Welcome to Good Humans week presented by Goodworld. As your chief storyteller, I take the last week of the year to simply bring you three incredible stories of good humans in our midst. It's one on one. It's raw, and it's personal. And it's a conversation we hope will start a ripple within this community. This series explores their stories and dives into what motivates their courage moxie and determination to be the change they want to see in the world. The answer, they love fighting for good. And if you love good, stick around for the break to hear how our presenting sponsor Goodworld is helping nonprofits and companies level up their culture and impact by democratizing giving. Alright, let's get started.
Hi, friends, I'm coming to you from my house here in the middle of Oklahoma and the extraordinary individual that you are about to meet is going to knock your socks off, not just because of the profound change that he has begun to ripple in his part of business and in the world. But because of the way he shows up and community and cast that ripple that is going to create and is already beginning to create a movement of inclusion. And so it is my profound honor today to introduce you to Kevin Clayton. He is the senior vice president head of social impact and equity for a little known sports team you may be aware of called the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA. He is responsible for developing and leading the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Strategic Plan for not only the Cavs but for Rock Entertainment Group, which includes the Cavs, Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland Charge, Cleveland Monsters and Cleveland Legion Gaming Club. But here's the thing we love so much about him y'all. Kevin is passionate about maintaining the team's commitment to addressing social issues, and expanding its inclusive and diverse culture. The way that he shows up to encourage players and leaders to discuss issues impacting black men, and all forms of racism in a way that is disarming is in a way that puts hands together rather than creating walls. He is truly building bridges. He oversees the Cavs community relations team and also the Cavaliers Community Foundation. And we're just so proud to have him in as the Goodworld 2022 Good Humans winner. For all of you who are new to Goodworld, it's a wonderful partner to we're for good. It's a social impact platform that engages teams and workplaces giving charitable rewards and volunteering to build a culture around just really making a difference. So just know that we're going to go deep, not just into DEI work, but we're going to go into how to be a human being. Today, we're going to talk about how do we build inclusive communities that unite hands instead of dividing humans. And I'm here to tell you that this extraordinary human is going to knock your socks off. Kevin Clayton, welcome to the We Are For Good podcast, congrats on that good humans award, my friend.
Becky, I'm so appreciative. And that introduction, I don't know how I'm gonna be able to fulfill that promise you just delivered.
Oh my gosh, that was like the tip of the iceberg of what we have learned about your background. And you know, you you have these accolades, you have these titles, but I have to tell you that the first time I met you and spoke with you, all of that just kind of melted away from me, because the human being that you are the way you move through this world is so kind. It's so inclusive. And it's really the type of humanity that we want to see in such a powerful organization like the NBA. But I mean, we're going to talk about your journey, what you have done has created a ripple beyond the NBA. And that's what we're so excited to talk about. So take everybody back. We know you grew up in Shaker Heights, like take us back to your childhood and tell us what kind of led you up to where you are today.
Yeah, so you know, Becky is interesting, because people asked me, Well, how long have you been involved in the diversity field? And how long have you been doing this work? And when I really thought about it, I've been doing this work all my life. And I would like to say, honestly, I know that God created me to do this work. And let me walk you through why I say that. So I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. And as you said, Shaker Heights. I didn't move into Shaker Heights until probably like the fifth grade. And moving from Cleveland into Shaker Heights and Shaker Heights is a predominantly Jewish community. And it is a more afluent community with certain pockets that most of the African Americans or other something other than white and Jewish cultures lived in. And that's kind of where I began kind of my journey on this whole diversity trail. So we moved into Shaker and we lived right on that border, actually bordering Cleveland. There are massive, massive mansions that are in Shaker. We lived in a two family house. And we then what that is for some that don't know, I mean, there's a family on the bottom, and then there's a family up top. And we have five
My mother grew up in one of those, as well.
Yeah, and in our situation, we actually have a three, three family because we turn the attic into a place in which, you know, we also have part of our family members living in and moving into shaker, my mother. So I was raised by pretty much a single mom, and she wanted to provide a better life for me by whatever the situations were at home. It did, it paled in comparison to me being able to go to a better school system. So you know, we moved from a single family house in Cleveland to a two family home and Shaker for the education. And, and now, as I said, I'm in the fifth grade. And now I'm being exposed to other cultures of kids in Cleveland, it was everybody I knew was Black. So now I'm going to school with white kids, you wish kids, black kids are fluent kids, poor Black kids, poor white kids, it's just everybody. Well, that was my first year in Shaker. And then there was a voluntary busing program. In the sixth grade. My mom and grandmother knew the principal of the school that I went to, which was the only school in shaker they had more than two Black kids at the elementary school. And there were seven elementary schools. So Shaker voluntarily said, Hey, let's bus some of the other Black kids do some of the the other schools, the six other schools. And that now meant me waking up an hour earlier, getting on a bus with seven other of my Black classmates. And we went out to the most most northern part of Shaker, which was a predominantly white Jewish school. And they had two Black kids. So my experience then was the fact that the very first day and Becky I'll never ever forget this. I don't know what it feels like to be a zoo animal. I can imagine having people walking by and looking animals in the zoo, you kind of get used to it. The seven of us get off this bus. And all the windows were filled with the white kids looking at us. Like who are these people. That's my analogy from feeling almost like whatever a zoo animal would feel. But if you can just follow a kind of my story around that, we get off this bus absolutely terrified, because we don't know what we're about to expect. So that was the first experience that I had, where I knew that I was significantly different than everybody else. It was based on my skin color. So with that, it's interesting, because now that I'm involved in sports, and I've actually leveraged the sports platform for good. It was my ability to play basketball and baseball and football that separated me and allowed me to be included with the other kids. Because in the fifth and sixth grade, the kids just want to win if it's kickball, if it's basketball, whatever it is. And I felt I remember feeling a certain way because, you know, it wasn't all of us were good athletes. So my other six or seven classmates that came with me from the Black part of Shaker, you could see that their acceptance was not as easy as mine. Mine was 100% off athletics, which I will tell you over a period of time I began to resent that because I'm like, no, I'm more than an athlete. So that was the early stages. And then I actually went through the shaker school system and play basketball. Everybody liked me because I was the basketball star if you will. I then went from a pretty integrated High School, to an all black college all black HBCU has been in my life forever. My grandmother was a tennis player at Florida A&M. My mom was a major rep, my dad played basketball. I have uncles, nieces, nephews, but I went to North Carolina Central to follow in the footsteps of my uncle, who was Sam Jones and Sam actually passed last year, but he's one of the NBAs top 50, about 75 players played with the Boston Celtics. And so now I'm going to an all Black school. And my experience there was great from a culture standpoint. I transferred though, after my freshman year and it was really due to a situation with the basketball team as to why transfer and I went to a predominantly white college, which was a Quaker institution called Wilmington college. So if you follow along with me, as I'm saying I was built for this it of course, I didn't know my life's experiences, were going to lead me to the work that I now do. But for me to be able to adapt, assimilate into an all Black culture, quickly do the same. But I will tell you what I had was still sports as a as a crutch for me. Because here now I'm a college basketball player. And as I went to Wilmington, and when we tend to small Quaker institution, probably one of the most significant, accomplished accomplishments, believe it or not, that I had was I was the first Black homecoming king at all. That's amazing. And I will tell you is, you know, homecoming king and queen. So it's a popularity contest. Yes, yeah. I mean, like, what is the real criteria, other than people liking you, but here's what's significant, is that people liked me and the predominant people were white men and women at the school that I went to. And yes, I was an athlete, and I did all the other kinds of things. But I was able to kind of maneuver through the challenges of being in a school that culturally did not connect with me. And I had to find my way. So that kind of takes me through my college years, my high school years. Again, the common the common theme is, sports was a way in which I could connect. And secondly was a spirit of inclusion that I was able to leverage by the fact that I was an athlete. And I knew what that felt like. So always, even in in college, which I was part of the Concerned Black Students, I was activity director there, I was intramural director for the entire college. But all of that was still how do I create an inclusive environment in a school that was predominantly white, by blending in through sports a way for other kids who participate.
I mean, I just think there's so much power and understanding someone's backstory. Because if you're anything like me, listeners, as I'm, as I'm hearing all of this, I mean, I just have this weight on my chest, and it kind of suffocate you a little bit. And I'm picturing Kevin, you know, at seven years old trying to walk in to that Shaker Heights School, and I just those images of Ruby walking in, you know, as a three year old student, the first to integrate into schools just hits me and I, and I think about my seven year old that I have here, and the amount of courage that that had to take, and the amount of just keep turning the cheek. And overcoming and finding these little ways to wiggle in is just seems really exhausting. And yet you did it. And you continue to walk through this life with this level of humility, and open handedness. And I just want to thank you for that. Because I think that is it felt immediately as a magnet. That's what's what I felt the first time I met you. And I just think this, you know, huge basketball fan, played basketball growing up myself. Been we could talk about LeBron and all the things at some point, you know, in another conversation, but I want to talk about how athletics has brought you to where you are, and just the eye opening moments that it's giving you because when I look at what's happening with D&I across the athletic landscape, I see what you're doing at the Cavs. It is well beyond where everybody else is that it is so evolved. And I want to talk a little bit about just your how you did that. How did you do that? Talk about some of the Cavs programming. How did you bring that inclusion to the Cleveland Community? And then how did that ripple throughout the NBA and beyond?
So Becky, I am so appreciative of the platform that I have. Again, I didn't know what I didn't know all I did was live life in a way that my values and those things that were important to me, carried me to the point that I'm at right now. So here's what all that means. In 2019, I became the DEA and VP of D&I for the Cleveland Cavaliers. And as you stated, it's multiple properties that we have. And at that particular time, and again, think about the timeframe. It's prior to the pandemic. Prior to George Floyd. The Cavs had been looking for a leader for D&I for well over a year or so. And I've been talking to them for about nine months. And when it when I decided that yes, it was time for me to come back home. It was because I had there's great opportunity that our CEO, Nick bar lodge had laid out a plan for me. And that plan was, Kevin, what we want is something that is innovative, we want something that is cutting edge, we want to be kind of best in class and how we do this work. And you have my full commitment that we will move forward in the ways in which I had shared with him some things that we could do. So when I got this position, if you think about all the five major sports, and I know you're a sports junkie, as well, so if you think about the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NFL, NHL, and then soccer. There's 147 sports teams. I was the fourth C suite level D and I leader in all professional sports, the fourth and 2019. Yes, in 2019, where I have been involved in this work for the last 30 years. So to imagine sports now, being such a laggard was shocking to me. All four were in the NBA. Now, there were D&I leaders at the league level, but not at the team level. So I will tell you this quick story. I came from bonsucro mercyhealth, which is in Cincinnati. And when I had announced that I was going to leave one of my colleagues, and he was he was he was younger, probably in his early 30s, late 20s. And he was a white male, and I'm referencing I'm preferencing this for those level of dimensions for a reason. He says So Kevin, you go into the NBA, and you go into the Cavs. And he starts laughing. He's like, it's not like they need any D&I help. You're gonna have a real cushy job, aren't you? He is literally laughing. So Becky, you know what he was saying? He's looking at who's on the court. And he sees predominantly African American players. The league is 85% African American players, there's probably seven or 8% that are from from outside the US in the other R Us white male players. So I asked him, Why do you say that? He's like, because there's, I mean, your job is gonna be easy. You have diversity? Well, I just laughed with him and just chuckled and kind of walked away. Because that is kind of the thought of professional sports, that look on the field. Look on the court. You see all sorts of people of color, and women and men and you have people from the LGBTQ community. It's like, Wow, that's amazing. But you know, if you look behind the scenes, if you pull back that curtain, our our front office's Look, just like all other corporations that have been dealing with this for years. So being the fourth out of 147 sports teams, I felt a tremendous honor, but also felt this responsibility that I have a platform in which our chairman Dan Gilbert, who has been just as just a stalwart, committed person to fairness and equality in humanity. That's what runs through our organization. So I had our ownership group, our Chairman, our CEO, saying, yes, we want to do something that is significant. We want to do what we've always done. One of our mantras is to win championships. And that's championships off on the court and off the court. So with that, the very first thing that I did was a complete assessment of where we were, and where we wanted to be able to camps and always been good community citizens. But we hadn't put all this together any kind of strategic plan, we have an align with the community, internally, externally, our partners, our vendors. So now what we have done, and this is again, based on my p&g training, I put together a strategic business plan, that is the same thing that I would have done if I was rolling out a new, a new and improved brand of Charmin or Whitecloud, or pampers or loves or GIF, peanut butter or what have you. Because I had to remove the barrier that this was some touchy feely, HR kind of, you know, let's sing Kumbaya, yawn hold hands. That's not what this is business. This is a business strategy. And the thing that I had to do when I'm not going back to my experiences of being in different cultures, I had to answer the question, and the acronym is with them. Wi I fm and that is what's in it for me. And I had to be able to show everybody what's in it for me. And the what's in it for me was what was the common denominator as to why everybody came to work for the Cleveland Cavaliers. What's the common denominator as to why our fans came to watch our team? What's the common denominator for our partners or vendors? And then what's the common denominator the common denominator for the rest of the sports teams that are included in this Well, and the common denominator was humanity. And that was April 2019. The pandemic shuts down the world in February 2020. In May of 2020, George Floyd has murdered the world now his change from a social justice standpoint. And I was having this conversation this morning with a colleague of mine. And we were talking about what really has changed. Why was there a tipping point with George Floyd. And the reason it was, the reason that was a tipping point, is because black people had been killed, murdered. By law enforcement for years, this was not anything that was new. Actually, when George Floyd was murdered, I was kind of numb to it. Because it it happened often just months before, but he was a difference. Because of the pandemic, everybody was watching what happened at home, they saw it over and over and over again, they couldn't escape it. So they had an exponential engagement with what that is like when a black male was killed, innocently killed, and the touch the hearts of the world. So what you saw at that point, was everybody committing to sending money in HBCUs, it was like historically, black colleges were just discovered they had been here 450 years. So chief diversity officers were put in positions all across the country, all across different industries. As a reaction to that, well, we were already in place, we already had what we wanted. And we just built on that. And when I talked about humanity, we actually then changed our Well, we we adopted a mantra, which was for the love for the land. And it's we have a famous wall in Cleveland that used to it's called the Lebron wall. And it was Nikes wall with Lebron when he was here. That wall is the most iconic spot in Cleveland. And it is now a logo that shows the interlocking of hands of different colors, different races, different age groups over a basketball with a championship ring. And it's for the love for the land for the love for humanity, but for the love for Cleveland, and the land is what we call Cleveland. Well, at that point, it also allowed me to connect with the browns in the Guardians, of which they didn't have a D&I leader. And we brought them on board with some of the things that we were doing. Our coaches got together, our GMs got together, our ownership group supported this. And we have the three team Alliance, which is we have now said, we are more powerful as one around social justice issues. And we are three individual teams. So we have come together in the name of humanity, to leverage our three sports brands, and now to leverage all three leagues to send the message out around humanity, of which we're focused on civic engagement and voting, education, and also law enforcement, as we're bridging a gap between black and brown communities and youth in law enforcement officers. So with that, now, the entire city has rallied around us, the region has rallied around us and the country because they're trying to replicate what we're doing in many markets from LA to New York. That was all born out of the fact that we had a solid platform from a calf standpoint that others saw that they could build on top of.
Kevin, I am so proud of you. And I want to I want to break this down for everybody who's in philanthropy and nonprofit that Kevin just hit the three biggies that I that we talked about so much on this podcast, and he adopted them through the lens of D&I and inclusion work one, you looked at this like a business, you looked at this process, like a business, which changed the landscape of everything about the way people approached it to, you didn't just play in your own sandbox, you brought others into the sandbox, we talk about this all the time, because if you are someone who's working to eradicate homelessness, if you figure out a solution, share that with all the other homeless organizations, because it's going to help us scale to the systemic root so much more quickly. And then you completely nailed the two most important components of getting social movements going, which is you unite humanity and you unite community. I love how you call your community, the land, because that I feel it and in my mind, I'm seeing Cleveland, and I'm looking at your programming right now and what you've been able to achieve and it is massively generous. You showed up generously with inclusion. And this is what I want to make sure that people under Stand. And we've heard this many times on the podcast. I remember when Jonathan Greenblatt came on their their organization puts their flag in the ground for anti semitism. But they've expanded that and said, No, no, we're here to create equity in all people. And they helped found part of the Asian American foundation. I remember the Trevor Project coming on, and they gave everything they could to the Black Lives Matter movement. This is what we have to rise up and do friends, if you are truly in it. For the heart work for the hard work, we have got to link arms. And that is the way we do it by combining humanity combining community, I am so proud of you, Kevin Clayton?
Yeah, Becky, um, thank you for that. I will tell you that the humanity part was was key. And we we started this, obviously, because of the attack on the black community with George Floyd. But if you think about the last two years since then, there's also been attacks, and you just talked about the anti Defamation League. And there's been a recent attack in the in the Jewish community. All right. We are the only sports team. And I'm not saying this to brag, but I'm just saying this because to give some context around what courage looks like, and it's not my courage is the organization's courage. We want only sports teams to have a Jewish erg. And it's called juice. And the ERG is for our listeners, employee resource groups. And it's not necessarily connected to the religion of Judaism, but it's connected to the culture of Jews in Cleveland. And as I told you, it's a significant market. That's where I grew up, I went to school with Jewish kids. So we have actually had the Alliance Jewish Committee come in. And they spoke to our organization about what what this what was going on. And this is going back to all the Kanye comments and Kyrie comments, to a point where I then took that group to all of the NBA teams, and we had a meeting for them, five of the teams had the group speak to their teams, we also had the group speak to the browns and the Guardians. And again, to your point, if there's a way to stop to stop homelessness, who am I to to hold on to that. So that's one of the things we have dealt we have stood for women's reproductive rights we have stood for, for the we have stood and supported our Latinx. Brothers and sisters. It doesn't matter who what group is under attack. And one of the things that you reference that I just want to add a little bit of light to, and you were talking about the the the fact that there was a commitment from the Jewish community back to the Black Lives Matter, community and post George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement when it really accelerated. A lot of my white counterparts. Were saying, Well, Kevin, I just don't get it. And it was the whole all lives matter conversation. Becky, I believe all lives matter. I just want to be really clear. And the analogy that I use is that of a house on fire. So if we have a two story home in our neighborhood, and let's just say you and I live in the same neighborhood, and we are walking down the street as two neighbors, and we look up and we see that flames are coming out of one of the rooms on the second floor. You and I are gonna call 911. Right. We're going to call EMS Fire Department. Here's what's happening. And as you know, they asked for descriptions. What do you see? Well, there's a fire, there's flames on the second floor. Fire Department shows up. And they see the flames coming from the second floor. Becky, I don't want I'm sure the family that owns that home. And you don't want them to start using the water in their all of their tools and assets in the kitchen or in the basement that isn't on fire. We want them to go straight up to the second floor. Put out the fire because what happens if they don't put out the fire in the second floor and they're downstairs or outside the entire house is going to burn. So we look at this like a house of humanity. And right now there's a fire on the second floor in the in that particular room. All of us survive. If we put out that fire. None of us survive if we don't. So do all rooms matter in the house? Absolutely. But the one that I'm most concerned about is the one that is on fire because humanity is going to burn to the ground. If we continue to disconnect certain groups and identify them through all the negative biases that we do. And then we start fighting over the resource says, let's, let's uplift all communities, but particularly let's invest in those communities that are in the desperate need so that they can rise all of humanity, not just one.
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Insert standing ovation. I mean, Kevin, you are a storyteller. And I feel like you just gave everyone that is listening to this podcast, a very simple story and analogy of how we can make this distinct difference. Because you've talked about this you believe that your God given gift is this ability to disarm white men, and to help them understand the other side in such a human way. Can you talk about that a little bit and what that's been able to do to help you get your work moving faster and into the spaces.
Sure. And it's another story. I told you, I started my career in PNG, I was a sales and marketing. I will forever remember this day, our CEO, John pepper, and John pepper is a renowned CEO. He's hailed as being one of the best in American business. He was our CEO with a particular this time, he calls a nationwide leadership meeting. And I was in Cincinnati. So I go to this meeting with a colleague of mine, and his name is Mike. And Mike is a white male. So we're walking to the meeting. And we're not knowing what the meeting is about. It's about strategy. So when we get to the meeting, John talks about the fact that our business was potentially under attack. And there were a number of Japanese and Taiwanese and Chinese companies were buying US companies. And to Keita banana, which was right across the street from our world headquarters, and Cincinnati, was bought by one of these Asian companies. And being a forward thinking company, it was like, Okay, how do we defend our business. And there were a couple of choices one had to do with total quality management, which was a theory that Dr. Deming actually took to the automobile industry, and you saw quality for foreign companies, foreign cars, exceeding us and the US in the US automobile industry began to trend downward. The other had to do with diversity. And if you think about those particular companies that are those cultures that are reference at this time, and now we're talking about the 80s, early 90s, there wasn't diversity, there wasn't cultural diversity, racial diversity, gender diversity with these Asian companies. So So John's thought was, let's leverage our cultural and gender diversity, to defend our business. And that is, let's bring the best and the brightest from all walks of life to our company. So Becky, I didn't know anything. And this was diversity. There was no E there was no I there was no beauty. There wasn't all this additive to it. It was just plain diversity. And one of the principles of how you leverage diversity. So Mike, and I walk out of this meeting, and I am on cloud nine. Literally, I am like, wow, that makes sense. And here's what I heard more. people that look like me, I'm going to now be in the company, I'm going to get a fair share of having a seat at tables, and maybe I haven't had a seat at the table before. And from a marketing standpoint, we're going to market to more people that look more like America. So all of these things I quickly grasp. So we're walking out and I'm looking at my friend, Mike. And Mike is not enthused at all. And I'm like, so Okay, Mike, what do you think about this? And he just his body language was like, you know, okay, sorry. And so my bias kicked in Becky, I'm like, okay, he's bias. He's racist. I've been working with this dude for two years. And I never knew that. So instead of me kicking into my bias, I asked him the question, what is it about this, it doesn't excite you. He said, Kevin, I don't understand what this how this is gonna help me. He said, If this is diversity, for the sake of diversity, I don't have time for this is this is this just to say that we have two of these for those six of those five of those, okay, that's great. But if you can tell me how we can leverage diversity, for me to sell more Charmin to sell more bounty to sell more Pampers, I'm all in. That's when the wisdom came up from it. I had honestly, I had a white male teach me about diversity from the standpoint of, if I can connect this back to what motivates him, if I can connect this back to what is now inclusive of everybody instead of focused on me, or you, as a woman, or others that have that have been oppressed for historically, historical times, then I have them on board. So the conversation that I've had with white males is that I speak their language. First, I speak a language where they can understand that this is not about taking from them. At the end of the day, if you have a a pie, and the pie is a 12 inch pie, and it has excluded 40% of the population. If you bring 40% of the population into that pie, it's going to be a much bigger pie. You may get a smaller slice, but it's a smaller slice of a much bigger pie. So it's how do we grow the pie, and at the same time show that everybody wins from this standpoint. That is the language in which I learned, I will always thank Mike for teaching me that. Because he was the one that framed for me, I can't let this be about emotions. I can't let this because emotions aren't sustainable. The reason why we see right now is in almost every industry, all these commitments that were made for dollars and, and increasing representation of people of color in the C suite, post George Floyd, we are now seeing a downward term where organizations, companies, states colleges are saying, well, how do we embed this in ESG? Which is environmental, social? And how do we in governance, and how do we make this kind of not so in your face like it was post your when George Floyd got murdered? How do we take this back and put it into HR? And that's where I'm seeing the trend. And I'm seeing the trend, because it's just been a hamster wheel. It's been round and round and round, because nobody got off the hamster wheel to say, Okay, why do we keep going round and round? What if we just take the wheel and flatten it out and do something different? So that's where we are. That's how I've been successful, is having white males see themselves in the D and I equation, because when they see themselves in the in the picture, and I looked at, I think about a mirror. If if I look in this mirror of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and I pass this mirror to every one of my 500 or so teammates, and if they can't see themselves in the mirror is the D&I plan and strategy. If they can't see themselves, I have a floor plan. So to your point, what I've been able to do is connect the dots in answering the question of, here's how everybody benefits. Here's how everybody grows. And this is a leadership competency. This isn't an HR component. It's a leadership competency.
And I would even go so far, because we've talked about this before, and I think you've helped to enlighten me because you've, you've said there was just this explosion of people who want to do good in the D&I space post George Floyd, but you are the one telling me and I agree with you that it's really set back the industry because it wasn't just for profit. It was nonprofit, it was sports teams, you know, even parts of government. They're approaching it out of guilt saying, Oh, we just have to do something to your point. We got to check that box and Put it in HR, you know, but it's really about going beyond the representation in I don't even think this is a pillar should be a pillar of business. It's got to be culture. It's got to be, it's going to take everybody to buy into this. And if you are someone like I am, you know, who is a white woman of privilege, you got a role to play in this because I think about, you know, the Nick bar lodges, you know, to your point, Who's the youngest team present in the NBA, thank you for the ally ship and the agency to say this is going to be a priority. We need more Nick's raising their hands saying, What can I do to share? And I think how you've reframed this conversation, Kevin is so brilliant, because it's just asking questions. And it's letting the civil, you know, conversation come back and forth. And I'll tell you, it's hard for me as an Enneagram 2, Empath to like keep the feelings at bay. But we do need to have a logical discussion, because we have to move this movement forward, because it does have to be cultural, and it does have to include all of us. Talk to me about how we're going to do this, Kevin, talk to me about how we're gonna build inclusive communities that value humans that building inclusive workspaces. You've said to me, and it resonated, social impact doesn't have strings attached. Dee Dee, and I should neither it should not be transactional. So talk to us about how we're going to build these Inclusive Communities moving forward.
So So Becky, I've been focused so much from a US centric standpoint of the challenges that we have here. And what what struck me was going back to watching all of the different protests all across the globe when George Floyd was killed. And what struck me about that was wild places that typically you wouldn't think had issues of racism, or police brutality or our discourse with brown and black communities and law enforcement, they were standing up in marching all over the world. So I had an opportunity recently, to actually spend time in South Africa. And the time that I spent in South Africa, completely changed my whole vision of this work. And let me share with you just briefly what happened. I was honored to be asked to speak at this leadership conference in South Africa, it was a Sports Leadership Conference. And I had not been to Africa before I've traveled lots of places, but not back to the motherland. So I was in South Africa for 12 days. And just taking in the beauty of this of this country, and understanding the homage. And in my office here, there's a picture of Nelson Mandela right in front of me and understanding that I have to pay homage to this, this, this gift of a human being that, you know, stood and fought for the ending of apartheid and bringing people together. And he use sports, as you know, us rugby, to bring us Yes, yes, yes, one of my favorite movies. So great. And, and so I just gotta tell you, I was intimidated. I was intimidated, because I'm now speaking in front of 300 350 sports leaders from literally across the globe, about a US centric strategy that this group had asked me to come speak on. So I'm speaking and come to find out, no one in the audience was from the US. So now I'm like, wow, I don't have an ally in the in the in the audience. And I'm talking about US centric problems. And I'm honestly embarrassed that I'm speaking about something. And it was three blocks away where Nelson Mandela's office was and, and I'm feeling all of this. So I had an hour. And I tried to engage people during the conference. There were my speaking engagements and people were engaged, but I felt like okay, they're just being nice till the end, and when it came for questions and answers, and there was a gentleman who stood up and said, I would like to ask that you and the coordinators of this particular conference, commit to all of us, that you will give us tools to accomplish what you just said, Kevin? And what I just said was around defining diversity, inclusion and equity, and showing how you go from zero to success. But keep in mind, Becky again, I'm like, what, what are you? I mean, Nelson Mandela was, this is his country. Why I said, I'll give you tools but helped me understand what is it that you want tools to do? He said, Kevin, we don't even use the terms equity. inclusion. And diversity for us is not really how you defined it. So I commit, I said, Look, if I learn more about what you're saying, I'll commit to providing you tools and I work with the organizers. The conference ends, there's a lot of maybe 12 or 15 people that were younger, older, white female, male, that were coming to speak to me. And I'm thinking, Okay, well, Kevin, tell us that they're gonna ask me about what tell us about Lebron James. And when he played for the Cavs and all that, no, Becky, the first woman, she was probably 3530 38, some, some some number like that. And she's like, what, she's a white female. She says, Kevin, I'm a coach. And you have given me for the very first time words, to match the feelings that I have had about what's wrong with our sports systems here in South Africa. Becky, tears came to my eyes.
Tears are in mine. Tell me what that felt like, like, did that take your breath away?
Well, it took my breath away. And right now, it's affected me because her passion was, I had been feeling this way about the disconnect of our sports teams, and even how we've been addressed sports, because it's unfair. And it's painful, because I have to administer certain policies to our players. And it's not fair. Some like So tell me more about what that is. Let me cut to the chase, because every single person after her said, pretty much the same thing. And here's what has happened back when apartheid was the thing. black athletes couldn't play, they couldn't they couldn't get to the field. So now what has happened is that the government and the Sports Commission there have mandated a quota system that was akin to affirmative action back in the 60s, all the way down to playing time as mandated from the lowest ages of players all the way to the country teams. So imagine if I'm an African American, and I kind of like rugby, or like soccer or cricket, whatever the sport is, that I'm not really good. I have to play if I'm on the team. So what more other people were telling me about the mental health issues that this was causing players that were worried that we're actually playing, and not really producing. It caused the divide between the black players and the white players who were on the team, but also those who couldn't be on the team because they already had their quota of players.
Our systems we built to equalize are actually dividing us and creating,
And operating out of a 1960s model that we initiated here in this country that evolved into multiculturalism into diversity into inclusion and into equity. So what I saw was hope. I saw the hope in these people's face around, we heard something that we knew what we were feeling. But until you spoke to us, we didn't know what those words were. So your question was, how do we move forward from here, I frame this under the context of this is a global opportunity for us to leverage this simple concept of D&I, to bring all of humanity together. So imagine going to South Africa, and helping them to work through this with some of the principles and tools that we talked about, that goes to another country. Imagine being here at home, where politics have completely divided our country. But I honestly believe that if both sides saw that being fair, and equal means that both sides can win. And we get back to the true competencies of political leadership. And that is having a plan having a vision to take a whole country forward instead of a half a country, that these are principles that can be used. And I've had conversations here in Ohio, which is one of the most conservative states, with our governor, with our Attorney General with folks here. And it all came back to having sports as a platform, one to get their ear, but to also be able to put ideas in front of them on how we can bring a state together. So this is a movement for me, Becky, and I cannot let George Floyd's death, go without me doing everything that I can do. And the one the one image that I will forever be reminded of. It was during one of the ceremonies going home ceremonies with George Floyd, they were interviewing his daughter, who might have been seven or eight years old. And she said, My daddy is going to change the world. That's what brings in my year. I have four daughters. And I'm thinking, this is a movement, it's not if I, if I don't do anything, it'll be a moment, it will just be another moment where black man got killed. But if we leverage this for movement, and I'm talking about a global movement, where we can help people understand that we can actually come together as as humans, for good. So that's how we get there, we band together, we don't we, we leverage all of our resources in one direction. If you think about a rowboat, if you were in the front, and I'm in the back, and both of us have have oars, if we don't row in the same direction, we will go in a circle. And I'm just saying, let's roll in the same direction.
You are 100% have my support, I am in your movement, do gooders out there, we need you in this movement. And it's not just you, yourself, it's gonna take you reaching your handout and bringing other people to the table who are there. And I just keep thinking, you have created this language of love for us, Kevin. And, to me, I gotta use a sports analogy. Like, to me, this is the ultimate assist. I mean, you are like the John Stockton of the world, I think he is the most assists still in the NBA. This is something that we have to take and learn and pass it on to somebody else. That is the only way that it's gonna work. Ally ship speaking up. Being an advocate, even our children can be a part of this movement. And I'm here to tell you, you cast that first stone in my friend, we will follow you.
So Becky, on that note, two things I'd like to finish at least a thought with, one of which is as you referenced children in Ohio laws have been passed where you cannot even talk about diversity in classrooms.
Same in Oklahoma, you will be fired as a teacher for talking about critical race theory,
Right in the critical race, So so the point of that is that it's because we're using the wrong language. What's being taught is divisive. So that's one. The second thing is you mentioned allied ship, I have a I have a my own definition about what ally ship looks like. I got all of these phone calls from all of my white friends all across the country, people who I didn't know that, like Kevin, what can we do? Oh, my God, what can we do? It's, it's, we have to do something. And this was post George Floyd. And I had to find out what ship like, Li Li ship is this. If you are willing to be my ally, then imagine this. I use the concept of this rowboat. I'm in a boat, and I'm rolling by myself. My boat has holes in it. And this is a sea of humanity that I'm in. I'm in this river of humanity. And I'm rowing. But because of the struggles that myself as a black man, but my races have has had. There's holes in this boat. And at the same time I'm rowing, Becky, I'm bailing water with one hand. But I'm never going to survive, because eventually I'm going to drop. So historically, what allies have done is they're on the riverbanks. And there, Kevin? Yes. Yes, you can make it, you can make it. You know what, hey, yeah, so cheering me on, Becky, I want allies to get off the riverbank and get in the boat with me. Bail water with me. So that you can understand and actually feel what I'm dealing with. So that's what ally ship to me is get in the boat with me. And let's bail water together. Don't stand on the riverbank.
Challenge accepted. And I think it goes back to something you said at the very beginning, which is what are your values? What do you stand for? And that might be a starting place. If you're beginning to get into this inclusion work. I'll tell you I'm a student of this. I don't think I'll ever be done trying to learn enough about it. Thank you, Kevin for making this more than a check the box D and I conversation because the work we have to do before us is so profound, and it's going to require a mountain of do gooders to do it. So Kevin, we end all of our conversations with a one good thing. And I wonder what you would offer up to our community today. This could be a quote a mantra. What would you leave with everybody with your one good thing?
Well, the one thing that will leave our listeners with is that diversity inclusion equity is really at the end of the day. How do we come together? From a humanity standpoint? How do we respect and leverage what everybody brings to the table as humans is that this is not about one group. This is about everybody.
That's it. And we've seen the power of humanity and community there. And that is what it is when it's stripped down to its most basic form. Kevin, people are gonna want to know how to connect with you give us where people can connect with you. Where are you on socials? And give us all the details?
Yeah, so probably the easiest way. Twitter handle was Kevin L. Clayton. We're at Kevin. Oh, Clayton. I'm on LinkedIn. And I'm okay. If you directly email me at Kevin at KL clayton.com.
Thank you so much for this conversation. Thank you for vulnerably sharing your heart and thank you for your love and your humility. Most of all, I am so proud to know you. I can tell you right now that I love you. I love your family. And we are rooting for you in all things. You are truly the best of the good humans.
Becky, I am honored and thank you for this great honor as well.
Thank you my friend.
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