Don't be a Stamp Licker: Use Common Sense

Hello all,

I was once admonished early in my career for doing something that a work colleague thought was a waste of time, and defended it by reminding them that we were told it was a requirement. Their response was something like- "oh you are such a good little bureaucrat, I'm not doing that." And it stung- because following the rules is part of my nature and part of my work practice.

However, over time I've seen enough rule stretching, bending, and breaking to know that not every rule should be followed, and not every person bothers to even try, and that sometimes following every rule means that you never have time to get to the really important things.

I'm not advocating for chaos- just for common sense. Using our own sense of what is important to protect us against following every rule even when it wastes our time or sets us back or obligates us to something that actually harms our wellbeing. Because especially for any underrepresented and under-respected group, following the rules is often still not enough to help us reach our goals. The rules get changed, the hidden rules get applied, or the game itself gets shifted out of reach.

So a recent NYT Opinion piece How to be Old by Roger Rosenblatt caught my eye, and this paragraph below really struck me as important.

He writes:

"6. Don’t compromise, especially a little.
Unless you’re a professional negotiator, don’t compromise. Give in a little, you might as well give up the ship. During the McCarthy era, students were required to submit loyalty oaths to maintain their scholarships. At a meeting of the Harvard faculty, a professor who had escaped Mussolini’s Italy challenged the dean on this matter. The dean responded that signing and sending in the oaths was merely pro forma and had no more meaning than licking the stamps on the letters. The Italian professor stood and said something like, “Mr. Dean, I’m from fascist Italy, and in fascist Italy you learn one thing. First you lick the stamps. Then you lick something else.”

Because I'm not advocating for chaos, I'm suggesting that we surface the problematic aspects of rules that don't serve us well, enlist like minded supporters, and advocate for changes.

As we move into the summer months and maybe get some down time to reflect back on this last academic year, think about the rules you follow and ask yourself these questions: "What, if anything, did I have to compromise in order to follow that rule?" and "What would be better if I didn't have to do that?"

All the best,
Holly

Time for a Work Dance Break! Let's Play it for Change!

Hello all,

This week I'm sharing a resource you may already know about—the Playing for Change organization.

This amazing project brings musicians together from all around the world to play and sing some of our favorite songs.

"Founded in 2007, PFCF was established to create positive change through music and arts education. Our work engages marginalized youth in diverse communities around the world, primarily located in low and lower-middle income countries. These communities are home to great cultural wealth, which we use to create educational and social opportunities."

A few of my recent views include:

• Everyday People
• A Change is Gonna Come
• Guantanamera
• Teach Your Children
• And this one, celebrating the Women of Change Band...

So, watch, listen, feel the emotions, take a dance break at work, and celebrate the beauty and creativity of humanity.

All the best,
Holly

The GPS of AI: Understanding Algorithmic Bias

Hello all,

This week I'm sharing a post from my LinkedIn feed from the amazing Tonya R. Bennett, MLA, ML (She/Her), one of my co-leads in the EDUCAUSE WIT Community Group.

She writes the following:

Let’s break down a term you keep hearing but no one really explains: “Algorithmic bias.”

Think of it like GPS:
You trust it to get you somewhere fast.
But it was trained mostly on highway data, not side streets.
So it keeps routing you the same way… even when a better route exists.

That is algorithmic bias.
The system is not broken. It learned from incomplete data.

Now the jargon, simplified:
🔹 Algorithm = rules the system follows
🔹 Training data = what it learned from
🔹 Output = the decision it gives you

When the data is limited or skewed, the results will be too.

Why this matters:
AI is shaping decisions in admissions, hiring, and student success.
These systems are not neutral.
They reflect the choices behind them.

👉 You do not need to build AI
👉 You do need to question it

Tonya's message is short, straightforward, and a clear call to action. If we want to continue on our path towards an inclusive technology related workplace and society, we need to be paying close attention and taking actions to reduce AI Bias.

All the best,
Holly

Inclusion on Purpose - Snippet #4

Hello All,

We’re now starting chapter 4 of Inclusion on Purpose: an intersectional approach to creating a culture of belonging at work, by Ruchika Tulshyan (2022, MIT Press). This summary below was the result of my AI prompt:

Shine the Light, Then Get out of the Way

• Amplification: Sponsor and credit women of color; create visibility while avoiding performative tokenism.
• Allyship vs. saviorism: Step back so those most affected can lead; support materially (budget, authority, cover).
• Structural support: Build processes that sustain progress beyond individual heroes. [direct.mit.edu]

That is the Gemini summary of the chapter.

“Your crown has been bought and paid for. Put it on your head and wear it.” — Dr. Maya Angelou

This quote is widely interpreted as meaning we should not shrink from using our talents, holding our place, or sharing our ideas…that others fought for the opportunities we now have, and that we ought to use them, and not let them be taken from us.

Tulshyan then shares another story: the story of Laura Gomez, a woman excited for a 2015 meeting with a successful startup founder (p.75). She was looking for a co-founder and technical officer for her technology startup. She showed the potential co-founder her prototype, but he remained silent. He politely thanked her but said he needed more time to think about his next career move.

18 months later, she had raised $2 million in seed funding. Then she discovered that an interested investor had “just invested $5 million in another HR tech company that sounds very similar to yours.” It was the same person she had met 18 months previous. He had been sending "advisors" to absorb her designs and pass them to this competitor. He was actively stealing her ideas. Her legal advisors told her not to pursue action as she could not compete with his financial standing.

Tulshyan says the lesson (p. 77) is not just that there are people who will steal ideas, but that many others might be complicit. When this happens, the system gets rigged against justice. Her message to all of us is not to be complicit! She writes (p.78):

“I urge you to reflect on how you can use your influence to create opportunities for women of color to surface great ideas, advocate for those great ideas to flourish, and most importantly, get duly recognized and rewarded for them.”

Here’s what we need to know:

1. Making sure the right people get credit really matters. (p. 78 to 80)

The prevailing cultural narrative is to be humble and that hard work is its own reward. However, research shows (Williams and Multhaup, 2018) that women of color are often unfairly assigned "office housework" that doesn't lead to advancement. Inclusive leaders must intentionally select women for high-profile assignments.

2. Allies need to use their privilege to advance women of color. (p. 80-93)

I’m going to simply list the actions here, but there are excellent resources online for all of these strategies:

• A. Run inclusive meetings (ensure everyone is at the table/video call).
• B. Designate meeting facilitators to ensure equal speaking time.
• C. Interrupt the interrupters.
• D. Repeat overlooked ideas and point back to the original speaker.
• E. Pass the mic to amplify unheard voices.
• F. Amplify good ideas and credit the original source.
• G. Sponsor women of color for high-visibility projects.
• H. Spread public speaking opportunities equitably.
• I. Redistribute the office housework; rotate these tasks.

Until next month—be well and keep learning!

All the best,
Holly

Protect Your Wellbeing with the Strategic "No"

Hello all,

Do you have trouble saying no? If you're anything like me...and I know I am...the answer is yes.

I've written about this before—but it keeps coming up as an issue for people in IT and IT related fields. The pressure to deliver is intense. The work never ends, the urgent gets conflated with the important, and the pace of change keeps increasing. Despite all our advances in programming and productivity and automation, we can't always keep up.

And what do we often sacrifice in our attempts to keep up? Our own wellbeing. And our long-term success depends on our long-term wellbeing. There are so many reasons for us to protect our time and energy for the tasks and people we value most, and yet we often find ourselves agreeing to things we'd rather not do.

So, we have to be the strategic project managers of our own lives. Being strategic in what we say yes to (assuming we have a choice!) also means being strategic in what we say no to!

There are some resources for us to review as we work to be more strategic in loading up our plates:

The No Club: "Putting a Stop to Women’s Dead-End Work. A practical, timely guide for bringing gender equity to the workplace: unburden women’s careers from work that goes unrewarded."

And here's a bonus Leadership 480 Podcast, where professor of organizational behavior, Laurie Weingart, author of "The No Club: Putting a Stop to Women's Dead-End Work," joins DDI to discuss why saying no at work is such a crucial skill for leaders, especially woman leaders.

Empowering women in tech to say “no”: "Women in tech today still face unique challenges, including the pressure to do more and the need to prove themselves. Simply put, there’s a ‘yes’ problem. Many women feel the need to say “yes” and often the assumption is that we will."

The Gentle Art of Saying “No” At Work: This resource from Cornell University can be one to printout and post in your workplace for regular reference!
"It can be difficult to say “no,” but it’s a critical skill if you are to protect your own priorities, time, and even your mental wellbeing. Saying “no” does not mean you’re rejecting the other person; it means that you’re turning down a specific request that the person is making of your time and energy."

Whatever strategies you use, I wish you all the best,

Holly

Beyond the Spillover: Re-centering Disability in the Curb-Cut Effect

Hello all,

This week's post is focused on the curb-cut effect, defined by B. Reid from various sources in chapter 8 of the book Feminist Cyberlaw (M. Jones and A. Levendowski, 2024) as "an oft-observed phenomenon that occurs when technology designed to dismantle barriers to the accessibility of society for disabled people affords positive benefits - positive externalities or spillovers in economic terms- for nondisabled people." The expressed concern about this is that we can grow to focus on the spillover effects and only prioritize or advance those technologies that benefit everyone.

The chapter argues that there is a real danger of harm to and erasure of the exact needs of disabled people when we rely on the power of the curb-cut effect argument when making accessibility design decisions.

The chapter provides several examples, from actual sidewalk curb-cuts that don't have level transitions or are too steep for actual wheelchair users, to image alt tags used only for the most simplified descriptions, to video captions that fail to describe video scenes without any sound, to audio descriptions that fail to include "visible details about the race, ethnicity, and skin color of on-screen characters" where critical concerns for disabled people are not prioritized. This specific chapter is also referenced in the brief Curb-cut effect wikipedia article.

As we breathe out sighs of either relief or exasperation at the extension to 2027 of the ADA Title II compliance requirements on digital accessibility, I hope that some of us can use this time to assess whether our efforts are paying enough attention to the precise needs of the people we want to serve. Knowing SUNY as I do, I expect that someone has already been thinking that exact thing. As our Plattsburgh EIT Officer John Locke wrote:

"This is not a reprieve from our responsibility to ensure accessibility. Our obligation to provide accessible programs, services, and activities remains unchanged under the ADA, as well as under New York State law and federal regulations tied to funding (including HHS requirements with a compliance date of May 11, 2026). Instead, this extension should be viewed as an opportunity: time to close remaining gaps, strengthen our practices, and continue building the skills needed to create accessible content from the start."

I agree with John!

I'd love to hear more about how our accessibility efforts are mitigating any of the negative impacts of the "curb-cut effect."

All the best,
Holly

Retention by Design: Making Office Inclusivity Part of Your Strategy

Hello all,

This week's message was inspired by a recent Harvard Business Review Management "Tip of the Day" that arrived in my email. As written, it's great advice for companies planning relocations or expansions, or even rethinking a return from remote work policy. And then, I rewrote it to offer some advice for us, as we work to improve our SUNY workplaces using the SUNY WIT Mission: "The SUNY WIT Program's Mission is 'to empower, support, and retain a more gender diverse information technology related workforce within SUNY.'"

---

The HBR Original...

"Make Office Location Part of Your Strategy
Most companies still evaluate office locations using cost, space, and incentives. But those factors miss what actually drives performance. The strongest locations today operate as “knowledge campuses,” where work is embedded in a broader environment of transit, services, and daily life. Here’s how to choose the right location for your organization.

Measure return on place. Evaluate how your location drives interactions, reduces daily friction, and strengthens your industrial and talent ecosystems. Look for environments that naturally create frequent, informal encounters. Assess how much time employees lose to commuting and daily logistics. Prioritize locations that minimize these burdens and surround your team with relevant talent, partners, and institutions.

Build districts, not buildings. An isolated office is a disadvantage. You need an environment that extends beyond your walls. Choose locations that integrate work with dining, wellness, public space, and social infrastructure. These elements signal that you understand what people need to do their best work. Focus on places where employees can move seamlessly between their professional and personal lives.

Manage location as a portfolio. Don’t rely on a single headquarters. Different locations attract different types of talent. Maintain a mix of sites that align with how people want to live and work, and adjust over time as those preferences shift.

Focus on housing. If employees can’t live near work, productivity suffers. Factor in housing access and commute realities when choosing locations, even if you can’t control them directly."

Now, what if we thought about how to apply these principles to the way we configure our SUNY workplaces? And explicitly thought about how to increase inclusivity and the potential for allyship as part of the concept? Here's my start on a reworking of this message.

Holly's Rework: Make Office Inclusivity Part of Your Strategy

Most organizations still assign office space and meeting space access by function, random available spaces at the moment of hire, proximity to service functions, or according to some privilege factor based on hierarchical rank. And although some of us work remote part of the time, we still rely primarily on in-person workplaces. But these factors miss what actually drives retention and inclusivity. The most inclusive organizations leverage differences in knowledge and experience to create the best services and programs for their intended users. Here's how to choose the best connections for your organization.

Measure return on interaction: Evaluate how staff space assignments and access to shared spaces drive innovation, service improvement, cultural knowledge exchanges, reduce conflicts, and promote allyship. Look for configurations that encourage cross-pollination of ideas through casual interactions. Track how frequently employees connect with folks not in their exact area of work, and document the impact of any improvements and changes that result.

Build communities, not silos. An isolated function is a disadvantage. Focus on creating workplace "mixed use neighborhoods" that include elements of the work life that support multiple activities, such as flexible meeting spaces, conference rooms that are shared by support staff and the executive teams, dining and wellness spaces, and possibly even customers. Small changes can open the doors to interoffice community and appreciation for diversity wide open.

Manage locations as opportunities. Don't rely on single buildings for your organization. Different locations offer a multitude of opportunities to see customers and colleagues in a new light, inspire creativity, encourage collaborations, and provide choices that can increase a sense of belonging and improve retention. Maintain a mix of sites that align with the different needs of your organizational groups.

Focus on retention. If employees can't be themselves at work, connection suffers. Factor in preferences for light, sound, privacy, commuting times to other work obligations when assigning workspaces, even if you have limited options. Do what you can with what you have.

So, that's my version. I'd love to hear from folks who have other ideas or have made gains in this area at their SUNY's.

All the best,
Holly

Reflections on the Holocaust and Artemis II

Hello all,

This week was a commemoration of 11 million lives lost in the Holocaust - 6 million of these were Jews, including - we suspect, my grandmother's sisters and their families. Or perhaps they were never sent to any work or death camps but simply pushed aside and perished in another way as marginalized people do in war. So we mourn the lives that were taken and we strive to prevent more losses. We honor the heroes and the righteous who misdirected, resisted, and sheltered. Without them there might have been no one left.

And as we know it is still happening now. We have not been successful in achieving an end to hatred and war. Nonetheless, we need to keep trying. That is the message of the Holocaust commemorations. That we all need to be vigilant and protect those we see getting pushed aside and blamed for woes not of their making. That we need to speak out when we see injustice. To believe in the dignity and beauty of each life.

And this same week, we are celebrating the extraordinary mission and safe return of the Artemis II, with all her crew safely back on earth. With the teams of engineers and scientists and programmers and artists and dreamers that made it happen. The crew...talented, educated, experienced, driven, humble, kind, and diverse. The mission will give us science and art to study and learn from for years. And we must be careful with what we learn, and what we do with all that information.

For technology folks and space nerds alike—it was amazing. And it was a symbol of diversity and alliances, of genders, backgrounds, and nationalities, the way space exploration has often been. Yes it's been a competitive race—and also a cooperative venture. In answer to the horrors of the Holocaust, that hatred and dehumanizing to the point of systematic deliberate plans for total elimination of a people, we have Artemis II.

All the best,
Holly

Courage, Kindness, and Conflict: Insights from Caroline Melkonian

Hello all,

This week's wisdom comes from Caroline Melkonian, a University at Albany Alumna and professional mediator.

The Hidden Signs Workplace Conflict Is Brewing And How Mediation Can Help

"Hidden workplace conflict rarely announces itself. It usually shows up in subtle behavioral shifts before it becomes open disagreement. Here are the most common hidden signs:

Communication Changes

When communication becomes indirect or overly formal, tension is often present. This can look like short, clipped emails, avoiding direct conversation, or delayed responses. Or in the worst case, employees are talking about someone instead of to someone. Once this begins, facts morph into perceptions and trust begins to erode, making it harder and riskier for employees to engage on their own.

Silence

Silence can be a powerful indicator of unspoken disagreement. You may see meeting dynamics shift where employees “save” opinions for private conversations, or no longer seem as engaged as they were previously and passively nod their heads in agreement. This creates false consensus when in reality, concerns still exist or employees are not aligned with the outcomes, creating quiet non-compliance.

Productivity Shifts

Relationship issues are sometimes disguised as productivity issues. You may see increased mistakes, missed deadlines or competing priorities that suddenly feel territorial. If leaders treat a relational problem as a performance problem, they address the symptom, not the cause. When performance shifts suddenly, it is often worth asking not only, “What is wrong with the work?” but also, “What may be happening between the people?”

Have you experienced this? I know I have.

I've even participated in "the meeting after the meeting" when we all expressed our true opinions and shared our true thoughts about the solutions. And I've even felt justified in the moment, despite knowing that that practice does nothing to improve the situation.

So, we have to step up to address issues with courage and kindness.

---

And for your listening pleasure... The Canadian group, The Be Good Tanyas sing Draft Daughter's Blues aka Ootischenia

And long hair comin' down her shoulders
She is tired and feeling so much older
So tear the pages from the family bible
It came down upon the women for survival
It came down upon the women for survival...

All the best,
Holly

The Power of Diverse Democracy: Lessons from Mila Popovich

Hello all,

One last celebration of extraordinary women, as we move out of March and into April, this week of Passover, Good Friday, and Easter. My warmest wishes to all who are celebrating this week.

From the organization GlobalMindED "(an Inclusive Success Network™ creating a capable talent pipeline by connecting students to role models, mentors, internships, and jobs to get grads to financial freedom and economic mobility.)", we have access to a listing of newsletters featuring women in many different fields of life, each with a photo and story about how their lives and careers were shaped and what they hope to achieve through their efforts.

One of these really spoke to me, and I've copied part of her story here. I hope it inspires you to explore further.

Advancing Human Dignity, Intercultural Governance, and the Right to the Future: Meet Mila Popovich, Founder, EVOLving Leadership

"My journey has been shaped by movement across cultures, systems, and identities. I was born in what was then Yugoslavia, in a region marked by layered histories and resilience. Later, I made the United States my adopted home, becoming a naturalized American and embracing deeply the promise of a diverse democracy. Living between these worlds expanded my understanding of humanity and taught me that identity is multidimensional and enriched through encounter.

Becoming an American citizen was one of the most meaningful milestones of my life. I saw in the United States not simply a country, but a living tapestry of people from across the world striving and building together. That experience shaped my conviction that societies flourish when diversity is honored, voices are heard, and opportunity is accessible to all.

Having lived through democratic rupture, social collapse, and war, I learned the inestimable value of peace and social cohesion. These experiences shaped my commitment to strengthening institutions that sustain dignity, trust, and belonging. My work today focuses on helping societies reimagine systems that have often been built on separation and extraction so they can become life-centered and sustainable."

All the best,
Holly

Her Service, Her Story: A Lesson in Pivoting for What Matters

Hello all,

In this last full week of Women's History Month, I was reminded that being an ally requires us to keep looking around and making sure we are sharing space with others.

Sometimes, our plans and agendas need to be adjusted, but we don't always make those adjustments easily! We resist making adjustments when it means rethinking, regrouping, and reprioritizing.

But the task of allies can often be to step aside when others need to be heard, and to adjust so that new information can be shared.

A few days ago, Maria Garrity alerted me to the fact that the CPD was hosting Her Service, Her Story: Understanding & Supporting Women Veterans Across SUNY at the same time that I scheduled our next WIT Chapter Leaders community of practice meeting this Friday. And I want to have those meetings! And all the chapter leaders are very busy people. And there are always choices to be made in scheduling...and maybe it would be recorded? We have things to do at those meetings.

I could go on and on with all the reasons to keep the WIT meeting. And yet...doesn't this program opportunity fit right into the reason we have WIT in the first place?

So I asked the community of WIT Chapter leaders, and the quick replies advised me that rescheduling our meeting would be appreciated!

They wanted to listen, learn, and support our SUNY women veterans. And so do I. And so can you!

All the best,
Holly

Inclusion on Purpose: Snippet #3

Hello All,

We’re now starting chapter 3 of Inclusion on Purpose: an intersectional approach to creating a culture of belonging at work, by Ruchika Tulshyan (2022, MIT Press).

This summary below was the result of my AI prompt:

How to Develop an Inclusion Mindset

• Shift from intent to impact: Good intentions aren’t enough—learn, unlearn, and adopt measurable inclusion habits.
• Habits: Seek diverse perspectives, examine defaults (e.g., who’s invited, who speaks), and define inclusion as a core leadership competency.
• Measure: Track behavior change and team outcomes (belonging, attrition, advancement).

That is the Gemini summary of the second chapter.

Chapter 2 starts with a story that illustrates how the lack of an inclusion mindset can set a whole organization on its heels and derail promising careers. Tulshyan writes “Jodi-Ann Burey received a frantic phone call from her manager to attend a leadership meeting scheduled for the next hour at the fast-growing startup she had recently joined.” As the story unfolds (p37-39) we learn that the manager asked her to bring slides to show the management team what she was working on. Given the short notice, she knew at that point that she was an agenda afterthought even though she was leading the DEI efforts at the organization. Although she was surprised she actually had slides ready, so she went to the meeting.

She presented her slides but the CEO eventually verbally shot down every idea—saying that the ideas were not relevant to the company's work, and continued a “hostile line of questioning” for 30 minutes. Burey quickly realized that the substance of her work was not the problem, the problem was that the CEO didn't believe she was competent. And worse, she said one of the things that she carries with her years later is that no one in the conference room stood up for her, even though many expressed shock after the meeting was over.

Burey knew that “even a white person who has less power than me in the company could have said something to redirect the conversation, but what bothers me is that white people at my level or above did not stand up for me and these were the same people who were really open to me before the leader came in. When you have toxic leaders everyone falls into line.”

When Burey left that organization (after the job “dissolved quickly into multiple instances of being second-guessed and humiliated, receiving biased feedback, and eventually being rudely reprimanded while her colleagues looked on in silence. p. 39 ”) she felt desolate about what her career prospects would look like.

This story details how rapidly a reputation can be damaged, how bias can snowball through an organization, and what can happen when no-one steps in to interrupt bias in action. Many different outcomes were possible if only someone had spoken up for this talented employee. In Chapter 2, Tulshyan covers the inclusion mindset that is so critical to interrupt racism at work. She draws an analogy here to the “growth mindset” concept that we might be more familiar with—the idea that we can all grow and learn if we are open to that and believe in it. Her approach is to think of getting better and better at inclusion if we believe that we can, expect to be constantly learning new things about inclusion, and see that leaders can create organizations that have an inclusion mindset.

She introduces the BRIDGE framework (p.42) to help us remember how to cultivate an inclusion mindset:

1. Be uncomfortable
2. Reflect (on what you don't know)
3. Invite feedback
4. Defensiveness doesn't help
5. Grow from your mistakes
6. Expect that change takes time

Through the rest of the chapter she details what each part of BRIDGE means in detail, offering reflection questions and encouragement while sharing her own struggles to keep an inclusion mindset at all times. I want to focus on E, number 6, to illustrate these details. Expecting that change takes time is hard for some of us with a real “action bias”. Once we see something, we want to change things and change them right away.

Tulshyan cautions that this can be very problematic for inclusivity and anti-racism work because so much of what is needed is to first sit in discomfort and learn. Learn what’s really behind biased actions. Learn what underlies assumptions and where the hidden agendas are having impact. Doing something isn't always the right thing, and can create backlashes that inflict more harm than good.

As I finish this and reread the AI summary of the chapter, it’s clear that my thoughts about this book and Gemini’s thoughts about this book are not the same! Humm…

Until next month—be well and keep learning!

All the best,
Holly

Marching Toward Inclusion: Join Us for "The Better Allies Way" Keynote

Hello all,

Welcome to March!
Days are getting longer and warmer... and we get to celebrate Women's History Month along with numerous wonderful religious holidays, college spring breaks, and spring basketball tournaments. I hope that you can rejoice in the positive things around you, despite the world's uncertainties and dangers.

Knowing that AI is such a pressing topic for many of us right now, I want to remind you of the upcoming professional development opportunity next week.

On Wednesday March 11, from noon to 1 pm, Karen Catlin, founder of Better Allies, will be delivering a keynote address, with live chat and Q&A, free to all of us through the generous support of the SUNY ODEI along with SUNY CPD, SUNY SICAS Center, the Computer Officers Association (COA), and the SUNY Council of Chief Information Officers (CCIO).

Karen has also been tracking the potential of AI to help or hinder allyship and recently published some tips:
Using AI to Strengthen Workplace Culture—Not Undermine It

So, if you haven't already... Register now online through the CPD! And share this information with everyone you know in SUNY!

The Better Allies Way (1 hour Keynote)

Create the culture you want (and others need). In this interactive keynote, Karen introduces her 7 Ally Archetypes—Sponsor, Champion, Amplifier, Advocate, Scholar, Confidant, and Upstander—and explores practical ways anyone can step up to create a workplace where everyone can do their best work and thrive.

Topics include:

• Creating better meetings to unleash talent
• Addressing bias employees can face when using AI
• Providing effective feedback to support career growth
• Building meritocratic and fair hiring practices

All the best,
Holly

The Better Allies Way: A Women’s History Month Keynote with Karen Catlin

Hello all,

I'm delighted to let you know that SUNY ODEI along with SUNY CPD, SUNY SICAS Center, the Computer Officers Association (COA), and the SUNY Council of Chief Information Officers (CCIO) will be sponsoring an online professional development opportunity for Women's History Month that you will not want to miss!

Please hold the date March 11, 2026, from noon to 1pm for a free and fabulous online keynote from the amazing Karen Catlin, founder and owner of the Better Allies organization. You can preview her speaking and get free materials from her site in advance of the talk, and I have no doubt that you will find them valuable.

The Better Allies Way (1 hour Keynote)

Create the culture you want (and others need). In this interactive keynote, Karen introduces her 7 Ally Archetypes—Sponsor, Champion, Amplifier, Advocate, Scholar, Confidant, and Upstander—and explores practical ways anyone can step up to create a workplace where everyone can do their best work and thrive.

Topics include:

• Creating better meetings to unleash talent
• Addressing bias employees can face when using AI
• Providing effective feedback to support career growth
• Building meritocratic and fair hiring practices

Register now online through the CPD!

All the best,
Holly

February is Ramadan, Lunar New Year, Ash Wednesday and More: A Guide to Respectful Inclusion

Hello all,

In addition to February's role in reminding us to celebrate and learn more about Black History, we also get to celebrate several other special days and seasons.

We have Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, and President's Day. We also have Lunar New Year (Year of the Fire Horse), Ramadan, Mardi Gras, and Ash Wednesday among many others.

This week's focus is on acknowledging holidays, events, and traditions in a respectful manner. Ignoring special holidays and traditions might seem easier when we don't know a lot about them, but that ignores important parts of our colleagues' lives. So we need to educate ourselves, and then let those who are celebrating take the lead in how or if they want our participation or support.

From a 2024 Forbes article, this paragraph really sums up the essence of how to be respectful: Avoid Appropriation; Instead Practice Appreciation

"If you choose to participate in others’ cultural celebrations in an attempt to learn and educate, be sure to practice appreciation of that culture and avoid appropriation. Cultural appropriation is defined as taking something with high cultural importance in another’s culture and using it for your personal gain or enjoyment. When learning about other cultures, it’s important to avoid reinforcing stereotypes and to steer clear of the use of sacred symbols or practices if you don't have proper context or authorization."

From Karen Catlin's Better Allies newsletter on how to Support coworkers during Ramadan:

"The holy month of Ramadan begins on February 17th this year. I appreciated reading Understanding Ramadan and Supporting Your Muslim Colleagues by Yusuf Zakir, chief talent and inclusion officer at Davis Wright Tremaine. He explains that during Ramadan, most Muslims fast from dawn to dusk (including not drinking water), are more dedicated to prayer, increase their charitable giving and community service, and spend more time with family and members of the community at their place of worship.

Here’s Zakir’s advice for supporting coworkers during this time:

• Acknowledge the month’s significance by wishing them Ramadan Mubarak (have a happy Ramadan) or Ramadan Kareem (have a blessed Ramadan).
• Understand how busy they may be, working their regular hours while fasting and then participating in prayers and festivities in the evening.
• Be empathetic of the stress and uncertainty many are feeling, given humanitarian crises and political rhetoric targeting Muslim and other minority communities.
• Encourage them to take off Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the 30 days of Ramadan and is commonly considered the most widely celebrated holiday for Muslims worldwide. You can also wish them Eid Mubarak (have a happy Eid)."

We can make Zakir's advice universal by taking the following steps with all our colleagues.

1. Acknowledge their traditions.
2. Appreciate the extra effort, time, and stress even welcome traditions add to our lives (think of your own traditions—wonderful and stressful).
3. Be empathetic and understanding.

All the best,
Holly

The Momentum Killer: Avoiding Daily Interuptions

Hello all,

Ever get interrupted? Find yourself distracted...and not by social media but by other tangential work tasks? If you're anything like me (and I know I am...) this is a daily issue.

And it really matters.
According to research and anecdotal info alike, posted in the human resources blog of U.C. Berkeley The Impact of Interruptions:

"The impact of interruptions cannot be overstated. They kill our momentum. When we start again on our task, we can’t simply pick up where we left off, we have to reorient ourselves, re-immerse, and re-gain our momentum. The length of our recovery time depends on the complexity of our task; ranging anywhere from 8 minutes for simpler tasks to 25 minutes for more complex ones."

So what can we do about it?
Here are some suggestions if the interruptions come from people looking to you for answers. Stopping Interruptions from taking over your day from the Assist newsletter:

• Create systems so people can find answers without you. If you keep answering the same questions, that knowledge needs a home outside your head.
• Build resources your team can check before they reach for you. Start with asynchronous documentation:
• Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for recurring tasks
• FAQ documents for common questions
• Dashboards that show progress and key metrics
• A shared knowledge base or company wiki where information lives

When people know where to look, they stop interrupting you by default.

Ok, but what if the interruptions come from your own distractibility, as many of mine do? Try methods such as:

• Clearing clutter away from your workspace
• Turning off notifications
• Making a task list that works with your peak productivity times
• Short stretch and movement breaks to let your brain refocus without starting a different task

And share with the list... what works for you?

Wishing you all the best, and a less distracted day,
Holly

Black History as Living Legacy

Hello all,

February is Black History Month and there is a lot to celebrate in Black History—and important contributions in the now.

Chancellor King and the SUNY Trustees published a statement that you can read online, including this excerpt:

"The history of African Americans is the history of America. It is a history of struggles and successes, of unspeakable injustice and joyous triumph, of the fight for freedom and equality, and of the quest to build a truly just nation where all can thrive.

Access to education is a foundational necessity if we are to learn the lessons of the past and take the steps necessary to build a society that empowers and uplifts us all. That is core to SUNY's mission, and it is enshrined in our history. Our founding statute directs us: ‘to provide to the people of New York educational services of the highest quality, with the broadest possible access, fully representative of all segments of the population.'"

I also want to share a wonderful blog post with you from an American Library Association library newsletter Towards Inclusive Excellence, that I receive titled Black History as Living Legacy: Education, Story, and Joy.

You'll find an insightful short essay from the author Dr. Marlee Bunch who is according to the blog post "an interdisciplinary educator, author, researcher, and lifelong learner. Her research examines the oral histories of Black female educators in Hattiesburg, Mississippi who taught between 1954 and 1971."

The essay concludes with a list of recommended readings and resources that I'm sure you will find useful.

What's happening on your campuses to celebrate Black History Month? Share the joy by posting those celebrations to this list so you can inspire others.

All the best,
Holly

Shifting Perceptions: Small Language Changes Can Make a Big Impact

Hello all,

Language matters! The words we choose have substantial influence over how information and actions are understood by others. Saying something is red when it's clearly green can generate confusion or worse. Calling something deviant when it's simply an alternative can hinder use. And language usage and meanings shift through time, so what was once acceptable or reasonable can become problematic.

I know we are all working on improving the digital accessibility of resources on our campus, and perhaps we are thinking we have little time for other considerations—but I want to highlight a step SUNY Plattsburgh just took to make another change. In the process of converting more fillable documents into smarter, contextual, and auto-routed e-forms, the college decided to update the language as well.

This is part of the campus announcement email from our Academic Provost's Office: "Moving toward an electronic solution provides the opportunity to reconsider the process and to ensure that clear and inclusive language is used. Hence the title of the Deviation Form has been updated to be the Exception Request Form. This language has a more positive perspective and communicates a higher level of support. The ‘form’ continues to be an electronic approval process and is accessed from the Registration Dates & Forms page managed by the Registrar’s Office."

A simple change, and one that has the power to shift perceptions.

If you are involved in the technical aspects of accessibility, or are responsible for updating information to be more fully compliant and have influence on the content as well, this is a good opportunity to do more than one thing at a time!

All the best,
Holly

Beyond the Numbers: Supporting Women and Families in Higher Ed

Hello all,

Our economy is not getting better for women and our families—and it might be getting worse. That's the big takeaway from recent labor reports and organizational analysis.

Women Made Up Nearly All The Job Losses Last Month. Here’s Why is a January 14, 2026 newsletter article by Holly Corbett for Forbes.

"A thriving economy is partly reflected by a labor force that represents the demographics of our population. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs report shows some striking disparities: 91,000 women left the labor force last month, compared to 10,000 men who joined the labor force last month. If we zoom out to look at all of 2025, men’s labor force size grew by 572,000, while women’s grew by only 184,000. That means men joined the labor market at a rate three times greater than women."

There are many reasons behind the growing gender divide in the labor market. Here are some, but not all, of the factors contributing to this trend.

Lack Of Other Support Structures And Affordable Childcare

Women didn’t suddenly stop wanting to work; they were forced out, says Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Moms First. She believes this isn’t a personal problem, but rather it’s a business problem and a policy failure. One solution is to treat child care like an economic imperative.

Job Losses In Sectors Where Women Are Highly Represented

Tucker (Jasmine Tucker, vice president for research at the National Women’s Law Center) points to a broader rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and cuts to federal jobs as a significant driver of fewer women in the workforce in 2025. Many federal positions, known for better pay equity and benefits, are being cut—jobs where women and Black women are highly represented.

More Companies Are Scaling Back Programs That Benefit Women

The 2025 Women in the Workplace annual report, the largest study of corporate women in America, finds that women are getting less support in the workplace and fewer opportunities for advancement.

Women Are Penalized More For Working Remotely

Research shows remote work hurts women’s chances of being promoted more than it does men’s. Remote work became the norm for a much larger segment of the workforce after the pandemic, and it contributed to a record for women’s labor force participation by 2023. Yet increasing return-to-office mandates in 2024 and 2025 may be disproportionately impacting women. This is due to the fact that the majority of caregiving responsibilities are still shouldered by women, as well as gender biases and the motherhood penalty.

“2025 has been a tumultuous year for companies, not just for employees,” says Thomas. (Rachel Thomas, co-founder and CEO of LeanIn.org) “The economy is changing quickly, AI is disrupting things, companies are trying to respond to a changing legal landscape. There is a lot going on, but we’re at an important crossroads when it comes to women’s progress. My hope is that leaders read this, see it as a wakeup call, and understand that doubling down on women’s career advancement is the only thing to do.”

So, what can we do in SUNY?

Certainly we can make sure that our organizations don't exacerbate these trends, that our educational programming improves awareness of the trends, and that our support mechanisms work to help mitigate these impacts. Whether it's providing counseling, career support, retooling educationally, flexible work schedules, campus food pantries, or community resource referrals—do what you can.

As we start out our spring semesters, let's keep women and families on our minds, and work towards better outcomes for everyone in this economy.

All the best,
Holly

Commemorating MLK

Hello all,

This coming Monday, January 19th, is the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the national theme set by the King Center in Atlanta is Mission Possible: Building Community, Uniting a Nation the Nonviolent Way. You can also access their website on the specifics of Dr. King's philosophy of nonviolence.

NYS also has a celebration planned in Albany; the schedule is online.

My local committee is also using that theme and planning our annual community celebration with songs, dancing, speeches, and readings on this theme. Our committee is made up of college and community members, making it a truly collaborative event. I hope that your community will offer you some way to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King, a legacy committed to a more fair, free, and equitable world with opportunities for all. Our SUNY mission fits perfectly with this vision, even as our realization of the vision can sometimes fall short of the goals.

However you spend your January 19th holiday, I hope it's a good one!

Finally, a heads up that this weekly email will be transitioning this spring to a more structured newsletter format that will better reflect the growth of SUNY WIT with campus chapters. I'm looking forward to bringing you additional information and helping more people connect as time goes on.

All the best,
Holly