Diversity Within Leadership? Introduction Inclusive leadership is about rec

Diversity Within Leadership 

Introduction

Inclusive leadership is about recognizing and valuing diversity or difference, and valuing people, recognizing them for their skills, experience and talent, and treating them equally and fairly – irrespective of their ethnic background, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, belief, or of any disability they may have. 

– Moorvia Gooden 

As mentioned in previous units, diversity within leadership and advocacy efforts is essential to ensuring all voices are heard and included in policies and efforts within the counseling profession. The unit readings highlight both the challenges of leaders who represent different diverse backgrounds and shine light on the advantages of incorporating voices from diverse leaders. If we want to become more diverse as a profession to serve more diverse clients, we must focus on leadership development of diverse counselor educators and supervisors. We must all help diverse leaders overcome challenges to get to the table and support them in speaking their truth once they are in leadership roles.

Reference

Mentor's Society. (2019, July 31). Inclusive leadership is about recognizing and valuing diversity or difference, and valuing people, recognizing them for their skills [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/mentors.society.official/posts/1166487583549332

LEADERSHIP AND DIVERSITY PANEL DISCUSSION:

Simone Lambert:
I want to thank our panelists for joining us. We have just an amazing team here to be able to share their thoughts and their journey, their personal journey, on their leadership track. And so, we have some questions that we want to start off with. And so, the first question that I have to you all, and you can just take turns, whoever wants to get started. The first question, tell us about the major roles that you have had in leadership, and that could be the academia, professional associations or clinical agencies.

Crystal Neal:
So, I'll jump in. I am Dr. Crystal Neil and thank you. Thank you guys, all of you, for allowing me to participate in this panel, very important panel. I'm actually in Illinois Association of Adult Development and Aging. I've been president for three years and you say, "Why three years?" I took an additional year as our membership and our organization was transitioning. So, today makes a big day that we have a new president of our organization. I am now on the board of the Association of Adult Development and Aging as a membership chair out of outreach and advocacy, and I was elected into that role in April.

Simone Lambert:
And congratulations on that new role. I know you're very excited about getting started with that.

Crystal Neal:
Thank you.

Simone Lambert:
And I'm sure we're going to hear more about your leadership work as we go through the questions. Felicia, would you like to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your major goals in leadership?

Felicia Moutry:
Oh, sure. So, this is Dr. Felicia Moutry, and I serve actually as a director of the master's program. At the time, it was a community counseling program and also the director of the training program. So, that included the practicum and internship experience for the students on the university level. And so, that's been my experience with leadership. Thank you.

Simone Lambert:
Thank you, and Dr. Perry, I know that you have some wonderful things to share with us as well in terms of your leadership experience.

LaTea Perry:
Well, my leadership experience dates all the way back to my master's program. Within those master's programs, that you shine in classes, the professors tend to pinpoint you as an up and coming leader. So, I just wanted to talk about that just for a second. Like in my master's program, I was president of one of the grad student associations at Bowie State University and HBCU in Maryland, the student, pursuing that learning and honor society. So, we did a lot there, and from there, I was kind of approaching [inaudible 00:02:46] the professors when they poured into me and told me I was getting my doctorate. At the time, I did not know, or had the inkling that I was going to go and get it. And then, after getting my masters forging through as a professional school counselor, I've been in different arenas in the community. I'm one of the third vice presidents of National Council of Negro Women, the Washington chapter. I am on the Educational Committee for Concerned Black Women of Calvert County.

I also do a lot within my school system where I've been on different task force with doing community service, with being a minority representation for a lot of the kids in our area. Just to name a few. I'm on the board of directors for are non profit called [inaudible 00:03:34] Parenting [inaudible 00:03:36] areas as well.

Simone Lambert:
That's fantastic. And you know what? I was surprised that you didn't talk about a couple of things with ACA. So, you would have mentioned that, I know you've done so many things in the community and in the higher education and with your university, but there are two additional things that maybe you want to share as well.

LaTea Perry:
Yes, I was also on a very special task for ACA American Counseling Association, where I'd worked with school counselors and counselor educators once there was the split between ACTs and ACA to tries to make sure that we're having services and resources for professional school counselors so that they see a wealth of being in both organizations, not just after, but also still staying with American Counseling Association,

Simone Lambert:
We are just honored to have each and every one of you with us today and all of your experience that you bring to the table to have this conversation. My next question for each of you, and I'm wondering if Dr. Perry could start off with this one. So, this one is about what are one or two of them were significant factors that have allowed you to walk this leadership path?

LaTea Perry:
Well, for me it's people already in those positions and reaching back and lifting me up all the climb. It is also having that resume and being in different arenas or having those accomplishments. Definitely having my doctorate and has gotten me more calls from various councils and associations to be interviewed, or helping with some special projects. I think that that is it. Like having your credentials, making sure that you are also doing a lot of service, networking and meeting people and going to the different conferences, as well as presenting.

Simone Lambert:
Thank you. Dr. Neil, what are your thoughts about that in terms of one or two significant factors that have allowed you to walk the leadership pathway that you've chosen

Crystal Neal:
Well, I know it's going to sound like a cliche, but I do think it starts off with a heart to serve. And so, as clinicians, you know that you're here because you want to help folks. And so, with service you put yourself in positions to be able to help other people. And so, simply for me, it was going in being available and being available to say yes, and I think, oftentimes, students may feel a little apprehensive, and this was saying, yes, because they're nervous and it may not feel as confident or competent to be able to take on the task, but it was being in the position to say, "Yeah, I can do that and if I don't know it, I can learn along the way." But also being able to be intentional. Me being involved with AADA and then for my Illinois chapter really has a lot to do with my interest in gerontology. And so, I think you need to intentionally understand where you want to land. What's your specialization? Where do you want to serve?

And so, I think for me has been very important to be available, to be able to say yes to things that other folks may say no to, but and also being very active in a role. If I didn't know, I was able to be mentored, or ask questions and I learned along the way.

Simone Lambert:
Fantastic. And Dr. Neil, you make such a great point about some rules are ideal for some and others choose different ways of expressing their leadership. And I know that there are some learners who aspire to university leadership. And so, Dr. Nutri, I wonder if you want to just comment about what are some of the significant factors that have helped you, or allowed you to walk on this leadership path?

Felicia Moutry:
Yes, absolutely. So, early on after my master's program, I actually really sort of pushed myself to get out there and gain as much experience in the field. And so, what I did was I started in a clinical setting and really it was just case management work, but it really gave me some great exposure. And then from there, I was able to take that and start kind of applying for various positions in the field. I started out, interestingly, as a career counselor, and that's how I sort of became very passionate about that particular aspect of the field and eventually transitioned into becoming a school counselor in the field. So, with that, and then having opportunity to start doing some adjunct teaching work, really sort of bridged, I guess, so to speak, came together. And that allowed me to just continue that process, and before I knew it, I was teaching more and more, and I actually really fell in love with teaching students who were pursuing their counseling degrees. And so, those are just a couple of opportunities that got me to where I am today.

Simone Lambert:
That's wonderful. Thank you for sharing that evolution and the path that you were on, and maybe I can start with you for this next question, if that's okay. Som as a female counselor educator of color, what have been some of the in leadership and in academia, professional associations and/or clinical agencies, and then as a follow up, how have you overcome those barriers?

Felicia Moutry:
Yeah, so I would say for myself, a barrier within academia has been sort of like experiencing, sometimes, students that haven't had experience with a student, a teacher of color. And so, me experiencing, from time to time, pushback every now and then, and just, I think some kind of just learning my style and becoming more comfortable with my style of instruction in the course room. I would say that has been something I've had to overcome along the way, and secondly, I would say sometimes self-imposed expectations and me feeling like, because I am a female instructor of color in academia, that I have to essentially really do my best. I'm always pushing myself and feeling as though I always have to do more, because I might be one of those individuals that might be compared or might be under the microscope just a little bit more, if I could just be transparent here. And so, I would say just over time, I've had to kind of sort of work through some of those self-imposed expectations because they can sort of become overwhelming over time if they're not really managed, and I hope all that makes sense.

Simone Lambert:
And were there any strategies that helped you to overcome that sense of having to over perform in order to meet what your perceived expectation where? Any people around you, or any messages or supports that you put in place to help you with that?

Felicia Moutry:
Absolutely. So, this is where I tapped into my personal resource and my network. So, I have other dear friends that are counselor educators in the field, that are also women of color. And so, just basically really having that support network, and having conversations, and us really helping one another with just understanding that the skill set and the abilities that have been acquired are going to be just as good as perhaps my counterparts, and just having that reassurance and validation along the way has really helped.

Simone Lambert:
That's fantastic. Thank you for sharing that. Dr. Neil, what about you? Any thoughts about this in terms of as a female counselor educator of color, what have been some barriers to leadership in academia, professional associations or clinical agencies, and things that done to overcome some of those barriers?

Crystal Neal:
Yeah, well, and that's an important question because as I was listening to my colleague, I thought, "Wow, maybe I'm underperforming." Because I was raised in an environment where we wasn't even expected to compete. We just did our personal best, and I'm becoming more aware as I navigate academia, that this is an issue that if some of us may feel that we are not getting the resources or we're not getting the opportunities, and spiritually, for me, it was more about if something comes to me, it's for me. And so, I've kind of navigated my life in that way, but I'm very appreciative of folks that are struggling with that kind of competition and they might be deemed or perceived as good as my counterpart. I think one of the most important things for me that I have noticed in leadership is that there's maybe an almost expectation, that there's a need for mentoring because there's few of us at the table. So, I come, again, from a school of thought that, as a minority, it's likely going to be few of us at the table.

And when you think about minorities entering different arenas the numbers are that they're likely going to represent our population, or if it's not going to represent a population, we could do something about that. So, it's been very important for me to go in with an understanding that there may not be a lot of folk at the table that looked like me, but that's okay because I'm not in a position to teach everyone about being self aware. I think that's part of a journey that we all need to be responsible, but as a barrier, I just kept pushing until I was able to have an opportunity that I wanted to have. I don't think it was a way of navigating in a non-intentional way. It was a way of, again, saying yes to opportunities that other folks may have said no to. So, I was open, and I was resourceful, and I was enthusiastic about every opportunity that came my way.

Simone Lambert:
Thank you, because they're really taking advantage of the seats that are at the table and bringing a chair up if you need to. Absolutely. Dr. Perry, what about you in terms of any challenges that you might've faced and how you've overcome those barriers?

LaTea Perry:
Absolutely. One thing that came to mind for me was breaking stereotypes and not being afraid to speak up. Just when asking questions if they're advocating, I have been told that you have a strong personality or something kind of, sort of along the lines of that, and I think that people don't expect, a lot of times, to ask those questions, or advocate, or challenge the system in a certain manner of ways, and it's not with malicious intent. It's not to make anybody feel bad, is just to come up with the right answer that's appropriate for what we're trying to do. And I think that having the words and being able to be tactful and educate people when we're experiencing some push back just from being advocates, because we were trained to be advocates and researchers and educators. So, I think that in developing some thick skin and just having the words to educate people along the way when you were just doing what you were taught and led to do in this field.

Simone Lambert:
Thank you for that natural progression in advocacy, and yes, you absolutely were taught to be an advocate and you do it very well. So, the next question to you all is what are areas of advocacy that are most meaningful to you for your clients that you work with, or have worked with in the past, the communities that you live in, the counselors that you train and the counseling profession. What are some areas of advocacy that speak to you?

Crystal Neal:
Well, I'll start if you guys don't mind. I mentioned earlier that my specialty area is gerontology. And so, advocating for older adults is number one for me. I enjoy the population, I enjoy creative aging strategies, and I've been a part of the Older Adults Taskforce as one of the executive committees and we've been co-presenting twice, actually two times, two years in a row with ACA. So, it's been really important for me to advocate for the needs of older adults, as well as even now, as thinking about how we're responding to COVID and preparing people to reentry, to reenter the world, and to feel less isolated. And so, working with older adults, counseling my students and prepare my students to engage in meaningful work with older adults, with well empirically supported interventions, because we do have those in our work with older adults. Focusing on those gerontological competencies, and just kind of getting folks prepared for the next three years where we see a really big influx of older adults in our communities.

Simone Lambert:
Fantastic. Thank you for that.

Crystal Neal:
Thank You.

Simone Lambert:
And Dr. Moutry, what are some of your advocacy passions?

Felicia Moutry:
Yes. One of my advocacy passions is the LGBTQ plus community. I have actually done a few presentations and had several conversations just on the topic itself. I created a course entitled the LGBTQ Community and Counseling and how we, as clinicians, therapists, school counselors can be just really more sensitive to the population and a lot of different experiences that the population may be going through. And one of my areas in particular has been trauma and the various areas of trauma that many individuals that do identify within the population had experienced over time and how a lot of just their challenges. Sometimes we kind of see their outlook, maybe a little different and oftentimes it could be directly linked to some of the trauma they have experienced.

Simone Lambert:
It's such an important topic right now and all the time. Yeah. So, thank you for your work in that area. Both of you have just created wonderful areas to focus your energies, and Dr. Perry, I wonder if you can add on that in terms of your advocacy passions, which are many.

LaTea Perry:
Absolutely yes. I've narrowed it down to two. So, for me, it's a cultural representation for the youth that I work with. I work in a predominantly white area in Maryland and I represent cultural representation for the minority students in my school, and I make sure that we provide resources, we provide experiences, we provide access, we have people coming in to pour into them just so that it's not just me every day. They see a community of people that love and care about them and want to see them be successful. I think it's very important for our youth to see people that look exactly like them also encouraging and educating them as well. And my second advocacy, because I'm very attached about this, I did my dissertation on it, was single black women and navigating the world. Those who are not necessarily married yet and may be suffering from depression and anxiety for not meeting those goals. So, I do specialize in that, and that is what my practice centers around for therapy services.

Simone Lambert:
Thank you for that, and I know that was hard to narrow it down to two advocacy issues, but I appreciate it. I also think that it's so important for counselor educators of color to be able to have these conversations with learners of color in particular, because if we're going to have a more diversified workforce, in terms of mental health and counselors out there, we need to have more students who are of color, and in order to make that happen, we need to have more counselor educators of color to be able to help train and get them ready for that. So, my next question is about learners. And so, I want you to think about and help respond to what would you like our Capella, Councillor Education and Supervision doctoral learners to know about leadership and advocacy?

Crystal Neal:
Oh, this is Dr. Neil. I hope I'm not starting to [inaudible 00:00:21:02], but I would say don't be afraid. When I was in graduate school many moons ago, but I'm only 18, so you do the math, I didn't hear a lot about professional identity, and I went to a wonderful, a university that really focused on our clinical skills and Bravo for that, but not hearing enough about how do you go and you hone your professional identity? How do you find a divisional home? Where do you want to land? It took me until I graduated and I was way into my doctoral program when I started to say, "Hey, I should join my state organization and advocate. I should join ACA." And so for me, I would recommend folks to get involved as a student member. Not only is it 50% off, that's a good thing, but you start to learn how to navigate. You start to find out where you want to land and how you want to contribute to the field, because I guarantee it's going to be someone just like you there.

If you want to be an advocate, and you want to focus on that in your community, there's a whole group ready to do that with you. If you want to research, there's a division for that. If you want to do all these things, if you want to be in academia, we have a CES. So, it's really important for students to try to get involved as early as possible so they can begin to navigate the world of counseling. That's part what we're saying.

Simone Lambert:
Get involved. Absolutely. Dr. Moutry, what about you? Guidance for our CES learners.

Felicia Moutry:
Yes. I just want to just piggyback on what Dr. Neil shared in terms of getting involved. Professional identity really is so important. I too did not make that realization until I was pretty further along in my career, but I found that the more networking that I did and meeting other professionals really helped me a lot also in this field. You can bounce ideas back and forth. Joining those professional associations really allows for the advocacy work and really being able to carry out passion. And so, a lot of times I find that learners have a variety of interests and passions, and they just are not sure how to really channel those things. And I think joining associations is a great way to do that and finding something that really is in line with truly your values and really something that you enjoy doing as a person out here.

Simone Lambert:
Absolutely leadership and advocacy can fill our buckets too, and it's not just a matter of joining an association, but just saying, "Hey, I'm here." And sometimes just showing up, it's all you need to do in order to get roped into something and get involved. So, thank you for sharing that. And that's a Dr. Perry, any guidance that you want to give to our CES Capella learners about how to get involved with leadership and advocacy from your perspective?

LaTea Perry:
Absolutely, and I think I'm kind of piggybacking off of Dr. Nutri, But I just want to say to who much is given, much is expected. So, after the doctorate, I thought I was going to be resting, and I thought I wanted to have a great time and just self carrying it up, but no, I have about five different jobs. So, just know that the work still continues, the opportunities will be plentiful. I've had to say notice them, but I said yes to quite a few. As I said, I have five different jobs. You'll have access to multiple ways of getting income, which is excellent. So, don't turn down opportunities, and then also I do agree with Dr. Nutri with finding what you're passionate about it. It won't feel like work if you do find that passion, keep going, network right, don't be afraid to lead and also rest in between all of those things that you will be doing, because they will be plentiful.

Simone Lambert:
Excellent guidance that you've provided. Oh, I'm so glad that our CES learners have the opportunity to hear from each of you, and the things that you've been able to accomplish, how you've been able to do it, and just some nuggets on terms of longevity and self care along the way for your leadership and advocacy journey. I do wonder, are there any other things that maybe we didn't cover that you wanted to share with our learners?

Felicia Moutry:
One of the things I would love to add is that I encourage learners to, and this is just a piggyback on what Dr. Perry said, opportunities and stepping out there and also opportunities to present, to let your voice be heard out there, to be able to perhaps educate other either counselor educators, school counselors, clinicians that are here as well, because I find that, that's also a way to feel like you're giving back is to also be in a position where you have submitted a proposal and you are participating in an association and presenting critical information that could be so helpful and beneficial to a lot of the professionals out here.

Crystal Neal:
I agree. I agree. And if I could just add one more thing and this really coupled with what you guys are saying. Don't be stray to go up to the professor that you've been doing so much and say, "Hey, you're going to present soon? Are you going to edit a chapter in a book?" And so, allowing other folks to just kind of give you a hand with that, and I think for me, a big card of even being in leadership is kind of grabbing the hands of the students and bringing them along, because guys, we're getting old in the field. We have to pass the time. And so, getting students involved immediately is going to be something wonderful for them to prepare, but also to see your work in action. To kind of give back and pay it forward. And so, I will recommend every learner to co present with one of your professors and so many opportunities that come out [inaudible 00:27:45]. Every intern that I work with for residency and field work, they say the same thing, "Oh, this professor has allowed me to call present."

Writing a proposal that you guys just mentioned, it gives you a great practice to do that, and if there's an opportunity that comes up, take it. There is time to prepare, if that's a fear. So, don't say no just because you're fearful. You don't have to work and push through that.

LaTea Perry:
Yeah, and if I can just piggyback on Dr. Neil, just having confidence. A lot of times we are our own worst critic and talk ourselves out of possibilities or opportunities, but just know that you were given the tools and you are able to accomplish anything that you want to do. The second thing, and I had just kind of learned this when I branched out and finished with schooling, was I needed to take some business classes because we don't necessarily incorporate that in counseling. However, we are telling people that they should get a private practice and take the ACA and all of those things. And then it was a major learning curve with, "Okay, well, how do I run a business?" So, you may want to look into that and start reading books, and talking to people that are in private practice, and looking at that section about private practice in the ACA, Counseling Today, because it really can give you a wealth of knowledge of what you will be entailed for once you start your own business.

Simone Lambert:
Such amazing guidance from each of you. Thank you so much for sharing that with all of our learners at Capella. I am so appreciative of your time today, your energy that you give to the profession, and thank you again for being part of this panel.

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

Diversity Within Leadership

Read the above and attached articles.  USING THE ABOVE AND ARTICLES AS REFERENCE/CITATIONS —   In this 750 word post discussion, address the following:

• What systemic changes would you advocate for within the field of counselor education and supervision? 
• Specifically: 
  • Academia       (colleagues, administrators, hiring, mentoring, supporting learners, et       cetera).
  • Professional       organizations.