Annemarie Shrouder Helps People Learn To Do By… Understanding

What do the words inclusivity and diversity mean to you? When we talk about these issues, are we – as a society – able to recognize, understand, and learn about the true value of inclusivity and diversity? These are some of the important questions the 4-H community is asking, and the discussions that are taking place as we strive to ensure the 4-H movement is accessible and available to all. These are also some of the questions 4-H alumna, Annemarie Shrouder, aims to help organizations and individuals answer. Annemarie - whose keynote presentation was a highlight of the 2021 4-H Canada Leadership Summit - is an international speaker, consultant, and published author on the subjects of inclusivity and diversity, and has been working in the field for nearly 20 years. A former elementary school teacher, Annemarie now educates adults and organizations on what advantages diverse workplace environments can give, not only in terms of productivity and creativity, but also employee satisfaction and mental health. “People need to be seen, heard, and valued,” Annemarie said. “We want people to thrive, organizations to do better - and we know that when workplace environments are inclusive, employee engagement and job satisfaction increases. If we’re listening and using the information we gather, we can do things differently.” According to Annemarie, organizations can encounter a number of challenges when they decide to make their work environment more inclusive. One of the most common mistakes is when companies incorrectly equate having a diverse workforce as automatically being an inclusive workplace. “If people don’t feel safe and have a sense of belonging, they won’t engage – so those two things need to go together,” she said. “You need diversity and inclusion for innovation.” Annemarie believes that the first step to meaningful improvement for any organization is to admit there are areas for growth and ways to be more diverse and inclusive. Once they identify there’s work to be done, organizations can have internal dialogues and begin crafting action plans that help them improve incrementally. However, she cautions organizations that they need to start from the inside out. For example, she says some companies may hire people of colour to make their workforce more diverse. But, if employees aren’t also given the opportunity to participate and be included, they may leave over time, putting organizations right back at square one – with a lack of diversity and inclusivity. Annemarie says there’s no simple solution, and everyone needs to be part of cultural changes within a work environment. “Organizations need to work on inclusion, safety, and learning together,” advised Annemarie. “Build out a strategy and be thoughtful on how you approach it. We are dealing with human beings, and they have feelings.” Annemarie’s experience predates what she saw first-hand as an elementary school teacher. As a biracial person, and someone who identifies as queer, she has had her fair share of personal experiences where she didn’t feel included – and worse. It was these memories and stories of her youth, mixed with her subject matter expertise and abilities as a communicator, that drove Annemarie to write her book: Being Brown in a Black and White World. In the book, Annemarie highlights the polarity of race – the either/or – and the impact of that on a personal level, and in the workplace. She also shares the personal cost of this polarization and the cost to organizations, and asks us to imagine a new way to heal the racial divide and create healthy workplace communities. “My work is part personal story and part leadership lens,” explained Annemarie. “It’s my experience of the world as a biracial individual - it’s no coincidence I do what I do.” And she isn’t stopping there. Annemarie is working at making her education tools and information more readily available to all through an e-learning system to complement training sessions, as she continues to run her leadership program. To find out more about Annemarie, visit annemarieshrouder.com.