UpSpiral Leadership’s Rebecca Braitling Interviews Mykala Sandifer. Mykala is the Director of Inclusive Programs and Talent Development for the Kansas University Alumni Association, where she leads DEI&B as a strategic partner focused on community building to connect all Jay Hawks to the university with an intentional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. She also works closely with senior leadership on issues surrounding organizational development to improve culture and organizational effectiveness. She is also a member of various diversity committees.

[00:42] Introduction of Mykala Sandifer

[01:52] Mykala’s past experiences with diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging

[07:16] True definition of diversity, equity, and inclusion

[10:12] The importance of of celebrating pride month with true intentions

[22:02] Leadership traits that create a more inclusive environment

[27:18] Get to know Mykala and Lightning Round

[36:00] Around the UpSpiral: Limiting beliefs about DEIB and how to reframe it

Mykala began her career in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging based on her past experiences and childhood activities. She discusses her past work environments wherein she used her skill sets to see perspectives of different people with various personalities. She built personal relationships with others based on their own personal intersectionalities. Mykala’s experience as a competitive dancer in childhood gave her the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. Her dance director emphasized the foundation of community and enjoying the culture and experiences of others, which piqued Mykala’s interest in sociology and DEI&B.

With different interpretations of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, Mykala enumerates the true definition of DEI&B. To her definition, diversity is appreciating the uniqueness of each individual and that not everyone is the same. She elaborates that equity is giving people what they need and that it is not the same as equality. Inclusion, for her, is having the intention to get people involved in order to alleviate biases.

In Mykala’s perspective, it is important to celebrate pride month to honor the historical struggles and barriers the LGBTQ+ community has faced. Gender and sexuality discrimination isn’t as apparent as racial or ethic discrimination. The pride movement is an effort to create a space for awareness, education, and honoring lives lost within that community. To be an authentic and intentional ally, Mykala advises us to lean into our allyship and take action rather than just saying that we support pride. It helps to have ongoing, uncomfortable conversations regarding gender and sexuality in order to challenge ourselves and create meaningful change.

Mykala advises leaders who want to create a more inclusive environment for their organizations to follow 4 steps. First is through humility; leaders must acknowledge that they do not know everything and are open to learning from their peers and colleagues. Second is psychological safety, which allows a space to show up as themselves without negative consequences. Third is to model what they are trying to embed in their culture by shifting away from old models of leadership.

Mykala believes that the one leadership trait our world needs most is humility. In a generation where people are afraid to speak up out of fear of being wrong or insensitive, Mykala advises that humility is the key to communicating that we are all still learning. Though she has never met Denzel Washington, Mykala finds Denzel to be thoughtful and intentional in his interviews or interactions with others. She strives to mirror this intentionality as a way to communicate with emotional intelligence. What Mykala wishes for the world at this point is to heal, especially after a series of tragedies that have recently occurred across the nation.