In this episode, Patrick Casale talks with Angela Howard, founder of Call for Culture and former head of People and Culture, about transforming workplace culture and leading substantive organizational change. Angela shares insights on building truly equitable, people-centered organizations and offers a much-needed reality check on performative vs. authentic DEI efforts.

Here are 3 key takeaways:

True Culture Change Starts at the Top: Diagnose gaps within your organization. Often, leadership habits are the real barrier to progress, not the employees. Addressing leadership resistance is vital for sustainable transformation.
Beware the Red Flags: Language like “we’re all family here” or “work hard, play hard” can signal toxic workplace dynamics. Evaluate if your organization values partnership over possessiveness and transparency over secrecy.
Choose Collective Action over Empty Marketing: Conferences and gatherings should prioritize actionable conversations, equitable opportunities, and systemic impact—not just box-ticking or PR. Seek out spaces that foster real change, not just appearances.

More about Angela:

Angela R. Howard is a globally recognized equity-centered organizational culture and change strategist who speaks, writes, and advocates for the transformative power of work in driving social impact.

As the Founder of Call for Culture, a strategic advisory firm and community of practice, Angela helps organizations align, mobilize, and transform into humane, people-centered workplaces that create meaningful and lasting change.

A former executive leader and Head of People and Culture, Angela has firsthand experience navigating organizations through complex culture transformations. She has witnessed how the workplace often lags behind societal and generational shifts, and how unsustainable approaches to change can negatively impact both people and profit. Leveraging her expertise, Angela has guided organizations worldwide to build sustainable, adaptive, and responsive workplace cultures.

Angela holds an MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and lives in the Chicagoland area. Her team leads Call for Culture’s annual Culture Impact Lab conference. This event brings together culture changemakers to address challenges at the intersection of social impact and the workplace, fostering a vision for a more equitable, inclusive, and just future of work.

Website: callforculture.com
Instagram: @callforculture

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Mentioned in this episode:

Portland, Maine, Summit 2026

The 2026 Doubt Yourself Do It Anyway Summit is happening for the first time in the United States in beautiful Portland, Maine, on September 1st–3rd, 2026. Portland, Maine, is a beautiful coastal city in the Atlantic Ocean. There's a lot of history there, and it's a very funky, creative, safe, walkable, diverse, and progressive city. You will get 9 NBCC CEs. We have ASWB pending—we'll make an announcement when that's finalized—and have 13 prolific industry leaders. This summit has always been about showing that our skills are applicable in so many different ways, and to motivate you to think bigger, grow in this profession, take more risks, work through self-doubt, and really embrace the doubt-yourself-do-it-anyway mentality. Spots are limited. Reserve your spot h...