 Our next piece is going to be a panel discussion and we've got some folks from K-12 education as well as business coming to talk with us. So I've got some questions. I'm just going to go down the list and ask some questions and hopefully we'll get some wonderful insight from some of our community partners. So Seth Harbatin, who is the superintendent of Sheboygan area school district will be joining us on this panel today. Thank you. Welcome, Seth. We've also got Dan Mella, superintendent of Plymouth school district joining us today. And Christopher Pierce with Kohler company. He is the an organizational development specialist and participates or facilitates diversity and inclusion with Kohler company. Welcome Christopher. So there are no rules. I'm going to just ask questions and then whoever is feeling like excited to answer that question. Let me know. Thank you over this microphone so everyone can hear you and we will take it from there. So our goal is just to kind of learn about, you know, what is happening currently in our space throughout Sheboygan County, maybe to learn from, you know, some things that organizations already have in play and maybe get some ideas of how we can do things better or differently moving forward as well. So with that, I'd first like to give it give you guys an opportunity to talk about what are the current conditions in your space. So whether that be school district or organization, don't all get it too excited. All right, Christopher, you're up. All right. Hello everyone. I haven't talked into a microphone for almost two years. So bear with me. You know, when I look at current conditions within Kohler company, like a lot of organizations we found ourselves really need to take time to step back, reflect, work at our policies and our procedures and really take time to find where there might be inequities within our organization. And you know, a big part about that was having leadership be on board, right? And they're the ones that are helping to get things done. And so we have a very strong leadership team. And last year we were able to comprise a team through our leadership. It's called our executive leadership diversity board, which is chaired by our CEO David Kohler and has his direct reports and as well as a few select individuals throughout the organization. And through them, we were able to rework, I would say, give a makeover to our diversity inclusion strategy. And we've comprised a four pillar strategy. Pillar number one is focused on Kohler teams. And that's really about making sure that we have a diverse workforce, right? So that we are represented of community members that we're looking to serve, right, through our products and our services and making sure that it's equal throughout our whole enterprise and levels throughout the organization. Our second pillar is focused on inclusive culture, so making sure that we're fostering that environment of belonging and inclusion. That's our biggest driver for retention and attraction as well. Our third pillar is supplier diversity, so making sure that we are looking at diverse suppliers for our outside partnerships. And we look through a lens of both women and minority owned. And then our final pillar is focused on new markets. And that's really a business led diversity pillar. As you'll, again, you'll hear me say this a lot, diversity lens. Looking through where are those opportunities that Kohler isn't currently in, but it's a big miss in opportunity, as we want to make sure that the communities that we're serving are also reflective in our teams here at Kohler. Hello. Well, a little louder than I thought it was going to be. So quite different from Kohler Company or from Sargento. Plymouth School District is a kind of in its infancy in looking into EIB, everything all together. However, it's been something that's been on our radar for quite some time because it's about workforce. Plymouth has always been a very progressive, active, workforce-focused, talent-developed focused school district. And we've been hearing for a long time that the population bubble is going to be crashing. We need people. We need diverse populations. We need to get everybody involved in the workforce that's available to be there. And so we know that it's coming and we know that it's there. And so what can we do to make sure that we are doing our part to kind of mimic exactly what Sargento and what Kohler and those companies are doing? So we need our students, the ultimate employees of our local companies, to be functioning well in a global society, culturally adept at knowing where things are going to be, understanding diversity issues in the classroom but then when they're moving on. And so it's really, really important that we need to feel like we're doing what you need as employers, but we're also doing what is needed for the kids to be really excellent adults growing up wherever they end up, hopefully back here, but wherever they end up. And so lately, with all the political things that have been going on, some of that has been an issue because we know that I think when we've been having our discussions, we're in lockstep with we want our kids to be ready and be able to function in society in a global and culturally in a global environment. However, some of these political bombs that keep getting dropped here and there are not in lockstep with what we want our kids to be. And so part of why I really wanted to be part of this meeting was because I need to understand that we need to be talking the same language and we need to be working together to build up our communities so that it's welcoming no matter which school district you're in, which company you're in, that we're all together saying we need to attract a diverse population of people to our communities. And so that's really what I wanted to be part of this for. So we're in our infancy, but we're working together to make sure that we're aligned with our local companies and industry. Try to get those microphones back together, Dan. From the Sheboygan area school district, over the past several years, a couple of key things that we've been able to engage in. One has been to develop a leadership team that's been working and two of my instrumental people in the room, Jake and Jim, have been part of that team and that work to really, the first step was to put in some principles of equity. And so we took seven principles of equity to our board and it was really work through the entire organization. Communication obviously is a challenge of being a very large employer in the community or in the county, having almost 2,000 full-time, part-time and casual employees, that becomes a challenge. So how do you get everybody working in the same direction? But those seven principles of equity work through a team, work through a lot of feedback from our district stakeholders and ultimately ended up at our board level and so our board adopted those seven principles of equity. The other thing that we've been able to do is to put in place as part of our strategic long-range plan, some equity pieces around, much like Chris talked about at Kohler, a part of the work we do around students, because that's in first and foremost why we exist, but then also around attracting and retaining employees. One of the challenges that we face is, like everyone else, a work through shortage, but we also know that our workforce is not reflective of the community we serve. About 48 to 50 percent of our students are BIPOC students and yet less than five or six percent or so of our teachers are BIPOC teachers. So we have this gap, so we've developed some specific goals that really focus around. How do we recruit and attract talent? We also know some researcher on education says most of our teachers are teaching within 30 miles of their hometown. So how can we look at a grow our own and really tap the skills and benefits? Dr. Marchard talked about that in her presentation about really engaging our youth. So we have some specific goal around how do we develop and attract talent to do that. One of the other things that we were able to do as a part of this work thus far is to do an equity audit. And we had an outside consultant work with our team to look at our board policies and to look at our student handbooks and to meet with some students at the high school level in order to look at other some structural pieces, some maybe quick wins, some things that are right in front of our face that we just don't see that we should be looking at from a structural standpoint. And so we're now working to implement the recommendations. Again, we're in the infancy as well, but we've taken some key steps. Awesome. Thank you. And you kind of mentioned this. So I will talk a little bit about tell us about ERGs, so employee resource groups. And I know lots of our organizations have them, but also student resource groups. So we learned a little bit about those today with the Menominee Falls. And I understand you kind of mentioned Sheboygan Area School District. So we'd love to hear a little bit more about your ERGs and SRGs and whatever other letters we should use in there, BRGs, ERGs. And really kind of why did you decide to move forward in that direction? What value did it bring? And maybe what are some of the outcomes of those conversations no matter how new or how long they've existed? Who would like to go first? Yeah, so a couple of groups that we've really tried to tap into on the student side is we had students come forward. It really came out around at South High School in particular, a group that's was formed called We Rise and they native themselves. And it's working to eliminate racial injustice and support equity. Students got together as part of a survey that was done last year during COVID. And right at the end of that first summer in really talking about how can they have a better voice, a greater impact, and wanting to make change within their school. And they've had a good fortune. There's been a few articles written in the press. They've gotten some TV coverage. They've been meeting with local politicians. They've had an opportunity to really identify, much like you heard in the voice. What are some structures, strategies? What are some difficulties or challenges that they're facing? And how can they put together a new set of lines of perspective to support that? We also have a new group starting at North called the Start Change Club. A very similar focus in terms of how can we really look at high school students to gain that voice. But we've also had some long-standing groups that I think is important to look at as well, our Gay Straight Alliance groups. And looking at how do we look at sexual orientation and other, being a parent of a transgender child. I understand the types of struggles that children go through and how do we really look at that in terms of potential impact in future workplace environment. The gender-neutral bathrooms, the also understanding that for transgender students and children, the high rate of unemployment, the high rate of mental health issues, and how do we as a workforce work on that? We also have a Mung Leadership Council at North High. And really trying to tap into what are we hearing from the Mung community? How are students feeling in that sense of belonging? Where aren't we? And how do we provide those leadership opportunities? So there's just a few student-based groups that we've got going on in the Sheboyganary School District. This seems to be coming apart as we're moving around. Could you imagine doing this exercise during last year of passing microphones without like a fogger? Completely like, yeah. We have a couple of long-standing student groups that we've had in Plymouth as well. And we act as one of them, and there's another one, students for social justice. Those two groups have specific advisors, and they act on different causes and things, racism, sexual orientation, all of those types of things are commonly some of the work that they're doing, and they kind of help consult with the administrators in the buildings where those issues are occurring. However, we have also started working with a consultant for our employee side of things. And that person has taken us through a couple of exercises. And what we want to have happen with that is ultimately then a more formalized student group to be an offshoot of it as well. And so, again, we're in our infancy with that. But I think already some of the things that we're doing related to the gendered neutral bathrooms and trying to work through those issues. And then also some of the racial undertones that are in the different buildings and around being dealt with more intentionally. And so, those are some of the places that we're beginning for Plymouth. Make it work. At Kohler Company, we call them business resource groups. And I took time to write them all down because I know if my leaders watch this and I leave one out, they're going to be messaging me on teams. So we have groups that are focused on veterans and supporters, the black and African-American community, mental health, women's alliance, Hispanic heritage and Latinx, Indian heritage, LGBTQ and young professional. A gap that we also currently have that we're working on filling and launching before the end of the year is a differently abled space. So we are currently comprising our leadership team there and working on their charter to have it launched yet this year, but officially start driving great work in Q1 of next year. Our business resource groups first launched in 2018. And that was definitely a very grassroots initiative when it came to both the LGBTQ community as well as the women's alliance group. Being in manufacturing and working as well within the power line of business, very male dominated spaces. So women's alliance groups have actually branched off specifically into those business units. That way they can make sure that mission statement and initiative is being pushed even up to the highest leadership. And then as well as our executive sponsors that we have are also male and leaders within the organization and that's through allyship, right? So I think, and that's one of the biggest things that we communicate through our business resource groups is that you don't have to be a direct member of that community to be a part of that initiative, right? And when we look at the founding of diverse equity inclusion, it's truly built on allyship. The B is really symbolic in business resource groups. They truly are change agents not only for our culture of inclusion and finding that sense of community at Kohler. But really, they're driving business initiatives. So we have our women's alliance group who is working on a project called gendered innovations. And that is making sure that any products that we are designing or gearing towards women, we make sure that we have female representation at the table at those decisions, right? Where our Kohler proud business resource group partnered with our hospitality line of our Kohler chocolates and actually produced pride chocolates for the month of Pride month. And they were able to raise funding to then be donated to PFLAG, which is an organization they work with very closely. So our business resource groups, I would say on their next evolution of reaching globally, our women's alliance is actually currently has operations both in India and China. And we would be launching our differently abled BRG globally as well. Thank you. And we've heard a little bit about this, but I think it's important that we spend a little bit of time talking about what are the barriers? So we've heard a lot about things you're doing, things you want to do. Let's talk about some of the barriers to achieving some of these initiatives or goals that we've set for ourselves. Make it pass it wherever you'd like it to go. Sure, a couple of barriers. I think we heard already today and that's, you know, time and resources. How do we invest the time, take the time that's really necessary in the resources and we're such in a school environment this start in September, cyclical calendar year, you end in June and then, you know, where does that time fit, especially for our teaching staff, which are, you know, our point of contact for our students. So we're really looking at how do we better use our time and resources. Internal expertise. Sometimes you feel like if we don't have the expertise, we need to know everything and I think that's up here where we're trying to get people to understand that we've got to start, we've got to engage in the conversations, we've got to engage in the work, but we don't all and aren't all going to be experts when we start. The other piece is the political climate we're in and Dan mentioned it a little bit and I'm sure Dan, I'll give you some space on that again to talk, but we're here today to talk about, you know, words of inclusion, words of equity, you know, talking about, you know, how do we support all and each and every person. And yet, over the past month, the State Assembly and the Senate Bill 411 passed a bill for education that, although it hasn't gone to the Senate yet and hasn't gone to the Governor's desk, but the ramifications of that bill, which is, you know, rooted in culturally responsive or culturally, excuse me, critical race theory, CRT, I'm getting my acronyms mixed up because we have so many. But, you know, the bill is rooted in that. However, the author of the bill included words, equity, included words such as inclusion, diversity, social, emotional learning or SEL. Those are types of words that would be prohibited for schools to discuss and or teach our future workforce development, you know, individuals to teach our students that we wouldn't be able to do that. And so we have this issue that we're in the exclusion course of we're asking for it in our businesses, we're asking for it in our organizations, but we wouldn't be able to teach it to our children and understand, and where are all of our kids going to get that? And that concerns us. So how can we work as a group to really combat those types of legislations that are that are not going to be good for all? Right. Exactly. Here we go. There's two mics there if you drop one if you need to. Yeah, it absolutely bills like AB 411, although it's destined to be vetoed, it won't see the light of day. It's still there and it's drumming up, you know, fear among certain people. And I would just add to that because you explained 411 and the whole point of it and and the fact that all the words that we're using here today in this discussion there, I've got the bill sitting over there there. It's it's all they're all listed as things that you wouldn't be able to discuss. And in fact, there might be a potential fiscal liability to the district if an individual in the community found out you were using these words in a discussion with students that they could sue or petition the state to decrease your funding by $15,000 every time you got caught doing some of this stuff. So it's not going to see the light of day, however, it's been floated to see the light of day by certain populations of people. And so that's the other group that I would like to another barrier that I would like to talk about as a as a school person is just the beliefs of our of our kids. We have kids that are growing up in households where things like transgender or things like race are talked about and not like they're talked about here. And so having the space and the ability to allow those conversations to happen in schools when the kids are little and learning away from their very influential parents who are super important in their lives. But to at least let them explore other ways of viewing the world is extremely important. Because without the ability to be in a safe place to understand that there might be a different way to understand race or gender and that it's OK and that you're not going to get yelled at and we're not going to tell anybody what to do. But we need the space to be able to explore those things. And so that barrier, the incoming beliefs of the students that we teach, it's not really a barrier, it's an opportunity. But we need to be able to open the doors so discussions can happen about those those topics. And so that's why we need our business community and our local communities and our chamber and the schools to be understanding that we're all talking the same language. We all want the same things for our students and our communities and our workforce. And so we need to be able to go back and tell our legislators, no, you've got this wrong. This isn't what we're about. We want to be able to have an inclusive discussion with all the people that care about these issues. From the business side, I think one of the biggest barriers is DEI is a continuous learning journey. And we're all starting from a different point. And so being able to meet people where they're at, I've been in this field for a little while and I've seen leaders struggle with the right words to say. A fear of saying the wrong thing, offending someone on their team. But we can't afford to not have these conversations. So I think some of those conversations, critical conversations need to happen through humility and sharing when you have made a mistake. Even someone who works in this space, I make mistakes. And I continue to evolve and learn from them so that I can do my due diligence to help coach others through that same journey. And I think another big part about that is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. I think that's one of my favorite lines. And hopefully you've heard it already today. But when we look at other barriers within COLR as a global organization, being aware of what diverse equity inclusion means in China, in India, because what we're running here within the states is different. And how diverse equity inclusion is looked upon is different. In some locations, parts of the world, you don't look at your demographic workforce. As it's not looked upon as something that is OK to measure. So I think that's one of our barriers. But then I would say working within manufacturing as well, that's a very unique population. And we're continuing to work through how we best tap that talent pool that we have and incorporating our DEI measures and metrics into them as well. Thank you. And lastly, you guys get to get out of the hot seat. So yay you. Can you just maybe share with us what advice would you give to, you know, we've got a lot of educators in the room, we've got a lot of leadership in the room from many of our county-wide organizations. What advice would you give to them to, you know, if they're in the journey already or if they are just thinking about starting the journey wherever they're at in their space, what would you tell them? Yeah, a couple of things, maybe just one or two. I would say, and I believe you heard Laura Kohler say this from her video this morning. But at Kohler Company, everyone is a leader, right? No matter their title, their level within the organization, everyone is a leader. And thus, they have a place and a position to play within our diversity and inclusion strategy. So my advice is empower your own people with that same philosophy, right? And leading by example, especially to our people leaders. They're the ones that have the influence, but also our individual contributors have influence amongst their direct team members, right? And their experiences and their success stories working through diversity and inclusion isn't impactful and helps to create that positive narrative. I would say, you know, be an ally as well, right? So should be a champion for diversity, equity and inclusion and all the things that it encompasses, you know, and challenge different perspectives, right? Respectively, of course. And you know, when those different perspectives approach you don't necessarily criticize, right? But rather perhaps with open mind and open mind, right? And looking to learn in your journey. And your one final one I would leave you with is I wrote down, because I wanted to make sure that I said it, is again, take it one step at a time, right? Because I think diversity and inclusion, you cannot boil the ocean, right? It's not something that is going to be fixed over time, but it's being able to take the time to learn where those inequities are happening, where those crucial conversations that need to continue to happen in order to create that culture that you're striving for. Thank you. Again, we're, I'm really here learning and trying to understand what people that have been doing this for quite some time have learned already. So just from my perspective as a relative newcomer to this space is that I need to approach it from a position of humility and non-judgment. We all have our biases and we have to recognize those, but for myself, and I think probably for anybody else that's beginning this pathway, is that I have to come from a position of non-judgment. And that can be difficult in a situation when we're confronted in a public setting with angry people and things about CRT that we don't even teach, but yet it's still this rallying cry. So for us, we have to try to understand and listen and probe for what their understanding of the issue is so that maybe we can find some common ground or at least maybe move those other issues off the side and focus on what's important, which is having our kids being ready for a great success in a global environment. I'd agree with what you both have said. I think I'd add two things. One is that it's a journey and we know it's gonna be a long journey and how do you celebrate some of the wins in each win? And how do we take time to celebrate those small steps instead of waiting until the end, whatever the end may be? So how do we celebrate? The other thing would be in order to celebrate what types of metrics are data are you using to make determinations? Are you making the next step and are you having progress? So what kind of metrics are you using for in different indicators so that you're able to know are we making progress in gaining ground or are we just making the assumption we are and we just keep going and it may not be the best strategy at the time. So what types of metrics are you using to identify whether that's focus group surveys, whether that's participation rates, whether that's your workforce attraction and retainment of your workforce, et cetera. But what are you using and how is that driving your decision making to move forward? Thank you so much. Can we give a round of applause for Seth, Dan and Christopher. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us today. Awesome.