Dignity and Respect Drive Alumnus’ Desire for Corporate America to ‘See and Hear’ Everyone

<p>Upon graduation, the Pontiac, Michigan native applied for a position in the Secret Service. While waiting to hear back. He began a career in insurance, which gradually led him into human resources work. Without even realizing it, <a href="https://www.walgreensbootsalliance.com/about-us/leadership-team/carlos-cubia">Cubia</a> was beginning his work in diversity, equity, and inclusion before that work had a name.</p><p>“What I found along my journey through corporate America is that I was running into people who were just having a hard time being heard, moving through the process, and getting opportunities. I started on this journey to help people in corporate America to do better, to realize their dreams, and to be seen and to be heard. It wasn’t officially my job, but I was always advocating, speaking to supervisors, and challenging the status quo. Sometimes I got myself in trouble because at that time, it wasn't kosher to speak up. You were supposed to do what you were told.</p><p>“But that was never who I was. I was always respectfully challenging the status quo. Why were certain things the way they were? Why did so-and-so get passed over for an opportunity? And that eventually led to me leaving my sales and account management role and moving into a diversity, equity, and inclusion role.”</p><p>When defining diversity, equity and inclusion, Cubia says the key is to embrace our differences. He says there's value in embracing those differences. His twist on the golden rule is that we should treat others as they want to be treated, not necessarily how we want to be treated.</p><p>“When I think of diversity, I think of someone different than yourself. I know people sometimes equate it to black versus white. When I think of diversity, I look at all the dimensions of diversity. It's the things you're born with and then the things you acquire later in life, like your education and the knowledge and habits that you pick up along the way. </p><p>“We do measure some of the basic things around race, gender, se