Your Shtick? Personal Branding Online & Off – Lynne Williams
• 1/7/20 Engaging the Hidden Job Market with Confidence – Ed Samuel
• 1/8/20 Social Media Tools for People in Transition – Alex Freund
• 1/9/20 Meet the Author at the Pyramid Club – Stan Silverman

Need to accelerate your job search or manage your career? Explore our kickstarter offerings and sign up for the next Jobsearch Accelerator on Feb 1st.

Missed the previous article on LinkedIn Hashtags Continue to Evolve? Click here!

BIO

Lynne Williams is the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Area Great Careers Group, a 501(c)3 nonprofit of over 4300 members providing career education and networking. Contact Lynne by phone at 484-393-2951, email at director@greatcareersphl.org, on social media @GreatCareersPHL and #GreatCareersPHL and connect on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/lynnewilliams Check out our website!