Don’t Have a Permanent D&I Position? Create a Diversity and Inclusion Council

Dr. Nika White • November 15, 2019

Many people perceive that in order to create a robust Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) plan you have to be a large organization with deep pockets. This is not true.

I am of the persuasion that the work of D&I is the responsibility of everyone. However, to optimize efforts, it is a best practice to have someone in the organization who intentionally focuses on strategies to build and maintain an inclusive culture. Otherwise, as the saying goes, “if you don’t intentionally include you will unintentionally exclude.”

The reality is, some organizations are not in a position to assign the role of D&I to a particular staff member. Or, they might not have the resources to have a full-time position.

I believe it’s even more critical for small businesses and firms to find this work as an imperative for business success.

Most organizations already operate quite lean and can probably be overworked. D&I often falls to the wayside since it ends up usually being hit or miss instead of an impactful and strategic approach to addressing the work. One of the next best practices to implement the work of D&I is to create a Diversity and Inclusion Council.

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES OF NOT HAVING A SPECIFIC D&I COUNCIL OR CONSULTANT?  

Unfortunately, I find that when you do not have a staff member who is assigned to the work of D&I, the work might just be “layered on” as an afterthought to other responsibilities.

This creates a start-and-stop approach to the work that can lead to negative consequences. It causes people to question the authenticity and sincerity of the work. You can get people excited through movement and activity, only to then, a few months later, have it just go cold.

This can have an adverse effect and make it just seem like “window dressing”. You can lose engagement, lose trust, and people disengage. It can be much harder to come back from a situation like that versus creating progress out of the gate.

And I always say—this D&I work is about ‘Progress, not Perfection’.

There’s no target or destination. You’re constantly having to evolve. If you have to start all over again, you can lose momentum and traction.

In order to avoid those negative consequences, you need to have someone on staff who is responsible for that diversity work. Even if you can’t have a full staff person where D&I becomes their primary and only responsibility–you need alternative solutions to make sure the work gets done.

HERE ARE A FEW THINGS ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD CONSIDER WHEN ADDING D&I RESPONSIBILITIES TO STAFF MEMBER’S JOB DESCRIPTION

1. Hire an outside consultant to help supplement and guide the work. This consultant can support whoever is charged to drive the role internally with strategic direction. Considering that the D&I position did not previously exist, it is appropriate to assume that the individual does not have in-depth experience with leading, developing, and implementing strategic diversity and intentional inclusion.

2. Add ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ to their job description—even if it’s a shared role. This descriptive addition creates perception, accountability, and development towards that role. If necessary, consider blending D&I with the person’s current title to keep it top of mind to people in the organization.

3. Support that individual with learning and development opportunities. Make sure they are well supported to get the knowledge base they need. Send them to DEI conferences and networking events, enroll them in online learning platforms, support  them with trainings and certification programs.

4. Develop their leadership capabilities. Current leadership needs to support the people in D&I roles so they can build their own leadership capabilities. In addition to the learning opportunities from Point #3, being able to effectively lead and inspire others within the organization is a vital skill that helps move the D&I work forward.

NIKA’S TOP TIPS FOR CREATING A D&I COUNCIL:

Sometimes, rather than assigning a singular staff person to lead the D&I work, it’s necessary to consider establishing a council with shared responsibilities among multiple individuals.

When you create a Diversity and Inclusion Council, you must be very specific on how you structure that council to ensure high performance.  Similar to an affinity group, Employee Resource Group (ERG), or Business Resource Group (BRG), you must have leadership sponsors who support the efforts of the group. The sponsor’s role is to provide support, advocacy and guidance in aligning the council’s efforts with the goals of the organization — all through a lens of D&I.

Here are some of my top tips for creating that Diversity and Inclusion Council in your organization:

  • Make sure you’re very clear about the role, purpose, and function of the council. All of these need to align with the overall goals and missions of the organization.
  • Be selective on who you bring on the council. Many organizations casually ask people to serve on a committee or invite them because they seem interested in D&I work. You must have a strategic approach to who you invite to the council and how that invitation is extended.
  • Be thoughtful about how this position is created. The invites should come from the most senior leader and it should feel like a privilege. I like to recommend a direct invitation served by the President, CEO, or another influential senior leader. Make it feel like a significant appointment (because it is).
  • Think about the Terms of Service. What is the structure? Do you have subcommittees? Do you need a chair? How are individuals selected, etc?  You don’t want a council that’s very large in size, but you want ways to engage and get buy-in from others. That’s where subcommittees can be important.
  • Make it a big deal! Put some fanfare around it. Have a launch event. Show people what it is and how you can partner. Show people how you can help extend the lens of D&I. Make the creation and announcement of it just as important as the work.
  • Always have a commitment statement. This helps people crystalize what they’re really getting involved with. Attach the purpose of the council to the business case for D&I. Have a statement that the people in the council and the organization can refer to.
  • Treat it with the same level of sophistication as other committees. The makeup and logistics of the council need to be well thought out. Gather a mix of people across disciplines and departments. Treat it with just as much importance as other significant elements of the organization.
  • Make sure you have a safe space where people can respectfully question and challenge things (i.e. leave your formal roles outside the door). Remember that you are peers who are there to learn and challenge each other. If the group is not conditioned to operate in that lens, how effective are they going to be in modeling that into the culture of the organization? It’s important to have values that are respected and accepted.
  • Set the tone and establish consistency in how the group interacts through clear expectations and agreements. Routinely post these expectations and agreements in the meeting room or on the agenda. As the team is developing the function of the council, it is just as important to make sure you’re just as thoughtful about what the D&I council is NOT there to serve. Set these in your expectations.


An important note:

With many organizations, people will see the function of the council as a “grievance body”— i.e. a group to bring complaints of exclusion or discrimination to. But that is not the point of the group—it’s meant to be a strategic and productive body.

The D&I council is meant to come up with policies, systems, procedures, and tracking metrics for this work. Then they can make recommendations to other leaders and help to bring that voice and lens of inclusion to other disciplines and business groups.

To make this work viable, it’s also vital to coach departments to include D&I in high-level strategy and through the lens of their decision-making.

For example, people want to know that there are opportunities to matriculate to higher levels inside an organization. Weaving opportunities for advancement into communications and conversation is supportive of creating that inclusive culture. Finding the blind spots and bringing that lens of DEI to traditional operational decisions is often one of the most important critical roles of a council.

So, how will you integrate Diversity and Inclusion into your organization? Can you start the process of planning and creating a D&I council within your business?

Feedback and the Nervous System - Why Some Conversations Lead To Growth And Others Lead To Silence

By Nika White • March 16, 2026
Two leaders can say the same words and produce entirely different outcomes. One conversation invites reflection. Another produces compliance. A third produces quiet withdrawal. The difference is rarely the phrasing. It is the state of the person delivering it. Before a listener processes meaning, their body processes safety. If tension, urgency, or frustration is present, the nervous system prioritizes protection over learning. The person may nod, agree, or apologize—but understanding has not actually occurred. Earlier in The Human Shift, The Body Knows Before the Mind Does , we explored how the body registers experience before the mind interprets it. Feedback follows that same sequence. Presence communicates before language does. Reframe Feedback is received through regulation before it is received through reasoning. One Grounded Practice Before offering feedback, take 30 seconds to orient yourself to the environment: Look around the room. Name three neutral objects you can see. Slow your exhale once. Then begin the conversation. Grounded delivery increases learning far more than refined wording. Closing Reflection What state are others experiencing when they receive guidance from you? Contextual Depth Signal In leadership coaching, feedback rarely fails because leaders lack clarity. It fails because the emotional tone of the interaction determines whether the brain processes information or threat. In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. Think about your last feedback conversation — how regulated did you feel before it started?

Competence and Control - When Capability Quietly Becomes Over-Management

By Nika White • March 9, 2026
High-capacity leaders often step in before others struggle. They refine the message. They fix the slide. They solve the problem before it fully forms. The intention is almost always supportive. But the impact accumulates differently. When leaders consistently intervene early, teams stop developing judgment. Initiative declines. And the leader’s workload increases—not because the team lacks ability, but because the team lacks ownership. Control rarely announces itself as control. It appears helpful. Earlier in The Human Shift, Capacity Is Not Infinite , we discussed capacity as information. Control is often a response to leaders sensing the system might falter and unconsciously compensating. The leader becomes the stabilizer. And stabilizers eventually become exhausted. Reframe Support strengthens capability. Preemption weakens it. One Grounded Practice The next time a team member brings you a solvable problem, pause before offering a solution and ask: “What options are you considering?” Then wait. Do not refine immediately. Do not redirect quickly. Allow their thinking to complete before yours begins. Leadership capacity grows when others experience themselves as capable. Closing Reflection Where might your helpfulness be preventing someone else’s development? Contextual Depth Signal In organizational advisory work, many leadership bottlenecks are not skill issues but ownership issues. When leaders shift from solving to supporting thinking, both performance and energy improve. In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. Where do you feel most necessary right now—and is it because of structure or habit?

The Cost of Constant Readiness - Why Urgency Quietly Reshapes Leadership Judgment

By Nika White • March 2, 2026
Many leaders live in a state of readiness they no longer notice. They check messages before standing up in the morning. They anticipate disagreement before a conversation begins. They prepare responses before anyone finishes speaking. At first, this feels like responsibility. Over time, it becomes physiology. The body learns to expect interruption, so it stops settling. Attention shortens. Everything begins to feel slightly time-sensitive—even when it isn’t. This isn’t only about workload. It’s about nervous system posture. Earlier in The Human Shift, The Shift from Bracing to Grounding , we explored bracing—the body preparing to endure pressure. Constant readiness is a quieter version of the same pattern. Leaders aren’t reacting to the present demand. They’re reacting to a predicted one. And prediction changes perception. When leaders remain perpetually ready, they begin interpreting more situations as urgent than they actually are. Conversations compress. Listening becomes strategic instead of receptive. Discernment narrows. Reframe Urgency is not always information. Sometimes it is anticipation that the body hasn’t updated yet. One Grounded Practice Today, before responding to a non-emergency message or request, pause for one full breath cycle. Not to delay action. To confirm necessity. Notice: • Did the situation actually require speed? • Or did your body simply expect it? Grounding begins by distinguishing immediacy from importance. Closing Reflection Where in your leadership are you responding to expectation rather than reality? Contextual Depth Signal In my coaching work, leaders often discover their decision fatigue is less about volume and more about constant readiness. When urgency is recalibrated, clarity returns quickly—without reducing responsibility. In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. What in your work currently feels urgent—and what might simply be asking for your presence?

Inclusion Isn’t Exhausting — Disconnection Is

By Nika White • February 24, 2026
Inclusion Isn’t Exhausting—Disconnection Is: Why fatigue around inclusion often signals something deeper than disagreement When people say they’re tired of inclusion work, they are rarely describing values. They are describing an experience. Often it sounds like resistance on the surface. But beneath it, something more specific is happening: Disconnection from meaning. From impact. From each other. Sometimes from themselves. Inclusion becomes exhausting when it is treated as an initiative rather than an environment. When language expands but daily experience doesn’t change. When expectations increase faster than people’s capacity to understand or embody them. The effort then feels performative instead of relational. Earlier in The Human Shift, Culture Is What People Carry Home We explored how inclusion fatigue often emerges when people cannot locate inclusion in lived interactions—only in messaging. Without experience, even well-intended work begins to feel like compliance. The fatigue isn’t coming from caring too much. It’s coming from not knowing where caring actually lands. Reframe Fatigue is not a failure of values. It is a signal of misalignment. And misalignment does not ask for abandonment. It asks for reconnection. One Grounded Practice Instead of asking, “How do we do inclusion better?” ask: “Where are people most disconnected right now?” Listen specifically for: moments people feel unseen moments people feel cautious speaking moments effort does not match impact This shifts the conversation from strategy to experience—and experience is where inclusion either exists or does not. Closing Reflection If inclusion were measured by everyday interactions instead of organizational intention, what would you notice first? Contextual Depth Signal In my equity and leadership advisory work, organizations often regain momentum not by adding new initiatives but by reconnecting daily behavior with stated purpose. When inclusion becomes experiential rather than instructional, energy returns quickly. In the shift, Dr. Nika White P.S. Where in your environment right now does inclusion feel most like a requirement—and where does it feel like belonging?

The Stories We Tell Under Pressure

By Nika White • February 16, 2026
Under pressure, leaders tell stories quickly. About intent. About risk. About who can be trusted. About what’s possible. These stories shape behavior long before policies or plans do. Often, they go unexamined solidifying into assumptions that guide decisions and culture quietly. Reframe Stories don’t just explain reality. They create it. Especially in moments of uncertainty. One Grounded Practice The next time tension rises, ask: “What story am I telling myself right now—and what story might someone else be telling?” This question opens space for curiosity instead of certainty. Closing Reflection What story is guiding your leadership right now—and does it still serve? Contextual Depth Signal Working with leadership narratives (especially under pressure) is a core part of my coaching and facilitation work. When stories shift, behavior often follows. In the shift, Dr. Nika White

Accountability Without Shame

By Nika White • February 9, 2026
Many leaders associate accountability with discomfort—and assume that discomfort is necessary for change. But there’s a difference between discomfort that leads to growth and shame that leads to withdrawal. Shame narrows attention. It triggers defensiveness. It interrupts learning. And yet, many accountability practices rely on it—often unintentionally. True accountability doesn’t require humiliation or fear. It requires clarity, dignity, and repair. Reframe Accountability is not about control. It’s about alignment. And alignment happens best when people feel safe enough to stay present. One Grounded Practice Before offering feedback, pause and ask: “Is my goal correction, or connection that allows correction to land?” This shift often changes: Tone Timing Impact Accountability rooted in dignity sustains trust rather than eroding it. Closing Reflection Where might accountability become more effective if shame were removed from the equation? Contextual Depth Signal This distinction is foundational in how I support leaders navigating performance and culture. Accountability without shame strengthens trust and resilience—especially in moments that matter most. In the shift, Dr. Nika White

Culture Is What People Carry Home

By Nika White • February 2, 2026
Culture doesn’t end when the meeting does. It lingers in the body long after the workday is over showing up in dinner conversations, sleep patterns, patience levels, and the quiet exhaustion people struggle to name. We often talk about culture in abstract terms: values, engagement, and belonging. But culture is experienced somatically. It’s how it feels to speak up. How it feels to make a mistake. How it feels to be seen—or overlooked. When work consistently requires people to brace, perform, or self-monitor, the cost doesn’t stay at work. It travels home with them. Reframe Culture is not what organizations intend. It’s what people absorb. And what people absorb shapes how they show up everywhere else. One Grounded Practice Ask yourself: “How do people likely feel at the end of a typical workday with me?” Not how you hope they feel. Not what the values statement says. What their nervous system might carry. This question alone can shift how leaders present themselves in small but meaningful ways. Closing Reflection What might change if culture was measured by what people carry home, not what’s written on the wall? Contextual Depth Signal This lens (culture as lived experience) is central to my work with organizations. When leaders begin here, culture change becomes less performative and far more honest. In the shift, Dr. Nika White

The Body Knows Before the Mind Does

By Nika White • January 26, 2026
Before leaders articulate misalignment, the body often registers it first. Sleep disruptions. Tightness before meetings. A low-grade fatigue that doesn’t resolve with rest. These are not failures of resilience. They are signals of adaptation. The nervous system is constantly scanning for safety, threat, and load. When demands exceed capacity, the body adjusts—sometimes through tension, sometimes through withdrawal, sometimes through control. Leadership cultures that reward composure often train people to override these signals. But ignoring the body doesn’t eliminate its intelligence. It just delays the cost. Reframe The body is not an obstacle to leadership. It’s an early warning system. Leaders who learn to listen sooner tend to retain more choices later. One Grounded Practice Once a day, pause and ask: “What sensation is most present in my body right now?” No analysis. No fixing. Just notice. This simple practice builds the muscle of attunement, allowing leaders to respond to strain before it hardens into burnout or reactivity. Closing Reflection What has your body been signaling that your mind has been negotiating with? Contextual Depth Signal This work (helping leaders recognize and respond to bodily signals) is central to how I support sustainable leadership. When leaders trust this form of intelligence, decision-making becomes clearer and cultures become more humane. In the shift, Dr. Nika White

Capacity Is Not Infinite

By Nika White • January 20, 2026
High-capacity leaders are often rewarded for stretching. Carrying more responsibility. Absorbing more tension. Operating as the stabilizer when systems feel strained. Over time, this becomes identity: I ’m the one who can handle it. But capacity is not limitless and treating it as such eventually erodes judgment, creativity, and relational presence. Honoring capacity is not about doing less; it's about doing more. It’s about leading sustainably. When leaders ignore capacity signals, they don’t just risk burnout; they lose access to discernment. Decisions become reactive. Boundaries blur. The work begins to feel heavier than it should. Reframe Capacity is not a measure of worth. It’s information. And leaders who listen to it lead longer and better. One Grounded Practice This week, experiment with this question: “If I were stewarding my capacity—not spending it—what would change here?” Notice: • Where you’re saying yes by default • Where rest is postponed rather than planned • Where responsibility has quietly become self-abandonment Stewardship is a leadership practice, not a personal failure. Closing Reflection What is your capacity asking of you right now? Contextual Depth Signal In my leadership programs and advisory work, capacity stewardship is treated as a strategic skill—not a personal preference. Leaders who learn to work with capacity create more resilient teams and more humane outcomes. In the shift, Dr. Nika White

The Shift from Bracing to Grounding

By Nika White • January 12, 2026
Bracing is one of the most common and least discussed leadership patterns I see. It shows up quietly: A tightening in the chest before a meeting... A subtle urgency in decision-making... A readiness to withstand rather than to engage... Most leaders don’t recognize bracing as something they’re doing. They experience it as who they need to be in order to perform. Bracing becomes synonymous with responsibility, strength, and composure. And yet, bracing is not a leadership trait. It’s a nervous system response. Bracing is what happens when the body senses pressure and prepares to endure it. It’s adaptive. Intelligent. Protective. Especially for leaders who operate in high-stakes environments where mistakes feel costly and steadiness is expected. The problem isn’t bracing itself. The problem is living there. Grounding is the shift that allows leaders to remain connected to themselves while meeting the moment. It doesn’t reduce standards or urgency. It changes how those standards are held. When leaders are grounded: Authority feels embodied, not force Decisions include more discernment and less reactivity Others experience safety without the leader having to perform calm Reframe Bracing narrows leadership capacity. Grounding expands it. This isn’t about eliminating stress. It’s about not allowing stress to hijack presence. One Grounded Practice This week, notice when you brace—not why. Pay attention to: The moment just before a difficult interaction The impulse to speed up or tighten control Physical cues like shallow breath or jaw tension Instead of correcting it, try this: Place one hand on your body (chest, stomach, or thigh) and slow your exhale by two counts. That’s it. Grounding often begins with the body, not the mind.  Closing Reflection Where might grounding serve you better than bracing right now? Contextual Depth Signal This shift—from bracing to grounding—is foundational in my coaching and leadership work. It’s where leaders begin learning how to stay present and authoritative under real pressure, rather than relying on endurance alone. In the shift, Dr. Nika White