#BossMagic- Vibing Out with Diamond Greer

#BossMagic-Vibing Out with Diamond Greer

By Danielle Echols

As an organization, we are always encountering people who are innovative with their careers. Diamond Greer is definitely one of those people.  She is a  business professional, thought leader, and catalyst for social entrepreneurship from the Southeast Side of Chicago. Diamond graduated from Northwestern University with a mission unlock the potential of those around her.

In 2015, she founded Let’s Vibe LC3, a design firm focused on closing the global leadership and equity gap through human-centered experiences.  According to their website, she and her team create "experiences to connect and develop you, empower you, empower the organizations that attract and retain you, and build accountability in life and at work.” Through their experiences, Let’s Vibe hopes to encourage women to manifest and craft their futures.  When she is not hosting one of the Let's Vibe experiences, she can be found writing poetry.

Recently, Diamond talked with Design Dance about her definition of success and what being a "vibe woman" truly means.

How do you define success?

It’s a journey with moments that cause you to pause and go “Oh, snaps! That was dope!” or “Hmm, what can I learn from this?” It is not a destination; it’s a compilation of moments of actualizing an idea or goal and also moments of WTFs. Success is learning, owning more and more of yourself, and getting closer to trusting your true voice to direct your purpose in life. That’s how it’s defined for me.

What was the inspiration behind Let’s Vibe?

We (her team) transitioned both to college and out of college, and we found that there were no road maps for our next steps and barely any resources to effectively take the next steps at this stage in our lives.  Oh, and globally?  This was also the case; there was a serious gap in leadership and equity for women.  As women of color on a mission to actualize our goals in work and life, we needed guidance or at least a space to figure it out.  We wanted to connect with our peers to our share stories, gain access to resources to turn our ideas into tangible next steps, and thrive in an ecosystem as intersectional and fluid as possible that’s focused on our development.  So, we created it.  Positive vibes and all!

What type of events do you produce?

We go beyond the box of “events”; we produce human-centered experiences that inspire.  Each Let’s Vibe experience creates a brave space for connection, creativity, and workability.  From online ideation sessions to in-person workshops to downloadable content, each experience creates the possibility of actualizing an idea or goal for life and career.

How do you feel you are working to empower women?

We are working to empower women by (1) providing the platform to connect, inspire and develop while enabling them to manifest their ‘now’ and craft their ‘future’; (2) providing the space to define ourselves on our own terms and have our work follow; and (3) providing individuals and organizations with the tools necessary to begin to bridge the global leadership and equity gap.

Who are some people that inspire you?

My sister and my Mom, Oprah, Shonda Rhimes, Tracee Ellis Ross, Ce Cole Dillon, Barnor Hesse, Tim Schwertfeger, my Vibe women...and a bunch of others for every mood I’m in and every space I occupy.

What’s your “vibe” for the year?

Owning my #BossMagic and it holding me accountable.

What is a suggestion you have for a young person, especially a woman who is trying to be assertive in business?

Decide. A wise mentor of mine once told me that deciding is better than not deciding and later regretting that your decision was no decision. You have to own your decision and prepare for what happens next. In business, decide. Then, prototype and do. Unapologetically. Give yourself permission. Period.

Recently, Diamond was named one of the Chicago Scholars 35 Under 35.  Diamond will be speaking at our Acceptance Tour in Chicago on Monday, June 26th.  For more information on Diamond and Let’s Vibe, click on the links below.

Facebook: @letsvibehq

Instagram:@msdiamondg  @letsvibehq

Twitter: @msdiamondg

Together with TalentFlood

Together with TalentFlood

By Debra Giunta

We’ve recently joined the Together Campaign, as platform for refugees and immigrants to get matched to jobs in Chicago. We value all people at our company, no matter who they are or where they’ve come from. To us, what’s most important are values and ethics. Those can be found in all populations. We wanted to join this campaign to encourage finding employees that often have a hard time finding jobs, but who nonetheless may have great work ethic and experience. And there are many other employers in Chicago that feel the same say, as we have found.

So this month, TalentFlood, a new smart hiring software that uses a sophisticated algorithm to match employers to job seekers, has launched a new Together Campaign. Their goal is to bring employers together with refugees and immigrants in Chicago to encourage job matches. They are partnering with outstanding refugee and immigrant organizations in Chicago, as well as with employers like us that stand in solidarity with hiring from this population. TalentFlood is simply the platform for the matches to be made.

As a Chicago local and co-founder of TalentFlood, Angela Jackson shares about the idea and passion behind the campaign. “Let’s be honest -- the refugee and immigration topic is tense right now. Everyone has varying views, but for the most part there is no unity. So we wanted a space where everyone could unify in the business sector and have a practical outlet for solidarity.” She continues to explain the details of the job matching. “The best part of the campaign is the way the software works. It’s statistical matching, so it truly will only choose matches based off the employer’s job description and needs. So while it doesn’t ‘prefer’ a refugee over other candidates, it does give them a better shot because numbers and rates don’t have emotional connections to names, countries, university names, or timing of jobs. It adds up the total ‘score’ of the candidate in comparison to the employer score.”

“This is important because refugees specifically have difficulty getting jobs. Not because they’re uneducated or disqualified. But because sometimes they’ll have time gaps in their resume when they were at a refugee camp, or because their university name isn’t recognized, or because they simply are from another country. Not all employers have explicit bias and realize they are doing this. But we all have implicit bias. So if we can eliminate that, it will not just help refugees, but also everyone!”

Since the idea was in genesis 2 months ago, they have been able to meet one-on-one with refugees, walking them through the profile and making sure that they understand each part of it. Sometimes a team member will need to help translate a job title -- what was called an Office Worker may be officially called Administrative Assistant in America. At the end of the day, TalentFlood wants to do whatever it takes to give them the same access to opportunity that everyone else has.

We’re super excited to get on board! Read more about the campaign here: http://chicago.thetogethercampaign.org/about/