Justice, Equity and Inclusion Work Guides Grads

Portia A. Anderson ’12, honored last year with Dominican’s Graduate of the Last Decade Award, serves as assistant dean for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at the University of Utah College of Architecture and Planning.

Anderson, who graduated from Dominican University with bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and political science, describes the field as one that addresses “inequities in current practices, policies, and systems within an organization and society” and works to combat them.

The work Anderson helps drive at the university focuses on ensuring students feel their needs are recognized and met. This means providing mentoring and internship opportunities for underrepresented students, ensuring access for students with disabilities, and providing multi- or cross-cultural centers and LGBTQ+ resource centers.

In 2019, she worked with student leaders to co-found the university’s Black Cultural Center to create a social and academic hub for Black faculty, staff and students. The work started in response to anti-Black incidents on campus.

“The Black Cultural Center uses a Pan-African lens as it seeks to holistically enrich, support, and advocate for students, staff, and faculty through Black-centered  research, culturally affirming educational initiatives, and service,” Anderson explained.

Anderson is also leading the College of Architecture and Planning in implementing a toolkit called the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Self-Study. It provides a guide and framework for examining and ending inequities within institutions of higher learning, she said.

“The purpose of conducting a self-study is to provide the college community with a final report summarizing the experiences of students, staff and faculty within the culture and climate of the college,” Anderson explained. “This information will help me collaborate with the dean and build the strategic initiatives and plan that will move the college forward in our EDI efforts.”

“We want to make people feel like they belong and are included,” she added.

Roberto Sepúlveda ’10, has led justice, equity and inclusion initiatives at various corporations, including SC Johnson, Sara Lee and United Stationers.

“In my work, I have conducted many training sessions around cultural competency, bias (implicit and unconscious), and harassment,” Sepúlveda said. “I have traveled all over the United States and internationally to start up and develop the leadership of affinity groups.”

Affinity groups create community among employees who share a common characteristic or identity. The goal is to enhance culture and bolster retention among underrepresented employees.

Recruiting is another important part of JEI work because it supports underrepresented job candidates and assists companies in building diverse teams, Sepúlveda said. He has done this work by attracting new talent at college career fairs and diversity conferences. A member of Dominican’s Board of Trustees, Sepúlveda also has shared these skills on Dominican’s campus by participating in student events such as the Senior Showcase, where students display their e-portfolios, network with prospective employers, and explore potential job offers.

Sepúlveda is well-versed when it comes to discussing social inequality and racism. He was a podcast panelist supporting the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation project (TRHT) for which Dominican was selected as a host campus. TRHT is a nationally recognized, community-based initiative for racial justice.

Sepúlveda currently works in local politics, where he believes JEI work is key because communicating empathically with voters can field positive outcomes for candidates, he said.

JEI, Sepúlveda notes, “is a core component of leadership” because it enables leaders to cultivate empathy.

“Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, understanding their experiences and environment ensures that you are being inclusive and creating a culture where people know they can be innovative and collaborative,” Sepúlveda said. “This creates a competitive edge by making sure you bring all ideas and perspectives to the table before making a decision. Inclusive leaders are more effective.”

Courtenay Boron Joseph ’13, who earned a Master of Social Work degree from Dominican, recognizes the systems-based framework she learned in graduate school as central to her approach as a culture and equity, diversity and inclusion specialist at Much Shelist law firm in Chicago.

“One of the things that helps me progress EDI in my current space is thinking about how it plays into every factor of the employee lifecycle,” Joseph explained.

This includes ensuring that job posts are available to a wide audience, interviews are fair and unbiased, and that employee onboarding clearly outlines expectations, positioning employees to thrive in their new environment.

Joseph said she finds herself routinely asking, “How do we create patterns and practices that are promoting equity and allowing anyone who walks through the door to be able to be successful?” To answer that question requires using an equity and inclusion lens to inform functions like recruiting, reviewing language in company communications and trainings, planning events and creating flexible workplace policies, Joseph says.

“We’re making sure that people, no matter what level they’re in, no matter what their background, have the same structure, system and support to be successful, to be safe, to live the values that we say we have," she explained.

Her work requires care and precision that comes from Joseph’s learned rather than her lived experience.

“It’s important for me to acknowledge that, as a white woman, I’m by no means an expert in EDI,” she said. “A lot of what we’re doing is trying to dismantle systems that have marginalized people throughout history, and I don’t have that lived experience. I do my work based around my clinical social work background.”

Inspired by the Dominican mission, Joseph’s experience and education continue to fuel her work, she said.

“I want to see people succeed,” Joseph explained. “That’s really why I went into social work – just to be an advocate for people, and that’s at the heart of EDI work … everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed.”