DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING
Gloria Johnson-Cusack: A Story of Resilience, Success, and Giving Back
By Stephanie Robert D
espite surviving breast cancer and experiencing a financially challenged childhood, Gloria
Johnson-Cusack considers herself incred- ibly blessed and is determined to make a difference. Her path to success has not been easy. Having grown up in the segregated neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., she understands firsthand the struggles faced by children from underprivileged backgrounds and the transformative power of even a little assistance. The hardships of Johnson-Cusack’s child-
hood related to family struggles at home and a middle school fraught with graffiti and violent fights were matched by love and wise guidance from those very same places. She received a scholarship to a prestigious prep school, the same one attended by former President Obama's children, and resolved to pursue a career in service that would help build bridges between people and communities she experienced as being separated in terms of location, economics, race and - often - mutual concern.
It’s All About Making a Difference More than forty years later, she is focused on using her experiences to make a positive impact. She believes that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, regardless of who they are or where they are from. Her story is all about resilience and unwavering dedication that has led to her success and now she is empowering leaders to improve the lives of others. “I’ve been a leader literally in every sector
of society - in higher education, business, lobbying, government, the nonprofit sector, philanthropy, - and I have the perspective of a change leader,” comments Johnson-Cu- sack. “Because in all of the work that I’ve
done, literally since I was in my 20s, I’ve been committed to a career of service and that means innovating and finding new ways to solve hard problems.” Currently, Ms. Johnson-Cusack teaches
graduate programs frequently at Columbia University and develops curriculum around change leadership and policy and advocacy. It is here that she takes a practitioner's view- point about everything and focuses on best practices, innovation and data analysis to identify trends and mindsets to solve some of the biggest problems facing this country and around the world. In addition to her teaching work, Ms.
Johnson-Cusack also operates a consult- ing firm focusing on change leadership, and providing strategic counsel, mostly to boards and executive teams of foundations and institutions that serve society and the higher good. Often, Ms. Johnson-Cusack works to coach leaders and executives about the value of implementing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) in their companies. She works with leaders to achieve their business objectives by co-cre- ating strategies, mitigating reputational risk, refining performance metrics, and com- municating internally and externally their growing value in the marketplace. “When people ask me ‘how long have I
been working specifically on diversity?’ I say for as long as I’ve been alive, because I woke up like this - as a woman of color who came from a working poor background,” commented Ms. Johnson-Cusack. “I'm also partially Native American and I have had to navigate the realities of unconscious bias while contributing as a team leader to accomplish many of the business and DEI imperatives that most leaders of all sectors know they must tackle sooner than later.”
32 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 “I’ve had to con-
sciously or uncon- sciously spend a lot of time analyzing the why behind un- conscious bias and also analyzing ways that we can find each other. Maybe because I’ve chosen a path that centers on service, I’m around people who already have an ethos, a value system that is about serving, but that is not always the case.” Her consulting work has focused on
Gloria Johnson-Cusack Author, Consultant
influencing the ways that leaders think about how they do their work. Much of her work has involved working with clients that she doesn’t name because the work can be sensitive. Some of the clients that have allowed her to mention them are clients like the Walmart Foundation, the Community Foundation for a Greater Richmond, that in 2021 donated $152 million in gifts and grants, and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). She has worked with mega evangelical churches, and for sev- eral years with the Council on Foundations, their boards, as well as their CEOs. Most recently, you can find her working with insti- tutes and academies that influence policy to help them understand how to engage more constructively with what she increasingly calls an intention of “authentically engag- ing communities that are diverse.” DEIB, according to Ms. Johnson-Cusack,
is all about change and change management and in the past few years, she has found that leaders are more willing to embrace change because they want to be on the right side of history. “They all want to be a part of the solution and define a better way, regard-
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
