KeeleyOne Spotlight: Kristin Mosley
Keeley Companies’ newest cultural pillar, KeeleyOne, is focused on creating an atmosphere that promotes Diversity & Inclusion. This pillar would not exist without the hard work and dedication of the incredible members of the KeeleyOne team. Kristin Mosley, member of the KeeleyOne team and Diversity Outreach Coordinator at L. Keeley, knew in her heart that joining this team and building something incredible was an opportunity she could not pass up.
As a woman of color, Kristin knew immediately that she wanted to be part of a committee that is dedicated to not only diversifying Keeley’s workforce, but ensuring that our team members from all walks of life feel included in every aspect of their job.
“It’s exciting to serve on a committee wanting to incite change and begin to create and organization that mirrors the communities it serves.”
To Kristin, Diversity & Inclusion is a recognition of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, etc. coupled with education surrounding those aspects of people’s lives. Diversity & Inclusion allows for opportunities to share points of view and life experiences while demonstrating that it’s acceptable to have a differentiation in thought, and that is exactly what KeeleyOne is trying to achieve.
“When companies properly implement a Diversity & Inclusion initiative, it allows for the fullness of everyone to show up daily. The result is a company benefiting from a team member feeling valued, understood, seen, and respected. Talk about a performance and engagement boost!”
When Kristin joined the KeeleyOne team, she was excited to work with the team in building KeeleyOne from the ground up. Along the way, she has learned that while some people are eager to be challenged and accept this change, others are more apprehensive. By finding one thing that is unique to everyone, an environment is created where individuals feel comfortable opening up to share, relate, and communicate. This process simply begins with consistency and trust. There is so much excitement surrounding KeeleyOne, and Kristin encourages Keeley’ns eager to get involved to sign up for the trainings led by Chapman & Co, participate in VOICE Chats, and, most importantly, reach out to someone that may be different from you. By doing so, you will quickly find that those one-on-one conversations can lead to long-lasting friendships. If she could give one piece of advice to Keeley’ns as we embark on this journey together, it would be:
“We are all different, yet we are alike. Embrace the differences that make us all unique and celebrate the likeness.”
Kristin has experienced firsthand the benefits and challenges that come with forming a culture around Diversity & Inclusion. If she could give one piece of advice to someone wanting to start a program promoting Diversity & Inclusion at their own company, it would be:
“Remain open and transparent. There is nothing linear about Diversity & Inclusion, so if all parties remain open, transparent, and listen to understand, then you will be off to a good start. Also, make sure that upper management has total buy-in. If leadership isn’t behind the initiative, then it won’t be as successful.”
There are so many ways to be an advocate for Diversity & Inclusion outside of KeeleyOne. Kristin’s number one recommendation is to build a relationship with someone from a different walk of life. This, in her opinion, provides the best insight to Diversity & Inclusion as experience is always the best teacher. However, she also has plenty of book, podcast, and documentary recommendations!
Books:
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" by Robin Diangelo
Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji
What If? by Steve Robbins
Subtle Acts of Exclusion: How to Understand, Identify and Stop Microaggressions by Tiffany Jana
Podcasts:
NPR's "Code Switch"
The Diversity Gap
The Future of Work
Documentaries:
Hale by Brad Bailey
13th by Ava DuVernay
“I am so excited that KeeleyOne is a part of the continuous transformation of the cultural landscape within Keeley Companies. What’s exciting is this will somewhat push people out of their comfort zones, but what happens outside of a comfort zone? Growth. Rock on Keeley’ns, we can do this!”
To learn more about KeeleyOne, click here.