Simma Lieberman is internationally known as “The Inclusionist,” because she creates inclusive workplaces where employees love to do their best work, and customers love to do business.
She received the Global Diversity and Inclusion Leadership award from the World HRD Congress in Mumbai in 2017.
Simma Is the producer and host of the podcast, Everyday Conversations on Race for Everyday People, www.raceconvo.com.
Her passion for diversity, equity and social justice began in 1963 when she went on the March On Washington. In 1963. She wishes she could say that it was because of hearing Martin Luther King give his “I Have A Dream” speech, but she was too young to remember it. However, she has always remembered what it felt like to be amongst 250,000 people for the first time of all colors, cultures, and ages, rallying and marching together for change.
Later on, she began working with a multi-cultural social justice coalition in New York City, where she was trained to facilitate dialogues with diverse racial and ethnic groups, in order to reduce tension, and create effective working relationships.
Her first culture shock was when she moved from the Bronx to Eugene, Oregon, where she was a member of a multicultural global theater group.
Today, Simma works with leaders of organizations who understand that while training in areas of diversity and inclusion is important, internal transformation is crucial and sustainable change only occurs when diversity, equity and inclusion are integrated into the business strategy and into people’s consciousness.. She strongly believes that implementing good diversity management, creating work cultures that support equity, ending social inequities and developing cultural intelligence are necessary for organizations to stay relevant and competitive in tomorrow’s markets.
Her unique ability to view organizations through an inclusion and racial justice lens also enables Simma to help leaders in organizations uncover employee genius, and leverage their diverse talents and skills at any level.
She has worked with a wide range of organizations that include: Applied Materials, Gulfstream, America Empresarial, Intel, Diageo, Kimpton Hotels, VSP, Boeing, Pillsbury Bakeries and Foodservices, McDonalds, Women’s Foodservice Forum, Oracle, Kaiser Permanente, UC Berkeley, and the US Dept. of Transportation.
Simma is a member of two diversity think tanks, a former co-chair of the San Francisco Regional Chapter of Out and Equal, and former board member of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association. She is the Northern California ambassador for the Northern California Chapter of Society for the Advancement of Consulting.
Publications that have featured her articles and ideas include The Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Fast Company, The Economist, NPR, Black MBA, Restaurant Hospitality Magazine, Insight Into Diversity, Working Mother, , Human Resource Executive, CEO Refresher and CNN.
She is the co-author with George Simons and Kate Berardo, of Putting Diversity to Work, how to successfully lead a diverse workforce, the co-author of The Diversity Calling, Building Diverse Communities One Story at a Time and the author of 110 Ways to Champion Diversity and Build Inclusion and Stress Management for the Motivated, A Workbook For You.