In episode 27, we sit down with Rada Yovovich who makes the case for banning the “D” word (diversity) and instead, pushing play first on “accessibility.” Rada Yovovich co-founded a next-gen consultancy, The Darkest Horse, focused on helping teams build integrated future-of-work talent management strategies, politics and cultural practices that support a culture of diversity, equity, accessibility, and radical inclusion. She’s an experienced coach, meta-coach, mediator, trainer and facilitator based in Chicago.

Contrary to how DEI tends to trend in organizations, Rada laser focuses on the power of accessibility as the primary starting point. Diversity is merely a consequence if all the other pillars are operationalized first. In a moment when organizations are able to hire the best talent from anywhere in the world, accessibility comes down to the basics -- can talent show up to work, and feel supported in their neurodiversity by the structures and culture of their work spaces? While hiring for a diverse workforce is the right thing to do (and by default, translating to more justice for more kinds of people), Rada moves us to ask, “is it justice if diverse employees and workers are not being treated equitably?” In looking ahead, what we need is to actually move towards justice and liberation, which if considered as an add-on to DEIA, can more precisely target the points of privilege and oppression we exist in. From there, we can begin to delve into questions around who holds power within an organization, and how to implement capacities for growth (such as antiracism) within the systems that hold sway to create real change internally.

We dig into thought leadership across a wide-ranging spectrum, including:

• The origins of “the darkest horse” archetype and how they’ll lead the future of work

• Discerning between the D-E-I-A-J as leaders reimagine work culture, develop greater fluency in change management and open up paths for antiracism

• The case for making accessibility the starting point, which has the potential to open up greater capacities for growth and change

• Intrapreneurship vs. entrepreneurship and how to embrace the former as a skillset and state of being for innovation within an existing system

• As a call to action for the modern day changemaker, how can you create a big vision for the future and simultaneously hold a deep unconditional appreciation for what is true right now?

Rada Yovovich: https://radayovovich.com

Darkest Horse: https://www.thedarkesthorse.com

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

This show is hosted at Destination Outpost, a coliving and coworking community based out in Bali.