The murder of George Floyd has served as a catalyst for change on many levels, including a movement in corporate America to “get it right” and end systemic racism. Organizations are seeking to make a meaningful impact for equity and embrace inclusion, yet many are struggling with exactly how to do this.
 
Hard Reset: Framing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as the New Normal is a new book by Marlo Rencher, PhD, CDE and Marlin Williams that serves as a guide for those who want to facilitate change within their organizations. Rencher is an entrepreneur, anthropologist and educator with more than two decades of experience in start-up and small business development. Williams has over twenty years’ experience as a global diversity and inclusion officer for two Fortune 500 companies.
 
“Writing this book has been on my mind for a number of years, but in 2020 there was a series of events. First, we had our pandemic and you could see the disparity between the people who could work from home and those who couldn’t,” says Williams. “Then there was the murder of George Floyd – that just took us to a different place. This book is for anybody who is curious about diversity, equity and inclusion and doing something about it.”
 
Rencher and Williams co-wrote the book during the global COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of racial reckoning while the world was under lock-down orders, allowing an opportunity of self-reflection – and revelation. The authors recognized this was a critical moment -- an opportunity to help people shift their mindsets and build equity and inclusion into the normal course of doing business.
 
“We need to take a reset, a refresh. We need to have much more real conversations,” says Rencher. “We’re at a point generationally where a lot of the fake things are being stripped away. Ultimately what encourages me is that corporations are starting to realize it’s in their best interest to be inclusive. Hopefully we can play a part in helping people to make some changes.”
 
Hard Reset is a journey toward organizational change and how to accomplish it. Through case studies, examples, and real talk, Rencher and Williams show the way for emerging and experienced diversity, equity, and inclusion advocates and allies. The book addresses: 
·       How to make long-term change that provides financial and strategic value for your organization
·       How to accurately assess organizational friction points that make equity and inclusion more difficult
·       How to use data to drive diversity, equity and inclusion
·       How to reinvent Employee Resource Groups
·       How to do your work and protect your peace
 
“We are gleaning from real life experiences and it’s not sugar coated,” Williams says. “I want [this book] to start a conversation, I’d like it to end some conversations, I’d like it to leave people more enlightened, asking more questions, and understanding that we’re more alike than we are different.”
 
Hard Reset: Framing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as the New Normal is available for purchase on Amazon.com in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats. Learn more: hardresetinclusion.com.