The Journey Starts

Let me start this blog with a little about me and how I got started. So, I started on the Diversity path while living in Parker, Colorado and working for Lockheed Martin in the Aurora, Colorado area. I was on the Systems Engineering Management staff and had a number of jobs working on programmatic and personnel issues. HR, recruiting, staffing, training, etc. In about 2003 or 2004 Lockheed decided to get involved in Diversity. I wanted to get involved at first for the travel and conferences. However, it did not take long for me to get the passion for true diversity. My then boss, Ron Butts (thank you Ron), allowed me to take the reins on the diversity effort which gave me a budget and free rein to do as I saw fit and back then there were no set guidelines. After a lot of reading it did not take me long to understanding that diversity meant everyone. At the time most organizations saw diversity as a new chapter to promote women and minorities and it took the whole Diversity community a long time to convince people that diversity was way more than that. Not only did I hold special events for all the under-represented people’s months but I knew back then we needed to include everyone so I also had events for Scottish-American Days and German-American Days and lunch time socials to discuss diversity with everyone.

I soon started my own diversity consulting business with the help of a great mentor, Diane Sinard. Diane provided outstanding contacts and support however, with my lack of business knowledge and not having a clue what I was doing I floundered to the point that I had to go back to work in the defense contractor world (Sorry Diane). I moved to a number of companies and ended up to where I am now, the Northern Virginia area. With all the moves and companies, I was always deeply immersed in whatever diversity efforts where available. I continue working diversity today with the company I am currently with as Co-President of the STEM Employee Resource Group and supporting the veterans and women’s groups.

Recently I started working on my genealogy just out of curiosity. WOW, what a trip. To understand what really makes you who you are from your past DNA is truly amazing and enlightening. The stories you read and hear from family members is truly fun. As I continue this blog I will share some of this with you, as well as talk about my thoughts on diversity. I am always looking for comments so please do not hesitate to leave them but keep them clean and respectful. The journey has started – sharing that journey with you is my next adventure.