My name was on the table. Printed onto a tent of crisp white card stock, the expensive kind, with black lettering. Item Seven on the agenda: Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, Middle East and Africa. I had prepared for three weeks. Data from logistics hubs across multiple continents. So many case studies.The folder was cold in my hands. When Item Seven came up, the chairman looked past me to the man on my left. “Tom, you want to walk us through this?”1
Tom had not attended a single working session on the strategy. But he was older, pale, male, and his voice carried the authority of someone who had never been interrupted. I cleared my throat. “I can take that.”1
The chairman blinked, as if noticing me for the first time. “Oh. Right. Go ahead then.” I presented for twelve minutes and nobody asked a single question