Vernā Myers

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Vernā Myers
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)diversity consultant , author, speaker, lawyer, corporate executive
Years active1992 - present

Vernā Myers (/vərˈneɪ/)[1] is an American diversity consultant ,[2] author, speaker, lawyer, and corporate executive in her role as the Vice President of Inclusion Strategy at Netflix.[3][4] Myers gave a TED talk in 2014 called "How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them."

Early life and education[edit]

Myers was raised in Baltimore, Maryland.[5][6] She later moved to New York City to attend Barnard College of Columbia University's undergraduate program receiving a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude in Political Science.[7] Upon graduation, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts to attend Harvard Law School, receiving her Juris Doctor degree in 1985.[8]

Career[edit]

In 1992, Myers was appointed the first executive director of the Boston Law Firm Group (now the Boston Lawyers Group), a consortium of firms and corporate legal departments.[9] She also served as deputy chief of staff for the Attorney General of Massachusetts.[10] Vernā practiced corporate and real estate law in Boston at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP[11] and Fitch, Wiley, Richlin & Tourse, LLP.[12]

In 2014, Myers spoke on the subject of "unconscious bias" in her TED talk, "How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them," which she gave at a TEDx event in Boston on November 15.[13][14] She has also given talks on unconscious bias to organizations such as Cleveland Metropolitan Bar, NASA, and the Massachusetts Women's Conference.[15]

Myers has been interviewed by television news networks such as WCVB News,[16] MPR News,[17] and CNN.[18] Myers  also founded the OPUS Conference, a conference centered on race and ethnicity at large law firms and corporations.[19] She also authored two books, Moving Diversity Forward: How to Go From Well-Meaning to Well-Doing, and What If I Say the Wrong Thing?: 25 Habits for Culturally Effective People.[20]

In 2018, Vernā filled the inaugural role as VP, Inclusion Strategy at Netflix[21][22] She has developed the overall culture at Netflix, including inclusion frameworks for casting and production crew hiring on programs such as Bridgerton.[23]

In 2021, Myers and Arianna Huffington joined to provide training courses on LinkedIn Learning about diversity.[24]

Her quote "Diversity is being invited to the Party, Inclusion is being asked to dance" has been widely used by various organizations and in the press, such as by OMD, SHRM, and Academy of Eating Disorders.[25][26]

Select speaking engagements[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Myers, Vernā (2011). Moving diversity forward : how to go from well-meaning to well-doing. Chicago, Ill.: ABA Center for Racial & Ethnic Diversity. ISBN 978-1-61438-006-1. OCLC 741103722.
  • Myers, Vernā (2013). What if I say the wrong thing? : 25 habits for culturally effective people. Chicago, Illinois: American Bar Association. ISBN 978-1-61438-971-2. OCLC 850909552.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Introduction to this course". Fair and Effective Interviewing for Diversity and Inclusion. LinkedIn. November 19, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  2. ^ Petri, Alexandra E. (2017-07-07). "When Potential Mentors Are Mostly White and Male". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  3. ^ "Diversity in the Workplace: Building Inclusive Company Culture with Vernā Myers". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  4. ^ "Netflix Hires 'Inclusion Strategy' Lead Verna Myers". 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  5. ^ "Vernā Myers: Bringing Inclusion and Equity to Netflix – SoulVision Magazine". Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  6. ^ "Big Ideas with Vernā Myers". American Libraries Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  7. ^ "Vernā Myers - Speaker". Texas Conference for Women. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  8. ^ "Celebrating 65 Years of Alumnae" (PDF). Harvard Law School. 2018-09-14.
  9. ^ "Black Excellence: Verna Myers '82BC". Columbia University Athletics. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  10. ^ "Inviting new people to make stories. How this VP is pushing Netflix to diversify". Los Angeles Times. 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  11. ^ "Flex Success™ Leadership Institute -Spotlight on Verna Myers". Diversity and Flexibility Alliance. 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  12. ^ "Summer/Fall 2014 | NEPDEC". www.nepdec.org. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  13. ^ Miller, Kelsey. "The Uncomfortable Truth About Race". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  14. ^ "VERNA MYERS is today's TED talk – TEDxBoston". tedxboston.com. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  15. ^ Janet H. Cho, The Plain Dealer (2016-05-25). "Diversity is being invited to the party and asked to dance". cleveland. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  16. ^ "CityLine: June 28, 2020: Verna Myers, VP of Inclusion Strategy". WCVB. 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  17. ^ "'What If I Say the Wrong Thing?': How to talk about race". MPR News. 2016-01-05.
  18. ^ "CNN.com - Transcripts". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  19. ^ "Vernā Myers - Speaker". Texas Conference for Women. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  20. ^ "Netflix Hires 'Inclusion Strategy' Lead Verna Myers". 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  21. ^ "Diversity in the Workplace: Building Inclusive Company Culture with Vernā Myers". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  22. ^ "Diversity execs from Twitter, Netflix, Salesforce talk strategy". Business Inder. 2020-03-02. Archived from the original on 2020-03-02. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  23. ^ "'I'd love to see more crew who're black and brown,' says Bridgerton's Charithra Chandran". EasternEye. 2022-03-21. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  24. ^ Liu, Jennifer. "LinkedIn Learning's most popular class of 2021 is about unconscious bias". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  25. ^ "Who's Dancing at the Party: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within AED". www.aedweb.org. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  26. ^ "Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance". OMD. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  27. ^ "Big Ideas with Vernā Myers". American Libraries Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  28. ^ "8 Biggest Takeaways From Variety's Changemakers Summit". Variety. 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
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