Diversity & Inclusion

Scott Seeliger - October 10, 2019 - 86 views

In my recent blog, I discussed the importance of community and employee engagement and provided a four-pronged approach to developing a localized plan. With these cornerstones in place, it’s time to execute, and to do that successfully, businesses need to ensure a high level of employee involvement. To maximize involvement, community and employee engagement programs […]

Nam Phuong Le - October 9, 2019 - 40 views

Conferences and trade shows can feel like occupational hazards: The travel is grueling, the speakers often snoozy. At a conference last month, however, I had a different experience. The sessions I attended and the people I met opened new windows for me – professionally and personally – and provided the sense of belonging and community […]

Justin Jesudas - May 23, 2019 - 1501 views

In 2009, just as I joined Cognizant through an acquisition, a car accident left me paralyzed from the neck down. At 29 years old, and in a split second, everything changed: I was completely paralyzed in my chest, abdomen, legs and hands, and partially paralyzed in my wrists and elbows. I still had full shoulder […]

Robert H. Brown - February 20, 2019 - 317 views

In 2010, Martin Sheen starred in The Way, an underrated but beautiful film. His character is a curmudgeonly, set-in-his-ways, late-middle-age, Type A workaholic from Los Angeles. A series of events lands him on El Camino de Santiago (translated into English as “The Way”), where circumstances compel him to interact — in life-affirming ways — with […]

Kathryn Nash - January 30, 2019 - 143 views

I vividly remember my first visit to the Lower Eastside Girls Club (LESGC) in November 2015. My Uber driver inquired, “Does this look like the right place?” Looking around, I felt a bit swallowed up by the endless rows of ruddy-colored brick tenements lining the narrow streets that crisscross the Lower East Side. I thanked […]

Michael Cook - January 25, 2019 - 194 views

Organizations are on an ongoing mission to create inclusive and diverse workplaces; however, many are still struggling to make this happen — and, as a result, missing out on whole pools of talent. Both consciously and unconsciously, many organizations’ hiring processes still suffer from the “comfort­able clone syndrome,” i.e., selecting talent that looks the same, […]

Karen McCall - January 15, 2019 - 187 views

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 29.3% of working-age disabled people are employed today, compared with 73.5% of those without a disability. What’s more, the unemployment rate for individuals with a disability was 9.2% in 2017, according to the BLS, more than twice that of those with no disability (4.2%). If only there […]

Feather Hickox - January 8, 2019 - 472 views

Let’s flip the idea of the childrearing career penalty for women on its head: What if being a working mom was seen as a career enhancement? Think about it for a moment. When men become working dads, they’re seen as settling down, getting grounded, reaching maturity. We perceive their family focus as a step forward […]

Ben Pring - December 19, 2018 - 147 views

Against the struggles of racism and sexism, ageism may seem a minor concern. But prejudice against older folks is a real issue and one that should be considered in any survey of diversity and inclusion. I know ageism is real, because I’ve long been ageist. I feel emboldened to admit this because so many of […]

Colleen Doherty - December 6, 2018 - 211 views

At the best small companies, inclusion happens naturally. Colleagues are few in number and often just a desk away. Everyone feels like they belong. When it comes to company culture, and especially employee engagement, large companies have to try harder. At service providers like Cognizant, where employees spend a lot of time at client sites, […]