Deborah Bibb’s personal journey to completing undergraduate studies at the Ohio State University prepared her for her role as a diversity liaison at Weatherhead School of Management. Bibb lived through examples of how behaviors and attitudes can either elevate or diminish a student’s campus and academic experience. She was inspired by her time at OSU and drew important conclusions, which she continues to incorporate into her role as a Weatherhead diversity liaison today.
“Inclusive excellence means a representation of all backgrounds to form rich solutions to today’s complex challenges of allowing people to be heard and represented,” Bibb said. “It’s about bringing all people together.”
Bibb highlighted the ways Weatherhead fosters an inclusive environment on campus and lists a number of ways people can support intellectual and cultural differences.
This includes the Reach Out MBA Fellowship, which develops LGBTQ+ businesses of tomorrow; the Northstar Initiative, which aims to create a campus community without barriers and silos among faculty, staff and students; and the Executive Leadership Development Experience, which is designed to grow the leadership capabilities of participants - especially among black professionals.
Weatherhead has also implemented cross-cultural communication sessions throughout the orientation process across full-time program offerings and launched the Forté Rising Star Program to encourage undergraduate women, regardless of their majors, to consider careers in business.
“I am really excited that we have examples of our diversity and inclusion efforts prioritized by our various teams,” Bibb said. “(It’s) a realization that this requires a commitment from all of us, not just one person’s responsibility.”
When asked about her focus for the 2024-25 academic year, Bibb said she plans to continue to promote an environment that supports a fair exchange of ideas and to help faculty, staff and students to engage in positive dialogue with one another.
“It’s important to give people the necessary training to understand different learning styles,” she said. “This can motivate people to take action and that’s when real change occurs.”