In this episode of the Culture Moments podcast, LCW Consultant and host Larry Baker has a brave conversation about the challenges the Latinx community faced during the pandemic and the obstacles this community continues to face in the workplace today.
Guests Daisy Auger-Dominguez (Chief People Officer, VICE Media) and Carlos Herrera (Inclusive Diversity Lead Consultant, Allstate) explore timely and crucial topics including how the pandemic has most affected the Latinx community, why some companies find it difficult to support the Latinx community after Hispanic Heritage Month, and what it means to go beyond performative allyship.
After tuning in to the conversation, we encourage you to share your takeaways on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
Show Notes & Highlights
5:08: Carlos shares how the beginning of the pandemic began for him and examines the effect of the pandemic on his family and the Latinx community
9:02: Daisy describes how, in some ways, the pandemic has opened a window of opportunity for younger generations
15:11: Daisy talks about how it can be difficult for some organizations and leaders to understand the Latinx community, causing them to look away and the privilege that comes with being able to do so
23:38: Carlos offers his own definition of true allyship
21:30: Carlos suggests what work must be done in one’s own community before partnering with other communities
29:16: Larry articulates how “stereotype threat” can permeate workplaces
32:32: Daisy explains how the possibility of change continues to motivate her work
Show Transcript
Larry Baker: Hello everyone. And welcome to the Culture Moments podcast. I’m your host, Larry Baker. And I’m thrilled to have you join us for our second season called Brave Conversations with LCW. In these episodes, you’ll hear from a panel of guests, from specific communities offering a range of perspectives on the past year, we’ll hear about their own experiences as well as their insights on what’s changed and, more importantly, what needs to change to move equity forward.
As we all know so much has shifted and changed over the past year and a half. And for many of us, we’re still in recovery from a very rough 2020.
And today we are going to be having a brave conversation of what that recovery looks like specifically for the Latinx community. I am thrilled and excited to have with me for my two guests, Daisy Dominguez and Carlos Herrera. And I will give you the opportunity to introduce yourselves. So Daisy, I’ll start with you. Give us an introduction of who you are and what you do.
Daisy Auger-Dominguez: Thank you so much, Larry. Hi everyone. Daisy Auger-Dominguez. I am the Chief People Officer at Vice Media Group. That means that I’m responsible for our people, our culture, our social impact initiatives for a global workforce of over 2000 employees and nearly 20 plus countries.
I have a long history of being a diversity equity and inclusion practitioner. I have worked at Moody’s Investor Service, Time Warner, Disney, Google, Viacom. I have also launched my own consultancy on workplace culture and my mission is to make workplaces equitable and inclusive.
Larry Baker: Awesome. Thank you so much for that intro Daisy. Carlos…
Carlos Herrera: Absolutely. Hi. Hi Daisy and Larry and hello everyone. My parents named me Carlos Herrera. I also welcome Carlos Herrera because not everyone can roll the r’s like I do.
Larry Baker: That’s right.
Carlos Herrera: My pronouns are he, him, and his. Located in Chicago. I have about 22 years of experience doing like talent acquisition work, campus recruiting work, and diversity, equity, and inclusion work.
I’ve been in good hands at Allstate for about 13 years. I’m part of the inclusive diversity and equity team. We have about 8 or 9 people on our team. I’ve been involved with a lot of different things. Employee resource, group programs, training diversity recruiting. Right now I do a lot of partnering with the external organizations we partner with. Working with our inclusive diversity and equity councils and moving forward at disability inclusion work. Personally family background is from Mexico..
And I will neither confirm nor deny how my parents got to Chicago, but they got there. And that’s where they met and they had me and my three brothers were born there. So that’s me.
Larry Baker: Awesome. Thank you so much for that insight, Carlos. So based upon this wealth of knowledge, and I’m going to excuse the pun, Carlos, I am sure we are in good hands today with our conversation. So I appreciate that. And Carlos, I’m actually going to kick off our session with you because I want you to give me some of your personal thoughts, some stories, some reactions that have occurred in the Latinx community from the beginning of COVID to the current moment.
And if you could talk to me about some of the challenges that have surfaced. And as a extra bonus, talk about how maybe some organizations and society can work together to try to alleviate those. So I know that’s a lot, but I offered it that you are capable.
Carlos Herrera: Yeah. I know. It definitely is a lot. When I think about the last 18 months, there’s a lot of things I think about. I think about immigration. I think about the review of DACA and about what’s happening at the border. I think about unemployment. The racial injustice. The elections that took place. But I think COVID is the one that, that really still sticks every day to a lot of people. It’s all over the place and a lot of people are affected by it. And in all different means, it’s just such a heavy and a real topic.
When all this kind of started, I was actually in Mexico with my mom and we were there visiting family. And then we were hearing all this stuff was happening and how they were going to shut down travel. And me and my mom started really getting worried. And one of the things we thought about well, if we get sick, do we want to be in Mexico or do we want to go back to the United States? So we found a ticket and we went back to United States.
But what was most chilling though is, you know, we flew into O’Hare, O’Hare Airport, one of the biggest busiest airports in the nation. And it was just silent. There was no one there. Usually the lines from immigration is take a long time. It took five minutes. You know, we go outside we get the taxi and got a taxi right away.
And no one was on the road. This was like in the afternoon when we got home. No one was on the road. So it was really chilling. And it just it just came to the fact of what’s going on and what do we do? And I live by myself and I’m able to, I think take care of myself but my dad passed away about three years ago, so my mom’s on her own.
My concern came to my mom. And when we think about our culture, like our family is so important to us. And so I was really thinking about, how’s my mom going to get through this what does she need to survive? So we had to get educated on all that stuff. So I think one of the things that I think a lot of people in a lot of organizations did was helping each other and understanding what situation we’re in and how we can get through it. And at the time we didn’t know when it was going to end, it’s still not ending and there’s still more to learn. But really relying on each other to be able to support each other in this time. And, when you think about family, you don’t think about immediate family in our culture.
It’s like, our aunts, our uncles, or nephews, our cousins, our, you know, our, our nieces, our abuelitas. You know, I still have my abuelita, thank God. And, in thinking her, like, how’s this impacting her being so much older too. And then I also think about too, during this time, like things had to get cleaned, right?
Who are the workers that are doing all the cleaning? Who are all the essential workers? A lot of them came from our community and just think about the risk that they were putting themselves in for us. And really made me think about us. Like us as a community, where we’re at and where we need to go.
And that has been a constant message, I think about all the time. Where are we at as a community and where do we want to go and not go separately, but together. I think that’s where we’re really going to be able to make some difference on things.
Larry Baker: Yeah, Carlos, I can’t help, but compare the parallels between that connection that you’ve made about well, who are the essential workers, who are those individuals that are risking their safety for us? And I think about the parallel that just like in your community, in the Black community, a lot of our people were considered those essential workers too. So there’s this connection that we have within our communities and you touch a point so beautifully… How do we come together to bring about a resolution? Carlos, I appreciate that connectivity.
So Daisy, same question to you. Give me some of your personal thoughts, stories, reactions of the impact that COVID has had upon the Latinx community. And then of course, some challenges that may have surfaced and more importantly, how do you think organizations and our society can work towards alleviating those.
Daisy Auger-Dominguez: I don’t have a whole lot more to add then what Carlos has shared, because I do think, and I think Larry you hit the nail right on the head there. Something that’s happened in the past year is that for those of us who thought we were separated, we realized that we actually are not.
And particularly for communities of color, there’s a spiritual kinship that we have. A solidarity in a connection that your experience is not that different from mine. Yes, there are racialized tensions that impact all of us differently, but fundamentally there is a kinship there and an opportunity to lift each other up.
And I talk about this in my work, even when I speak about gender and I speak about the fact that white women have to use their privilege and power and influence to help chart and create a path for all women to advance, not just white women. And that means Latinas. And that means women of color. And in this past year we’ve been forced to reckon with that in a really unique way.
And so what I’ll add to what Carlos has said is that the Latin X community, again, it’s not a monolithic. It is a very complex and nuanced community, 26 nationalities, generational differences, language differences, cultural differences, if you will. And what I found was that this past year and a half of lockdown and pandemic has created an even bigger window for our Latinx, Gen Z-ers and millennials to do what they do really well, which is to, to identify problems and to try to dismantle that. And it brought an energy to those of us who frankly in the early parts of our careers, didn’t have the same hutzpah if you will and courage that these young people have.
And, in many ways, what I always, what I tell a lot of younger people is you’re able to do what you’re able to do because I swallowed my pride for so many years and I was able to build these structures and I was able to do what I was able to because of the daily indignities that our ancestors had to face every day to create open spots and opportunities for us to enter these workplaces.
You know, so, I think that there’s been a moment of connection and awareness and perhaps a little bit more shared understanding. I won’t say that it’s fully of our common experiences. But I’ll tell you this, cause I live in the world of work and everyone has a relationship to work.
It is how we get paid and are able to put food in our children’s bellies. And for the Latinx community, no matter where you come from and for the Black community as well, family is everything to us. We work so that we can take care of our families.
We work so that we can create opportunities for our families. And some people experience the workplace as it should be… challenging, because it’s work. But for others, if they’re lucky, they think, they consider work to be rewarding for others. And that’s Latinx and Black and BIPOC and people of color that same workplace is overlaid with microaggressions, gender violence, systemic racism, outright discrimination.
And sometimes that nagging feeling that you just don’t belong in these places because they were never designed with you in mind. And this past year and a half, we have had employees say no more. And we have seen. Employees rise and say, I don’t want virtue signaling. I don’t want performative allyship.
I want you to make workplaces more inclusive and equitable for people that look like me. To these Latinx professionals and women in particular are far better educated and prepare to advance in their careers than ever before, but they’re still facing the same obstacles and challenges to advancement and growth in organizations.
And what we’re seeing is Latinx employees acknowledging that, trying to solve for that, and recognizing that if you want to now during this moment of the great resignation, which is what we’re all living. If you want to keep me in this workplace, you have to understand me. You have to value me. You have to see me and you have to create opportunities for my growth.
And that I think is a unique aspect of this past year and a half.
Larry Baker: Of course, Daisy, again you resonate with that comment about kinship. And I think that within our two communities, the experiences are so similar and we have to find a way to understand that we’re in this together and yes, this event of George Floyd’s murder took precedence in society’s eyes, but we have to understand we’re fighting the same fight. So those same comments that you’re talking about the Latinx community stepping up, I see the same thing in my community with my younger Black people that I talked to. They are ready. They are coming to the battle and they’re coming to the battle wiser.
And they have these techniques and they have this ability to speak in a way that, like you said, in my generation, we learn to bear it because that’s what we were taught from our previous generation. We were taught to bear it. They’re not bearing. They are looking at this opportunity as a moment to raise their voices and they are not afraid to do that.
So I love how you talked about that kinship because most organizations want to pit us against each other. But as long as we continue to remember, no, we are fighting the same fight. We have this undeniable thread that connects us together of being a part of the underrepresented. And I hope that we continue to keep that as our focus as we move forward. So I thank you for so eloquently putting that in motion that we can have that conversation.
So I’m not going to stop. I think that we’re on a roll and I want to talk about, and Daisy you’re in a unique position as being the chief people person in your organization.
I just want to ask you. And again, just flat out just let me know how much progress do you think companies have actually made to expand true inclusion and belonging of the Latinx community? Especially from that intersectional lens that you mentioned earlier. So speak to that point for me, if you will.
Daisy Auger-Dominguez: Clearly not enough. I just relaunched an article that I wrote two years ago about Hispanic Heritage Month. And it’s like, if I had written it yesterday, it’s the same challenges that exist in organizations. It’s a community that is still very much sidelined and the marginalized. It’s a community that many people just don’t understand.
And so they just, it’s too hard. It’s too complex. Wait, you speak Spanish, but you don’t speak the same Spanish that this person does? By the way, we all speak the same Spanish, but we have different accents. But we, you’re a Black Latino or you’re a white Latino?
I was born in New York city and raised in the Dominican Republic and then came back to the US when I was 16. People that didn’t know what to do with me, because I spoke English fluently because I went to an international school, but I came from a working class family and I had an experience of what the Latino community is outside of the US and within the US so I had to find my way of defining what it was for me to be back then, Hispanic, eventually Latina now, Latinx. And they’re like, wait, you use three different terms. What does that mean? What does that look like? The complexity of that, I think scares too many people away.
But what I always tell leaders is, privilege is the ability to be able to look away and you can’t look away. You have to look at us, you have to understand your workforce. You can’t keep on commenting of the fact that this is the largest growing, and still growing, underrepresented community, in the US. We’re no longer underrepresented. We’re 18% of this minority, really majority, minority culture in the US and not create retention programs, advancement programs, and not incorporate into your work opportunities that go beyond Hispanic Heritage Month… that are all year long.
We still are operating in companies that believe we put a nice little gift for September 15th through October 15th and at the end, we’re done. You know what, when I worked, when I worked at Disney, I remember when I joined the first thing that they asked me to do was to… and I was the head of diversity and inclusion and talent acquisition… but they asked me to look at a campaign that they were going to be launching for Hispanic Heritage Month.
And I looked at it and it was lovely. And I said in what markets is this going to play? And they said this is a national plan. Really, this is, you’re talking about tamales. You’re talking about, an experience that is going to play really well in the Southwest. It’s going to play well on the west.
It’s not going to play as well on the east coast where you have more Caribbean Latinos that are eating arroz con pollo every day. We will appreciate it. We will love it. But if you want to really reach us then create another spot that speaks to that segment and that speaks more broadly to this community.
And then I reminded them and just by the way, and this was for TV… just like Black people don’t only watch TV during Black History Month… Latinos don’t only watch TV between September 15th and October 15th. We consume this content all year long. So what are you doing to draw us in all year long? And what are you doing to bring in the talent behind the camera and in front of the camera to create the content that everybody else wants to consume.
And so we’re still having those conversations in companies. We’re still pushing for it. And it is until we, I fundamentally believe, until we see a critical mass, not just of talent at the junior levels, but at the mid and senior levels of organizations, will we be able to have these conversations in both the comfort and discomfort that comes from it.
Larry Baker: Yeah. And Daisy, we have a program that talks about, it’s a cultural immersion about the Latinx experience. And we talk about a lot of those concepts about, it’s not just September 15th through October 15th. It’s great that you have this awareness, but what is the action that comes from that awareness?
Because if you simply rely on the fact that, oh, now I’m aware of the Latinx culture, and you do nothing about it, you’ve literally wasted our time. So our program is really designed to give that historical perspective, and it talks about all of those different dynamics, but it encourages action, which is the main piece to that puzzle.
And, Carlos. I have not forgotten about you, my friend, because I want to know, talk to me. I mean, we have done work together with your organization in the past. How much progress do you think companies have actually made to expand that true inclusion for your Latinx community?
Carlos Herrera: Yeah. No there’s definitely an opportunity. And I agree with a lot of what Daisy, share those same thoughts. I do think the George Floyd murder did provide and surface an opportunity for people to really think about what are you going to do? Not only people individually, but also the communities that you’re in and as well as the companies, that you’re part of. What are you going to do?
And it’s those, what your actions based on what you’re going to do is going to dictate. Who are you going to be involved with? And who’s going to join you in what you’re trying to do. Right now, though, the world is changing for so many different reasons, for our demographics, for technology, for all these issues that come up and people need to come together for it.
So people are going to join forces. People are going to want to join companies that are aligned to how they’re thinking and how they’re feeling. And I think more so now than before. What employees think and feel is going to be so important. And employers, the more that they open up their eyes and their ears the more they’ll be able to do to be successful.
Cause employers need, companies need to listen to employees. You know, I’m actually very thankful we have our employee resource groups because we actually lean on them a lot. When we think about George Floyd, and when we think about the murders that happened in the AAPI community, when you think about everything recently with the veterans in Afghanistan… our employee resource groups, we lean on them to really help us understand what direction do we need to go. Give us guidance. Help us support the rest of our company and employees.
Cause if we don’t provide tools and resources to those groups, we’re never going to move anything ever. So I’m very happy actually that our company decided that, well, what’s the next level of these ERG? What’s version 3.0? We can’t be talking about 1.0, because then you’re way behind.
And I want you to come up, but come up quick because we need to really come together because these ERGs, when you think about intersectionality and we think about allyship, like this is where the goal is, and really changing where we’re at as people, as communities, as companies. And again, we just gotta listen more and have more faith and trust in these groups while making big company decisions.
So I do think that yeah, the more we come together, the better off we are. But I will say one other thing though. Specifically to our community. Our community needs to be better with ourselves. We have so much issue within our own community. And I get it from LCW. The great partner that you all are. You need to figure out your diversity space before you start helping out everyone else with their diversity space. Like I think with our community we need to figure out us.
Our Brown community. We need to figure out us, before we start joining all these other communities, and partnering with all these other communities, because yes, Black and Brown coming together is going to make it stronger. But Brown, you got to get your stuff together with ourselves and supporting ourselves.
Don’t be so negative with each other. And to Daisy’s point, there’s a lot of us. And the more that a lot of us can come together and put all of our challenges and talk about them and be able to resolve or put them to the side. As soon as we’re able to come together, then that’s a strong community that the other committees are going to want to partner with.
Larry Baker: I agree, Carlos. I echo that statement. Of course, I’m focusing on the Black community because I know I’ve said this before about this particular program, but even within that Latinx experience, we talk about some of the intercultural complexities of being within that community. Because again, part of that awareness is not only for non people of color.
We’re asking from our own group. Hey, you know, we’ve got some skeletons in our closet too, that we probably want to arrange in a nice little way before we can ask other people to join into that fight as well. So I absolutely respect, appreciate, head nods, you’re getting an amen from the congregation, that there’s work to be done within our own community.
So I appreciate that transparency that you relayed. So Carlos you’re on a roll. So I’m going to lead asking you the next question, because now I want to focus on leaders. You mentioned something that I hope you tap into, but I want you to tell me what’s your one ask for leaders beyond Hispanic Heritage Month. What should be their next step in that allyship journey?
Carlos Herrera: Yeah. Yeah. When you think about that question, I think about like the journey, everyone has their journey in this DEI space, right? And what is your journey?
Where are you at in this DEI space? That’s important to understand, but what’s also important on. Where do you want to go? You might know where you’re at and don’t want to go anywhere. You know that’s not going to help the cause. If you want to go someplace, I want to be able to support you where you want to go with it.
And also let’s be real, right? When I’m thinking about leaders, like you’ll get the org chart. I mean, that’s a lot of white males, we’re actually, thinking about. And really allyship right now is probably so important. And it’s really that white male, right. that ally that’s really going to help us move this needle forward because we can continue doing as part of the community and saying our words and doing our actions and having our behaviors. But it’s the people that haven’t been part of it in the past that can be part of it moving forward, which is how change is actually going to happen.
And as you’re an ally too, listen, learn and act. And one of the things I like telling people all the time is that like, you can’t really call yourself an ally, the community you’re supporting, they’re the ones that confirm you’re being an ally or not. You come in there with some totally wrong, different direction. That’s not what the community wants. Listen to the community. Learn from the community. And then you can act and partner with the community to be able to do what you want.
But allyship is so important to make. Things happen in the future.
Larry Baker: Yeah. Carlos, again, I just appreciate the comment that you made and it really rings true to some, a point that I try to get across when I am facilitating with audiences that are primarily white audiences. I really try to get them to remove themselves from the past and things that they had no control over.
What I want you to do is to take that awareness that you have and move forward. What do you do from, today on? Not blaming, not trying to make you feel bad about the past, because there’s nothing you can do about that. I’m concerned about you making an impact on the future. For, not just for me, but for my children and my children’s children.
Those are the things that I’m more interested in then bringing up the past and trying to rehash that. So I’m glad that you said that. Okay, Daisy. I know we are right in your wheel house when we talk about this whole concept of allyship and moving beyond Hispanic Heritage Month. Just give me some insights on the things that you are asking of leaders to do beyond October 15.
Daisy Auger-Dominguez: Well, I’m asking them to be better allies. I’m asking leaders to really get to know their teams, to stop just sort of jumping to being a performative ally and to recognize that, with allyship comes action and responsibility. And it means that you’re not just going to call yourself an ally and call it a day.
You know, Latinx employees are still in many ways, trying to navigate workplaces that were not created with them in mind. And that means that leaders and managers, your allies need to ensure that Latinx employees genuinely believe that they have a successful career at their organization. And, instead of making grand gestures about why diversity is important, they need to really focus on supporting and nurturing their employees, understanding what trips them up in the organization. What other unique advantages? How do you reduce the obstacles to their success? How do you do that? How do you do that in a way that makes it more constructive and more equity driven? Versus just saying that you’re an ally.
There’s a research piece that came out several years ago. And like I said earlier, while dated, it’s still very relevant. And it’s by Coqual, which is formerly The Center for Talent and Innovation. And it’s called “Latinos at work” and in it I’m going to forget some of the stats, but it was about over 40% of Latinx women felt the need to compromise their authenticity to conform to leadership presence standards at their company. It was about 30 plus percent for men, you know, a good 70% or so felt that they had to cover, and that they had to tone down their appearance, their accents, their emotions. All so, they could survive in the workplace. That’s exhausting. And it’s a waste for organizations that say that they want to support their Latinx talent.
So what I tell leaders to do is to stop that. To understand that their employees are not just doing their jobs, which is what you hired them for, what’s in the job description, but they’re having to do extra labor on top of that to just simply survive.
And in order to do that, they have to change leadership norms. They have to be intentional about using their power and their influence to remove barriers and to clear the advancement path for all employees. And sometimes that means calling out discriminatory or microaggressive language in a meeting. Sometimes it means stopping a decision before someone’s getting hired and saying, wait a second. Did we consider all the factors here? Could bias be a decision in why we’re choosing a white person over a person of color?
That’s what true allyship looks like. And the only way to dismantle workplace barriers that limit the full inclusion and success of Latinx employees is to call that out and to understand what they need and to be willing to shape new leadership norms.
Larry Baker: And Daisy, you talk about this concept and it really mirrors what we refer to or what we’ve known in the industry is something called stereotype threat.
And it’s experienced by a lot of people of color where it’s almost as if you are functioning with two brains at all times. So not only are you doing the work that they hired you to do, you’re fighting against the stereotypes that they’re holding against you. And you’re constantly trying to make everyone comfortable when it is absolutely draining everything out of you that most people don’t even have to consider.
So again, You’re touching up on some things that just echo a lot of the work that we’re trying to get out to let people understand that for our Black and Brown communities, in order to be inclusive, you have to remove those barriers in a place that like you said, it’s never been designed for us. So, whatever it used to be, it has to be totally transformed so that we can feel like we can be our authentic selves and give you the best product, because we don’t want to be walking around thinking about are they thinking about that I’m too ethnic or did I have too much of an accent or do they think I’m too aggressive? Do they think I’m too…? You know, you know, all of the words that we hear about us. Angry and just hard to get along with.
So I appreciate those comments that we continue to push and we continue to challenge leaders to really reconsider their entire evaluation process.
Carlos Herrera: You know, If I can just, if I need to share something, it makes me think about like… As you probably can hear, see, I get very excited and passionate, like right away. Like I got a lot of energy. But what I’ve kind of realized is to the points that are being made, that I have to warn people sometimes that they don’t interpret that as me being angry or mad.
And I had to do that a couple of times the meetings. There’s someone who I work with and we always talk about this all the time. And she’s a Black woman and she’s always like, sometimes I can’t say that because I’m a Black woman and their going to interpret it wrong. And in this just, it’s just such a, more of a layer you’re putting on people and then people are going to definitely be reserved to themselves.
And then like we’re missing out on the goodness of people. They’re thinking about that instead of the things that we should be thinking about, it’s just a layer that I wish that, that, that would just go away somehow. Even with the LGBTQ+ community. Like they have to think about that and see feeling accepted and we’re missing out on their greatness because they’re thinking about other things.
Let’s let people be people and let’s just do the good things we’re trying to do as who we are… not, as who we are not.
Larry Baker: Yeah. Try to assimilate as opposed to be who I naturally am on an everyday basis. Carlos, thank you so much for that. Daisy. I’m going to give you an opportunity. Just give me some closing thoughts.
Some things that maybe keep you up at night or what gives you encouragement? What are you excited about? Because we could tell Carlos he’s excited. Which is a great thing, but what makes Daisy excited?
Daisy Auger-Dominguez: I mean, What excites me is the possibility of change.
And this is why I do what I do every day. My team knows that my job is to help create conditions for them to succeed so that all of our employees can succeed. And we do that with a radically inclusive, radically equitable mindset. Every single day I get up and that’s what I think about how do I help people get out of their way so that they can build, nurture and create the workplaces that you know, that, that work for everyone.
So what excites me is knowing that I’m not the only one! And you know that there are, that there are Carlos’s is out there. You know, Danielle’s and Megan’s and Heni’s. These are my team members who I just met with right before I had this conversation and we spent two hours ideating on the future of our strategies and our work and what we do and how we should do it.
That’s what gives me hope. That’s what gives me energy. It’s little actions every day and it’s millions of people doing millions of things every day towards the change that we want to see and knowing that is happening. And that, that will happen because I have a 13 year old daughter and my greatest dream for her is that she can walk anywhere on this earth and feel seen, valued, and respected. And that in turn she does that for others as well. And she gives me hope. Everybody who gives me hope, the people, the young people at Vice that I work with gives me hope that is possible.
Larry Baker: Yeah. Daisy, I think that is a perfect spot for us to close our conversation and with all sincerity, I absolutely thank each one of you for your engagement, for your transparency in letting us in on understanding your community.
Because again, I think that we have so many parallels that it’s essential, that we continue to find those things that we can work together on, that we can partner with. Because not only can, I sense the excitement that radiates from you and from Carlos, I hope that you can sense that this isn’t just a job for me either.
This is a passion that I have, and I think in order for it to be successful, you can’t go at it any other way. That passion has to come across for other people to get them passionate about it and joining in on that cause. So with my sincerest, thank you, I appreciate this conversation. It has been so necessary.
Larry Baker, Daisy Dominguez, Carlos Herrera. I’m trying Carlos.
Carlos Herrera: I love the try. The try is what I care about. So I appreciate that.
Larry Baker: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your participation and your engagement.
Carlos Herrera: Thank you. Appreciate it.
Larry Baker: All right. And so all of you that are listening, we want to know what were your biggest takeaways from this conversation?
Please share them with us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn at Language & Culture Worldwide or LCW. Once again, thank you for joining us in Courageous Conversations with LCW.
