Championing Cultural Equity: Meet Leslie Fisher

For 15 years, Leslie Fisher has been an independent consultant, both in the U.S. and abroad, with a focus on program management, change management, and marketing. Throughout her career, she has supported organizations that serve underserved communities, including women and girls, the LGBTQ+ community, and Black-owned startups.

Tell us about what you’re working on today.

In recent years, I’ve been able to merge my consulting expertise with my passion for community service. My last few gigs have been incredibly soul-fulfilling. One highlight was working with a Black female entrepreneur who developed an AI product that predicts health events, based on her own personal experience — definitely one of the high points of my career.

Today, I’m continuing to leverage my professional skills for meaningful impact. I’m a member at large of the Governance Committee for the Association of Junior Leagues International, starting work with the Community Foundation for Southern New Mexico (one of the largest foundations in the area), and collaborating with the Association of American University Women supporting women and girls in education.

Your website states, “Cultural Equity Creates Better Companies and Communities.” Why do you think diversity still matters in the workplace?

Despite the current administration eliminating DEI programs in the federal government, it’s still very important because of the changing demographic of the world. There’s a study that says, in 2045, it’s expected that the white population will actually be a minority at that time. Organizations have to keep that in mind, as they’re thinking about consumers, employees, and how to do their marketing. There’s also a cross pollination of ideas that social media has helped to perpetuate.

One of my projects through EM involved branding for a media company, owned by a Black gentleman, that was expanding and wanted to continue to be diverse. I love that they were looking at a mashup of cultures between African American and Japanese for their logo. On TikTok, you see things like people in India dancing to hip hop music. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, our society is becoming a smaller, yet global world.

With the current political landscape, companies may feel pressure to abandon their DEI commitments. Do you believe companies previously only embraced DEI for PR purposes?

This is definitely a timely and big issue right now. I do think there was a part of DEI program launches that was performative. For companies that find DEI easy to cut, it tells me a couple of things. One, there may be a fear-based reaction to the executive orders from the current administration. Or two, it was never really entrenched in their strategic plans, goals, policies, or operations. For those companies that have DEI ingrained in the DNA of how it functions, they may change the name from “DEI” or “DEIB” to things like “cultural equity” or “cultural environment.”

They may be taking statements off their website and changing what they say publicly, so it’s more ambiguous. But companies are also sticking to their plans and saying that DEI is good for business. It’s been proven – both McKinsey and Deloitte have put out studies saying that companies that value diversity are performing better. I think the bottom line is gonna drive a lot of this.

How can companies continue to provide cultural equity with these external pressures?

We focused on three main areas: diversity and representation, inclusion and engagement, and equity/fairness. The equity work was particularly impactful because I felt like it did double duty. We examined recruitment practices and for some of EM’s clients, removed elements from resumes and bios that might trigger gender or ethnic bias in the early stages.

This approach not only helped change client behavior but also created opportunities for EM’s consultants and could attract diverse talent. The practices we implemented received positive feedback from clients. I think EM could do even more to advertise this to attract clients looking for support around diversity and inclusion, as well as a diverse set of consultants.

What gives you hope and inspiration during these uncertain times?

What gives me hope is the fact that our world population is becoming more diverse with cultures cross-pollinating globally. Companies that don’t recognize this will be less competitive — that’s just the bottom line.

Gen Z, the next workforce generation, is looking for organizations that are inclusive at all levels, and they’ll go elsewhere if they don’t find it. A recent article from Resume.org surveyed organizations and found that 65% are continuing with DEIB initiatives and 22% plan to increase their spending on it. That gives me hope that over half of these organizations plan to move forward with DEIB regardless of what you’re hearing in the headlines.

As I posted on LinkedIn, the train has left the station. Our population is changing and our world is getting smaller. If companies aren’t on board already, they’ll be left behind, similar to what’s happening with AI.

In moments when I’m feeling low, I focus on what I’m doing to move the needle and create positive change. My work with women and girls is incredibly important, especially considering how they’ve been impacted in our current political environment. Do what you can to move that needle.