The Electives team is always excited to collaborate with organizations committed to creating spaces for leaders to learn about diversity, equity and inclusion. We are excited to spotlight Alex Moore, Senior Director and Head of Talent at Credera, who shares her takeaways from planning a DE&I leadership series. Enjoy our conversation with Alex below!

Q: Can you share with me how you got to where you are in your career?

Alex: I like to say that I grew up in talent acquisition. I started my career in recruiting and took on more leadership throughout various opportunities within talent acquisition. It was something that was a great match for me when it came to my skills and interests. When I joined Credera, Credera’s Chief Executive Officer and I realized that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) mattered. Back in 2017, there wasn’t a corporate focus on DE&I but it was important to him and me so he asked me to help get our efforts started. I took it as an invitation to the table because he knew that I cared about this - that I cared a lot about the people and their experience when they joined Credera on top of my passions for talent acquisition. So it was a natural fit for me; it was a learning curve and a huge growth opportunity for me. 

My current role at Credera is Senior Director, Head of Talent. I oversee talent acquisition and talent development. I specifically don't oversee DE&I and we appointed our first Chief Diversity Officer last year. I work really closely with her in my function which I’m proud to know that I kicked off the corporate function and saw it grow into fruition.

Q: Can you tell me a bit more about Credera?

Alex: Credera is a boutique consulting firm; we are headquartered in Dallas and have about 1,000 people globally. We have offices in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Chicago, New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Atlanta. We acquired a firm in the UK in 2020 so we have three UK offices as well.

Q: What does Credera think about diversity, equity and inclusion today?

Alex: DE&I is fundamental to Credera’s culture. We know that we will do our best work if we are bringing different perspectives to the table as a consulting firm. It’s proven that diverse teams drive more innovative solutions; it’s good for the business at the end of the day and it’s what’s best for our people.

Q: What were the goals for the DE&I leadership series? Why start with leaders? What was important to you as you planned it?

Alex: We knew at Credera that we wanted to be thoughtful about how we pour into our leaders and support them. 2020 was a lot with the Black Lives Matter movement and we were inviting people in to talk about what was going on in the world. However, some of our tenured leaders weren’t really comfortable with talking about race in the workplace. So we knew that we ourselves weren’t experts to educate our employees about conversations around DEI topics. Then, we met with the Electives team and shared with them our goals and our need to find external experts. We worked with them to identify teachers and content that would be effective and meet our goals and needs.

Q: Going into the series, how did you select the electives to start with?

Alex: We first researched examples on what not to do when it comes to leadership. We also worked with our Chief HR Officer, Chief Executive Officer, and our Chief Diversity Officer and had conversations with our leaders about what they actually wanted to learn. Then based on their input, we worked with the Electives team to decide on topics that would be relevant for Credera’s leadership team. We ended up choosing classes on Implicit Bias, the History of Stonewall, Gender & Gender Identity, Women in Leadership, Navigating Difficult Conversations, and the History of Race in America.

Q: Were they any surprises during the series?

Alex: We didn’t go in with any expectations that the sessions would be the lightbulb moments because it typically depends on the individual person receiving the message. But throughout the feedback survey from Electives, we realized that the lightbulb moments happened, which was so surprising to see. 

In fact, nearly 85% of our survey respondents preferred live learning together as a team where they can ask the teacher questions.

Q: What was your favorite memory from the DE&I series?

Alex: It was so fun to see how engaged the leaders were throughout the series. I appreciated the teachers used different strategies, such as the Zoom chat feature, to ensure engagement especially during a virtual leadership series. The teachers did such a great job of keeping up the energy, being vulnerable, and having fun all at the same time.

Q: What would you recommend to a company thinking about a DEI series?

Alex: If a company is thinking about organizing a DE&I series, I would tell them to lead with your why. Think about what your end goal is. Understand what your employees want to learn and get out of the experience. Think about what you truly want to accomplish and then plan based around those goals.

Diversity, equity and inclusion work isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to be willing to open employees’ minds up and not be afraid to take on the challenge.

Q: What have been some of Credera’s most successful initiatives when it comes to DE&I?

Alex: Well, our DE&I leadership series was definitely one of our most successful initiatives. We also have held workshops on inclusion in the workplace and hosted roundtable sessions with trained facilitators to discuss various topics such as understanding inclusion and exclusion. Finally, we have done inclusive leadership training as well as inclusive leadership auditing.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish in your role this year?

Alex: I really want to make sure that as Credera grows, we are intentional about increasing representation at the firm. In 2021, we really focused on equity and inclusion, and we want to continue to improve representation within middle and senior leadership so we can continue to drive innovative solutions. I also hope to provide more opportunities to develop our people holistically around diversity, equity and inclusion from a talent perspective.

Q: What is a dream topic that you would love to learn in 2022?

Alex: I’ve been reading a lot about energy and time management. I would love to take a class on wellness and energy especially after living in the pandemic these past few years. I want to apply that into my daily life.

The Electives team is always excited to collaborate with organizations committed to creating spaces for leaders to learn about diversity, equity and inclusion. We are excited to spotlight Alex Moore, Senior Director and Head of Talent at Credera, who shares her takeaways from planning a DE&I leadership series. Enjoy our conversation with Alex below!

Q: Can you share with me how you got to where you are in your career?
Alex: I like to say that I grew up in talent acquisition. I started my career in recruiting and took on more leadership throughout various opportunities within talent acquisition. It was something that was a great match for me when it came to my skills and interests. When I joined Credera, Credera’s Chief Executive Officer and I realized that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) mattered. Back in 2017, there wasn’t a corporate focus on DE&I but it was important to him and me so he asked me to help get our efforts started. I took it as an invitation to the table because he knew that I cared about this - that I cared a lot about the people and their experience when they joined Credera on top of my passions for talent acquisition. So it was a natural fit for me; it was a learning curve and a huge growth opportunity for me. 

My current role at Credera is Senior Director, Head of Talent. I oversee talent acquisition and talent development. I specifically don't oversee DE&I and we appointed our first Chief Diversity Officer last year. I work really closely with her in my function which I’m proud to know that I kicked off the corporate function and saw it grow into fruition.

Q: Can you tell me a bit more about Credera?
Alex: Credera is a boutique consulting firm; we are headquartered in Dallas and have about 1,000 people globally. We have offices in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Chicago, New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Atlanta. We acquired a firm in the UK in 2020 so we have three UK offices as well.

Q: What does Credera think about diversity, equity and inclusion today?
Alex: DE&I is fundamental to Credera’s culture. We know that we will do our best work if we are bringing different perspectives to the table as a consulting firm. It’s proven that diverse teams drive more innovative solutions; it’s good for the business at the end of the day and it’s what’s best for our people.

Q: What were the goals for the DE&I leadership series? Why start with leaders? What was important to you as you planned it?
Alex: We knew at Credera that we wanted to be thoughtful about how we pour into our leaders and support them. 2020 was a lot with the Black Lives Matter movement and we were inviting people in to talk about what was going on in the world. However, some of our tenured leaders weren’t really comfortable with talking about race in the workplace. So we knew that we ourselves weren’t experts to educate our employees about conversations around DEI topics. Then, we met with the Electives team and shared with them our goals and our need to find external experts. We worked with them to identify teachers and content that would be effective and meet our goals and needs.

Q: Going into the series, how did you select the electives to start with?
Alex: We first researched examples on what not to do when it comes to leadership. We also worked with our Chief HR Officer, Chief Executive Officer, and our Chief Diversity Officer and had conversations with our leaders about what they actually wanted to learn. Then based on their input, we worked with the Electives team to decide on topics that would be relevant for Credera’s leadership team. We ended up choosing classes on Implicit Bias, the History of Stonewall, Gender & Gender Identity, Women in Leadership, Navigating Difficult Conversations, and the History of Race in America.

Q: Were they any surprises during the series?
Alex: We didn’t go in with any expectations that the sessions would be the lightbulb moments because it typically depends on the individual person receiving the message. But throughout the feedback survey from Electives, we realized that the lightbulb moments happened, which was so surprising to see. 

In fact, nearly 85% of our survey respondents preferred live learning together as a team where they can ask the teacher questions.

Q: What was your favorite memory from the DE&I series?
Alex: It was so fun to see how engaged the leaders were throughout the series. I appreciated the teachers used different strategies, such as the Zoom chat feature, to ensure engagement especially during a virtual leadership series. The teachers did such a great job of keeping up the energy, being vulnerable, and having fun all at the same time.

Q: What would you recommend to a company thinking about a DEI series?
Alex: If a company is thinking about organizing a DE&I series, I would tell them to lead with your why. Think about what your end goal is. Understand what your employees want to learn and get out of the experience. Think about what you truly want to accomplish and then plan based around those goals.
Diversity, equity and inclusion work isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to be willing to open employees’ minds up and not be afraid to take on the challenge.

Q: What have been some of Credera’s most successful initiatives when it comes to DE&I?
Alex: Well, our DE&I leadership series was definitely one of our most successful initiatives. We also have held workshops on inclusion in the workplace and hosted roundtable sessions with trained facilitators to discuss various topics such as understanding inclusion and exclusion. Finally, we have done inclusive leadership training as well as inclusive leadership auditing.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish in your role this year?
Alex: I really want to make sure that as Credera grows, we are intentional about increasing representation at the firm. In 2021, we really focused on equity and inclusion, and we want to continue to improve representation within middle and senior leadership so we can continue to drive innovative solutions. I also hope to provide more opportunities to develop our people holistically around diversity, equity and inclusion from a talent perspective.

Q: What is a dream topic that you would love to learn in 2022?
Alex: I’ve been reading a lot about energy and time management. I would love to take a class on wellness and energy especially after living in the pandemic these past few years. I want to apply that into my daily life.

BROWSE ONE OF OUR DE&I ELECTIVES

Alex Moore, People Ops Leader, shares takeaways from organizing a DE&I Leadership Series at Credera 

Alex Moore Shares Takeaways from DE&I Leadership Series at Credera

Fri Feb 04 2022

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