Lipscomb University celebrates the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Lacey Klotz |
Lipscomb University celebrated MLK Day 2016 with a combination of service and a gathering of diverse community leaders.
In honor of the legacy and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the Lipscomb University Department of Communication and Journalism and College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, in partnership with the Council on Workforce Innovation and National Organization for Workforce Diversity, presented its annual MLK Diversity Breakfast on Friday, Jan. 15.
Area professionals gathered in Lipscomb’s Ezell Center to gain a better understanding of the significance of incorporating diversity and inclusion into their organizations, as well as to celebrate the cultural progression of the Nashville community.
Rose Jackson Flenorl, manager of social responsibility for FedEx Citizenship, was the keynote speaker at the breakfast and was introduced by Jacky Akabari, founding board member of the National Organization for Workforce Diversity and employer services director for the Nashville Career Advancement Center, who later moderated a Q&A with breakfast attendants.
For the past 14 years, Flenorl has helped implement community outreach strategies in the areas of disaster relief, safety, environment, education and diversity for FedEx.
During the breakfast, Flenorl explained that more than 40 percent of FedEx’s workforce is diverse and 28 percent of its management team are minorities, and therefore it is a priority that FedEx works to promote inclusion throughout its organization.
“To quote my chairman Fred Smith, ‘a critical aspect of any successful diversity program is the leadership. Our company leaders continue to focus on making sure diversity remains a part of the FedEx DNA,’” said Flenorl.
“If I didn’t learn to understand and appreciate difference, if I didn’t know how to manage and be successful in that environment, economically, my company would be employing the wrong person.”
Flenorl leads a team of professionals committed to representing the heart of the corporation by executing strategic programs and developing new strategies for social impact.
One way they create social impact is through their investment in the next generation.
FedEx is committed to investing in the next generation by providing employment pathways and has launched several initiatives and scholarship opportunities to help make education available to students of more varied backgrounds.
Flenorl explained that as a society we must ask: “How do we inspire this next generation to understand the opportunities that are there for them, and how do we make them believe that it’s possible and give them the map for how to get there, because they can do it.”
Flenorl represents FedEx on the Conference Board Contributions Council and serves on the board of directors of the National Civil Rights Museum. She has also served on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center Board and the American Red Cross Corporate Advisory Council.
Flenorl believes that the work Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. started can be continued in our organizations, community circles, families and beyond.
“If we truly want to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., then we as a community, with organizations like the Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce, the Urban League, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and universities like Lipscomb, should feel obligated, as King said, to engage in service,” she said. “We all know the famous quote from him that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.”
Other breakfast participants included: Lipscomb’s President L. Randolph Lowry, along with Norma Bond Burgess, dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; Aerial Ellis, instructor and coordinator of the breakfast; and Alan Griggs, chair, of the Department of Communication and Journalism.
The breakfast also featured representatives from its community partners including: Javier Salano from the Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce; Ken Green from the Urban League of Middle Tennessee; and Dr. Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (Metro Nashville Chapter).
While on campus, Flenorl also spoke to Lipscomb students at a Lunch and Learn event, hosted by Lipscomb’s Office of Intercultural Development and the Career Development Center, as well as a MediaMasters event hosted by the Department of Communication and Journalism.
“We were glad to have Rose Jackson Flenorl, an accomplished professional and community leader, spend time talking with our students about the path to success in the industry and the various issues of diversity we face as a community,” Ellis explained. “Discussions about diversity allow our students to better identify bias and stereotypes, discover advocacy with an objective lens, and communicate across global cultures as future journalists and public relations practitioners.”
In addition to the MLK Diversity Breakfast, Lipscomb students, along with students from Belmont, Vanderbilt and Trevecca, gathered at Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee for the sixth annual MLK Day of Service on Saturday, Jan. 16. More than 200 students, along with Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, Representative Harold Love and Congressman Jim Cooper, worked to help alleviate hunger in Middle Tennessee and beyond by sorting donated food at five local food banks and also worked with veterans on a collaborative art project.