Celeste Warren on The Truth About Equity: Myths, Access, and Turning Awareness Into Action

In this Resilience Unravelled episode, Dr Russell Thackeray interviews Celeste Warren, a US-based former chief diversity and inclusion officer who retired after nearly four decades in global corporations and now consults, speaks, and promotes her book The Truth About Equity. Warren explains why equity is often misunderstood as preferential treatment and uses the “rocks and fence” analogy to show equity as giving people what they need without taking away from others, while the fence represents systemic “isms” that require long-term change. She emphasises the role of dialogue in widening entrenched perspectives formed early in life, addresses DE&I pushback by framing equity as pragmatic business, marketing, and leadership basics, and outlines a six-step “equity in action” model including awareness, access, advocacy, action, accountability, and empowerment. She discusses AI hiring risks and the need for checks and balances, shares her goal of creating ripple effects through education and allyship, and closes with “stay relevant, stay supportive, and stay in the fight.”00:00 Welcome and Introductions00:49 Celeste’s Career Journey02:36 Why Equity Matters03:40 Rocks and Fence Explained06:54 Mindsets and Upbringing10:58 DEI Pushback and Proof11:35 Equity as Business Basics15:17 Who the Book Is For16:09 From Awareness to Impact17:39 Equity in the Age of AI20:38 Big Dream and Ripple Effect21:52 Where to Get the Book22:16 Final Takeaways and WrapYou can contact us at [email protected] can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com