Media Room

Dr. Amy Kahn, director of diversity for University of the Rockies, presented “Diversity in contemporary American business” to an international audience on Thursday, June 16. Her presentation was part of the “Making Diversity Interventions Count in Organizational Performance and Service Delivery” conference at University of Bradford, U.K. 

Dr. Kahn’s presentation was based on her research, which consisted of in-depth interviews with 20 prominent American diversity practitioners. Analysis of the interviews found an important distinction between what practitioners called “diversity” and “diversity management.” 

Diversity was defined as teaching about differences, whereas 60 percent of those interviewed described diversity management as the impact that people have on an organization. And, 100 percent of participants associated diversity management with the term “system” as interconnections. 

“This was a momentous opportunity to exchange information with representatives from over 10 nations who came together to discuss how we can work better to make diversity count for our organizations,” said Dr. Kahn. “It is of vital importance to begin a dialogue about diversity in an international forum. In this way, we can leverage ideas that support performance and service delivery for our students who bring so many cultures and experiences to our classrooms.” 

Dr. Kahn has nearly 20 years of diversity management experience with clients from healthcare and government to Fortune 100 companies. Since joining University of the Rockies as its director of diversity, the organization has received the 2010 Excellence in Diversity award by the Profiles in Diversity Journal and the 2010 “Raising the Bar Award” from the Colorado Springs Diversity Forum. 

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