Long-time VISIONS consultant, Joe Steele, took some time to discuss his journey to and with VISIONS, how he is processing his stay at home order, and how it’s all shifting how he views DEI work.

“Taking the time to still my mind, it’s been one gift I’ve given myself. Getting used to not-doing, and loving it. It’s been one of my biggest learnings – how do I keep that schedule of not-doing,” Joe said, noting that he’s tried many types of meditation as part of that practice.

After 36 years in the captain’s chair, Dr. Valerie Batts stepped down as VISIONS’ Executive Director, announcing Elika Dadsetan-Foley her successor. Dr. Val will remain part of the organization, and will focus her time in keeping her hands and mind in The Work, while Elika will focus on the actual running of VISIONS as an organization.​

Author: Valerie Batts, Ph.D.

​In this newly revised article, Dr. Valerie Batts offers personal reflections on and responses to the social history of oppression and racially-motivated violence in the United States.

Drawing from their own twelve-year partnership and from interviews with 125 women business partners across the world, Betsy Polk and Maggie Chotas have learned something powerful: when women work together they discover a level of support, balance, confidence, accountability, and freedom to be themselves that is rarely found in other work relationships.

It is with great sadness that VISIONS share the news of the life transition of Dr. Jo Bowens Lewis, Senior Associate.

Inspirational psychotherapist and change agent Josephine Bowens Lewis was born in Philadelphia, PA on August 27, 1943 to the late Bishop Joseph T. and Clara W. Bowens. Dr. Lewis was a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and a Certified Teaching and Supervisory Member of the International Transactional Analysis Association. “Jo,” as she preferred to be called, was a gifted psychotherapist, conducting workshops and consultations nationally and internationally.

Case: Preparing the Ground – Institutional Change
What has been most effective at Episcopal Divinity School (EDS), Cambridge, MA, in increasing the number of faculty of color and changing the environment of the school to be more welcoming of diversity has been the use of a multipronged approach that addresses all aspects of institutional life.

Author: Thomas Shelden Griggs, Ph.D.

In this article, VISIONS consultant Dr. Thomas Griggs offers an important look at what it takes to create a successful Inclusive Diversity Initiative, emphasizing the process-oriented nature of managing such a project.

Author: Joseph Bragdon

According to author Joseph Bragdon, firms that mimic living systems emphasize the importance of putting a higher value on people and nature than capital assets. With this operating principle and model of business, firms create spontaneous demand to live harmoniously and respectfully with the systems on which we all depend.

Author: Derald Wing Sue

Through personal narrative and social psychological research, Derald Wing Sue examines the subtle biases that communicate hostile and derogatory insults toward people of color on a daily basis.

Author: Josephine “Jo” Bowens Lewis, PsyD

I’m often aware of my father’s presence in the context of working with people. He had a capacity to articulate meaning in words. He certainly was verbose, yet when he spoke, he had something to say. As a minister, he had a gift of speaking to people according to what he was inspired to tell them, and he had a vast knowledge to draw from. At the same time, he would speak to what he heard from the other person. And he had a kindness of intent—that seemed to come naturally to him. That often guides what I say: paying attention to impact.