SNHU Agents of Change Podcast · SNHU Social Sciences

Season 3 Episode 13 DEI Spotlight feat. Jada Hebra

·25 min·1 clip

Hebra says diversity is "not a choice" and "it's who we are, it's who we've always been."

1. SNHU’s Agents of Change Podcast focuses on Black History Month 2024, diversity, inclusion, and student success at Southern New Hampshire University. 2. Dr. Hector Garcia hosts the episode, Jada Hebra serves as SNHU’s Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, and Nasilia Chambers interviews as a graduate student in psychology and Psychology Club president. 3. The episode asks what diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging mean for SNHU and for student success. 4. Hebra says she was SNHU’s first Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer and was hired in 2016. 5. She identifies as a Black American cisgender heterosexual woman and says her pronouns are she and her. 6. Hebra says she is the mother of three children and has been married for 31 years. 7. Hebra says her husband is her “polar opposite,” and she links that difference to her approach to DEI. 8. She says her father, now 92, grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, under Jim Crow segregation and was laughed out of the University of Alabama lobby. 9. Hebra says her work before SNHU included private boarding education, where she supported Black, Brown, and financial-aid students. 10. She says those students were like “immigrants to a new land” because of the new language, dress, and customs. 11. Hebra says she makes decisions by pulling in people who are not like her and people who may disagree with her. 12. She says younger people and people outside New England give her better insight into work, fairness, and leadership. 13. Hebra says diversity and inclusion improve organizational success because they signal welcome, improve brand, and lead to better decisions. 14. She says that diversity drives innovation, creativity, and a learning culture with a “beginner’s mind.” 15. Hebra cites McKinsey, Deloitte, and other research showing that diverse businesses outperform less diverse businesses by 35%. 16. She says cognitive friction from different viewpoints improves problem-solving and innovation. 17. Hebra calls Black History Month “the best party of the year” and says it is a time to celebrate one another and remember ancestors. 18. She says anti-DEI legislation and anti-DEI movements will not erase diversity because “it’s who we are.” 19. The conversation is conversational and interviewer-led, with Dr. Garcia and Nasilia Chambers asking direct questions and Hebra answering in personal, policy-focused terms. 20. People interested in SNHU, DEI leadership, and Black History Month will get the most from it, while listeners looking for a short entertainment segment may skip it.

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