Written by Meena Anderson.

This year Texas McCombs celebrated the 5th year of the Elevate: Diversity Equity and Inclusion Conference, at Rowling Hall on February 10. The annual Elevate Conference is one of the most significant channels for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) across the Texas McCombs MBA program. Founded by 2019 alumnae Ashley Fox and DeAndrea Staes, the conference has grown to be a full community-wide event. This year’s Elevate co-chairs, Azzy Francis, Fernando Galindo, Lauren Vague, and Oshane Mcrae hoped to evoke a different perspective to DEI with the new theme, “Let’s Dance.”

“I recalled the quote from one of my classes: ‘Diversity is being asked to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance,’” Fernando Galindo says. “It stood out to me and felt like a great way to encourage people to come and join us in this dance.” 

The team wanted to communicate a joyful, fun, expressive environment where people are unafraid to participate and share.

“‘Let’s Dance’ to me means celebrating diversity, breaking down barriers, and embracing discomfort,” says Azzy Francis. “DEI work can be awkward, much like middle school dances. You might feel unsure of yourself, out of your comfort zone, or like you don’t know the steps. But just like at those dances, the key is to embrace the awkwardness, find your own rhythm, and engage with one another in kindness & respect. The more you participate and engage, the more confident and comfortable you will become. And before you know it, you’ll be moving to the beat of inclusivity and creating meaningful change.”

“We hope that this brings us to a place where we are engaging respectfully, rather than not engaging due to fear or discomfort,” Lauren says. “Asking attendees to dance means that we are encouraging all of us to end up in a place where we can all be a little more ourselves, and be seen for who we are.”

 

 

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The conference featured keynote speakers Iris Diaz, Chief Marketing Officer of the Dallas Mavericks, and Tynesia Boyea-Robinson, President and CEO of CapEQ. Alongside their speeches, there were also student-led panels and various discussion-led sessions throughout the day. Oshane Mcrae, Elevate co-chair and Full-Time MBA student, says the Elevate chairs chose the keynote speakers for their humanness, their charisma, their talents of storytelling, and the bravery of their approach to their careers and changing the world.

“No one person can improve DE&I outcomes on their own, it takes a community, it takes institutional buy-in, it takes outspoken leaders, it takes quiet ones as well,” Oshane says. “It takes sustained effort over time to change processes, to change norms, and to shift core practices.”

“We wanted to make the sessions very interactive,” says Lauren. “We chose Aurora Archer, Meme Styles, and our very own Zerina Hamulic as facilitators. Most of the sessions were discussion based, with our hope being that we could leverage the expertise of our attendees and also make sure that they got to ask the questions and have the discussions they wanted.” They also hosted student-led sessions with current Texas McCombs MBA students to provide their classmates a platform to share their stories and educate their community and peers.

The Elevate team also introduced the Inaugural Ashley Fox and DeAndrea Staes Excellence in DEI award to celebrate students that are making a difference in their leadership at McCombs.  

“It was an award intended to honor student leadership & innovation in DE&I, in the spirit of Ashley Fox and DeAndrea Staes who were the original founders of Elevate,” says Oshane. “We opened it up to the students to nominate their peers and make the case for each nominee.”

Yessica Bravo, Consortium member, and Full-Time MBA student was presented the first Excellence in DEI award by the conference’s founders, Ashley Fox, and DeAndrea Staes. Yessica says it was an honor to win this award, and that while it can be easy to be hard on herself, she ultimately trusts herself and her ability to bring brilliant people together.

“Good work is never done alone. I’m incredibly fortunate to have sat alongside peers deeply passionate about ensuring more students from diverse backgrounds experience McCombs,” Yessica says. “Alexis Allen, Muna Rehma, Getaneh Mekonen, Craig Perry, Matt Wong, Amanda Garcia, Usjid Hameed, and the next gen of leaders- yall are the vessels. We did great work together. I’m so proud of what we accomplished in our short time here.”

 

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Yessica says one of the best ways to practice improving DEI circumstances is to show up. “For a long time, I didn’t participate in DEI discussions because I was afraid of what I didn’t know, I was worried I didn’t hold the correct language or I didn’t know everything about what I perceived to be sensitive topics. My fear was keeping me away from learning,” Yessica says. “The opportunity is all around us. Whether it’s at a conference like Elevate, Consortium’s monthly storytelling sessions, GWiB’s allyship roundtable, or the Food and Beverage Club’s dinners. The opportunity to connect and learn from people different than us exists. Show up.”

Elevate conference 2023 at @UTexasMcCombs featured great programs centered on #DEI in the business world. Congrats to @UTexasMBA student leaders and staff on a successful event!#whymccombs #whatstartshere pic.twitter.com/IFcXxVIHCe

— Lillian Mills (@MillsLil) February 10, 2023

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