Over 100 Attend County’s First Inclusive Leadership Summit

The Noblesville Diversity Coalition convened more than 100 Hamilton County leaders from 70-plus organizations last month at its first Inclusive Leadership Summit.

The daylong event, held Sept. 27 at Conner Prairie, drew positive feedback from attendees.

Mojo Up Media + Marketing’s Travis Brown, a highly sought-after brand strategist, motivational speaker, and DEI thought leader who lives in Hamilton County, kicked off the event by challenging attendees to be adaptable.

“You will become irrelevant if you are resistant to change,” Brown said.

And Hamilton County is changing. As the community continues to grow, it is becoming more multicultural, multigenerational, and diverse – a fact that is driving leaders to help their organizations adapt to better reflect their communities, allowing them to attract and retain top talent and stay competitive and innovative.

The Summit aimed to equip leaders to do just that through a dynamic group of speakers, including Andrea Mazzocco of Deloitte, who introduced attendees to the firm’s Six Signature Traits of Inclusive Leaders. The framework defines inclusive leadership through six traits: commitment, courage, cognizance of bias, curiosity, cultural intelligence, and collaboration.

In addition to presenting the business case for inclusive leadership, Mazzocco said leaders must shift their mindset and take intentional actions that lead to creating diverse teams—and addressing systems that exclude some people.

Two breakout sessions gave Summit attendees the opportunity to explore individual traits in more detail, giving them practical tools and insight on how to apply the learnings to their lives and workplaces.

“I loved how many examples of diversity were discussed throughout the day,” said attendee Tonya Hyatt, Executive Director of the Northern Hamilton County Chamber. “Many think of diversity as race or gender, but it can also include disabilities, languages spoken, religion preferences, etc. This [realization] allowed us to expand our conversations as to how we subconsciously categorize.”

When the group reconvened, Mazzocco wrapped up the Summit discussing the final trait: Commitment. She led the group through a “5-5-5” planning framework, challenging them to write down and commit to what they would do in the next 5 days, 5 weeks, and 5 months.

Many thanks to the Crosser Family Foundation, Duke Energy, and the Hamilton County Community Foundation for their generous support of the Summit.

For more information on the topics and speakers, visit noblesvilleleadershipsummit.org