By David Fikes, Executive Director, FMI Foundation
Words. We speak, write and share thousands of them each day. Honestly, most of the words we use do not matter much in the grand scheme of things, but every so often, we find ourselves in situations where our words do matter. In those circumstances, it matters which words we use, and it matters whether we choose to speak up. This latter point gets substantiated by Martin Luther King Jr.’s poignant reminder that, “We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
When it comes to the subject of racial justice, equity in the workplace, and helping folks feel they belong, our words matter. They affect lives because our language — and our silence — carries significant emotional, psychological, and even economic weight. In these situations, our words are consequential. Because our words count for so much, FMI and the Center for Food Integrity are continuing our series of food industry-wide digital dialogues regarding the issue of racial justice. We want to make sure we all understand why and how much our conversations, chats and exchanges matter when it comes to this difficult yet critical topic.
After taking a break during the summer, we are starting our fall series of Digital Dialogues on Racial Justice on September 13, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. EST. Our facilitator, A’Yanna Webster, Principal Consultant/DEI Learning, Winning Within & Associates, LLC, will be guiding a conversation between Kevin Brown, Principal – Digital Transformation and Intelligent Automation, Ernst & Young and Natasha Miller Williams, Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Ferrara. They will be exploring the business case for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, while guiding us in how this issue is reshaping operational models and investment strategies.
To register for this conversation, go to: https://lookeast.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OYtYi-oIT_O1Bnd0Cx5Yng
I hope you will join this dialogue and together we will better learn how to make our words count.
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