The inclusion of a diverse team will benefit all companies. Diverse teams are more efficient, more creative and make more money. At NESEA many of us work in white lead companies. Our best intentions haven’t changed that yet. We need to do better. This session will focus on the benefits and challenges of hiring a diverse workforce with some practical lessons on how to do so. The session would be comprised of three parts. 1) A presentation (could be virtual?) from two presenters. The first panelist would present research on the benefits of a diverse workforce. The second panelist would be a HR professional talking about how to navigate hiring practices while actively trying to diversify your team. What are the challenges? Legal implications, Onboarding, and once fully integrated into the team. 2) The second part would involve breaking out into small groups, with active facilitation by me and ARAG co-conveners - 1/group. Each group would get a sample job description and resumes to work with. We’ll work on job descriptions/postings to avoid exclusionary traps, and see some examples of how applicants from different backgrounds might appear differently. 3) Close the circle: Review the choices made by each group and time to discuss/ ask questions. Consider alternate practices which may serve us all.