Adventures of An Intern – DEI Summit Kat

Introducing, Katherine and Nathan! We are so excited to be joined this summer by two Plano Independent School District students, Katherine Han (Plano West) and Nathan Gong (Plano East), as summer interns for the Plano Chamber. Their internships through the Plano Mayors Summer Internship Program have been generously sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and FedEx Office – thank you for your support! Please be sure to welcome Katherine and Nathan to the team when you see them this summer!

The Plano Chamber interns are thrilled to present their NEW blog series, Adventures of an Intern. Katherine and Nathan will be joining the Plano Chamber at our various events during their internship.  Follow along on their adventures as they recap our events from a fresh perspective.

Katherine shares with us her experience & takeaways from our inaugural 2022 DEI Summit.

I attended the DEI Summit and had the opportunity to listen to the amazing speakers: Byron Sanders, Erika Fadel, Beth Gerwe, Harry LaRosiliere, and Chris Reynolds. The event was hosted at Frito-Lay North America which was truly a gorgeous building. I learned a lot from the event, and I’m ecstatic to see everyone’s passion for the topic.

Byron Sander’s presentation especially resonated with me. He spoke about the education system as well as the significance of fostering creativity in kids. As a student, and furthermore, as an artist, I was fully drawn to his speech. As the world continues to modernize, more value must be placed on creativity in education. In the workforce, it is a large creative capacity that enables an employee to excel above the average. When I am asked whether I am more STEM-focused or humanities-focused in school, it is a very difficult question for me. I don’t excel at one or the other but rather especially enjoy art and physics. While this seems like an odd combination, from personal experience, I believe that STEM and humanities are intertwined as my flexible mindset in art actually assists my capabilities in physics. Whether it is through interactive learning or extracurricular artistic experiences, I believe there should be a larger place for creative learning in our nation’s schools.

When the speakers spoke about diversity, equity, and inclusion, I noticed that many mentioned a common idea. The key to building equity is not as straightforward as including diverse backgrounds in the workforce. Firstly, their perspectives must be represented at a high level. To truly create an inclusive community, there must be diverse representation in the decision-making group. Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge the differences in people’s backgrounds. The different experiences should be understood with an open mind, and their opinions should be valued. Another point is that everyone should be considered on equal footing. Harry LaRosiliere stated that employees shouldn’t be hired solely based on their ethnic background. Rather, a company should hire the best candidates from a diverse pool, and many of them will by nature be ethnically diverse.

The world is in need of change and these speakers and attendees will be at the forefront of it! I’m grateful for this opportunity to educate myself as well as acknowledge and eliminate my subconscious biases. Thank you to all the speakers and the Plano Chamber for the valuable experience!

Katherine Han