By Connor Bloom ’19

On Friday March 3rd and Saturday March 4th the Kravis Leadership Institute will be hosting its 25th annual Kravis-de Roulet conference at Claremont McKenna College. This year’s theme, Inclusive Leadership: Transforming Diverse Lives, Workplaces and Societies, will explore questions relating to inclusive leadership: what is it and why does it matter? In a world often divided over contentious issues, what would it be like if we instead listened to each other’s stories and sought to empathize with one another’s life experiences? How might these skills help us construct a more inclusive worldview? Could inclusion and inclusive leadership hold the keys to transforming organizations and even societies? These questions and more will be explored during the two-day conference. The conference design will include many opportunities for dialogue, Q&A, interactive learning, and idea sharing with speakers and participants.

The conference kicks off with a welcome address surrounding the theme of Envisioning a More Inclusive World by Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Executive Director at the National Institute for Civil Discourse, at 11:30 a.m. in the Security Pacific Room, M.M.C. Athenaeum. Throughout the rest of the conference, high profile speakers will give a series of addresses and panel discussions about the identifying behaviors, lessons, and solutions relating to Inclusive Leadership In Practice.

Day Two will primarily focus on speaker sessions, interactive learning, and dialogue revolving around Fostering Inclusive Interpersonal and Team Dynamics, Building Inclusive Organizations and Societies, and the Next Steps on the Path to Inclusion. Guest lecturers and panelists include: Ed Schein, Professor Emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management, The Organizational Culture and Leadership Institute, David Thomas, Professor at Harvard Business School, and Michael Benitez, Chief Diversity Officer and Dean of Diversity and Inclusion at University of Puget Sound, among many others. Collectively the speakers come from all professions — the public to private sector, from education to consulting. The full list of guest speakers and their bios can be found here.

In today’s world where discussions of diversity and inclusion have finally been brought to the forefront of news, our theme is more salient now than ever before. We look forward to having you attend and create a more inclusive world together.

 

Key Features of KDR 2017 Conference

·         Interactive Learning: Join Researchers, practitioners, faculty, students, and other stakeholders to explore cutting-edge theory, research, practice, and experience on the pivotal role of leadership in fostering inclusion in diverse organization and societies.

·         Inter-Disciplinary & Experiential Approaches to Inclusion

We will span across disciplinary boundaries and micro to macro perspectives with a conference format combining presentation, dialogue, and ample opportunities for engagement to co-create a multi-faceted understanding of leadership for inclusion.

·         Distinguished Speakers

Speakers include distinguished academics and practitioners in leadership, psychology, business & management, organizational behavior, civic engagement, and diversity and inclusion.

·         Research Publication

At the end of the conference, all the leadership researchers get together to write a book on the findings and developments made through the conference.