How “Diversity Gone Wrong” Created INVERSITY™

Karith Foster

I saw first-hand "Diversity Gone Wrong" as a co-host on a popular radio & TV show in the U.S..

I was hired to lead a national dialogue about race in America. This was no small feat for one person (let alone a country), and it was a challenge I accepted.
I was unwittingly thrown into the world of DEI and I quickly became a student of common practices, language, benefits and obstacles.

What I found was that people weren’t ready for the real conversations around Diversity because of their own hesitations, misunderstandings and egos. Ironically, there was also a surprising lack of “diversity” within the conversation about Diversity. We’re faced with the same situation today.

I discovered a secret sauce…

Thanks to my unique background as a professional comedian, I found scientific studies that prove humor can positively affect learning, memory retention and motivation1. (If you’ve ever dragged your feet to a diversity training, you know just how important motivation is!)
With my INVERSITY™ work, I’ve harnessed this power of humor. What I love most is seeing the mind-shifts, epiphanies and transformations specifically around people’s relationships with their co-workers, families and friends.

Now with 30+ years of public speaking (I started when I was 15), 20+ years of performing stand-up and nearly a decade in the inner workings of HR at a global enterprise, I’ve created INVERSITY™ Solutions.

If I could do only one thing for the rest of my life, it would be to create brave spaces for people to re-evaluate how they see themselves and others—and reassess how they can authentically show up in the world.

INVERSITY™ does this by igniting conversations within organizations that have the power to change lives, create connections and strengthen relationships.

Are You Ready to Do Diversity Differently?
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Sources
1 Diversity training doesn’t work. We’ve been going about DEI all wrong

Humor is linked to reward processing

Dopamine is linked to motivation and long-term memory

*According to 129 studies and a British research group