VCU Commons Theater
907 Floyd Avenue
Matthew Freeman
Founder, Dialectix Consulting
Topic: Don’t be racist: How to save face, embrace diversity and expand your brands
It’s not uncommon for companies to find themselves in hot water over an ad that people find sexist or racially offensive. In order to overcome our bias and our own blind spots, we need to build teams and relationships across differences and ensure that we can have the tough conversations - so that you’re not known as the creative team that brought you that one racist ad.
Bio:
Matthew’s passion for racial equity and social justice has led him across the United States and overseas, helping people connect across difference and begin to address the challenges that divide them. Matthew has worked with members of Congress, the Federal Reserve system, as well as organizations of all sizes, from Fortune 500’s to small non-profits. With degrees in the sciences and in the humanities, Matthew appreciates the opportunities to bring that diverse educational background to bear on topics like unconscious bias- exploring what we know about how the brain functions and how that impacts our human interactions. He is the author of the book Overcoming Bias: Building Authentic Relationships Across Differences.