All Are Welcome with Cynthia Owyoung

2022-04-20

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On today’s episode, I’m joined by Cynthia Owyoung, author of the new book All Are Welcome: How to Build a Real Workplace Culture of Inclusion that Delivers Results. Cynthia has had an incredible career, establishing and leading diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in multiple industries. She’s worked for companies including Charles Schwab, GitHub, and Yahoo and is now working with Robinhood as their Vice President of Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging. She’s also the founder of Breaking Glass Forums, which develops strateg...

On today’s episode, I’m joined by Cynthia Owyoung, author of the new book All Are Welcome: How to Build a Real Workplace Culture of Inclusion that Delivers Results. Cynthia has had an incredible career, establishing and leading diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in multiple industries. She’s worked for companies including Charles Schwab, GitHub, and Yahoo and is now working with Robinhood as their Vice President of Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging. She’s also the founder of Breaking Glass Forums, which develops strategies to accelerate diverse leadership and inclusive organizations. Cynthia has been recognized for influence and thought leadership in this space, so if there’s anyone who can speak on the topic of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, Cynthia is the one.

We start our conversation with Cynthia’s early experiences as a first-generation Asian-American growing up in a predominately African-American neighborhood. The combination of a household that was governed by very traditional Chinese values and a strong black community led to Cynthia never feeling like she really fit in anywhere until she reached high school and met other American-born Chinese students. We then move into a discussion of the generational shifts that Cynthia has observed in the diversity and inclusion space, with events such as the murder of George Floyd and the continuing anti-Asian violence impacting the new generation of workers’ expectations of their companies in terms of inclusivity. Finally, I ask Cynthia my mission statement question: how does she use her difference to make a difference? And she responds that she does it by showing up as her authentic self, encouraging companies to drive more diversity, equity, and inclusion, and helping employees have a voice in making those changes.

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