The first corporate diversity and inclusion (D&I) programs began in the late 1970s 

and early 1980s. More than 40 years later, most organizations continue to treat 

D&I as an initiative separate from our core human resources, talent, and learning

 & development functions. Now, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and killing of 

George Floyd, discussions of diversity and inclusion have moved from the fringe

 into mainstream conversations—not just in business but on the front page of

 newspapers and at the top of social media feeds across the globe.

Whether your organization has been working on these issues for decades or is

 confronting them for the first time, the moment to take action is now and the 

opportunity is clear—make diversity and inclusion a central tenet of how we do 

business. And the people at the heart of this effort are L&D professionals.

At Harvard Business Publishing, we recognize like many of you that our 

organization is not yet a place where every employee experiences the same deep

 sense of belonging, nor do they feel they have the ability to bring their whole

 selves to work. Until that is the case, there is work to be done. And as we do 

our own work internally, we are excited to be on this journey with you and share 

our insights into how we can all weave diversity and inclusion into the fabric of 

our businesses, starting with how we train and develop our employees—

especially our leaders.

Our new microsite features diversity and inclusion resources, including regular 

blogs in three areas we see as critical to making meaningful change:

Creating Inclusive Talent Strategies 
If we are going to create truly inclusive organizations, all of our talent-related 

efforts must be aligned and designed to recruit, hire, develop, retain, and promote

 diverse employees. Understanding how to integrate our D&I efforts into every 

aspect of our talent strategy is required.

As a starting point, ask yourself:

As L&D professionals, understanding the D&I landscape inside and outside 

of our organizations and creating talent strategies to support diversity and 

inclusion is not enough. If we do not actually design, develop, and deliver

 programs that create a supportive learning environment for everyone, we will 

come up short of our goals.

At Harvard Business Publishing we are committed to delivering inclusive and

 safe learning experiences for our clients and our employees, and we will 

continue sharing the tools we develop so you can do the same for your 

employees. Together, we can create a future of work that celebrates diversity, 

welcomes differences, and includes everyone.

Enabling L&D to Support D&I EffortsL&D is at the frontline of the diversity and inclusion movement. 

Whether we are being asked to train employees on D&I or develop programs 

to support the growth of historically underserved employee populations, 

our organizations and our leaders need us to take action. To be successful, 

L&D professionals need to develop a baseline understanding of the key

 D&I issues and how they live in our organizations.

As a starting point, ask yourself:

What is the biggest issue your organization is looking to solve in regards to diversity and inclusion?