In celebration of World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development by Katelyn Heath
As told to the co-lab
Held every year on May 21, the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development celebrates not only the richness of the world’s cultures, but also the essential role of intercultural dialogue for achieving peace and sustainable development. – unesco.org
Katelyn Heath is a co-lab member and an international communications professional whose work has taken her to France, Japan, and now NYC. With experience across retail, e-commerce, and B2B, she is adept at developing communications strategies that leverage influencer marketing, social media, content marketing, events and thought leadership, and aim to recruit, retain, engage, and inspire.
As I’m writing these words, I’m nestled at a communal table in an intimate café in “The World’s Borough”. Should I walk a few blocks to the West, I would stumble upon Bangladesh Street. Another two streets over and I’m transported to India, storefronts displaying their wares of colorful saris, dhoti khurtas, and window upon window of intricate gold jewelry that is practically begging for a special occasion and a chance to be worn.
In the evening, when I take my daughter to the community park, I am pleasantly surprised to hear the familiar melodic inflection of a mother speaking French to her young daughter. “Careful, careful”, she coos as the energetic two-year old tests the limits of her independence and revels at the diversity of surfaces and elevations calling her to explore. This is a snapshot of my day to day and some of the simple quotidian pleasures that make me feel so lucky to call New York City Home.
It’s in this beehive of a city that I became a mother and am now raising a French-American daughter. As transformative as recently stepping into the role of mom has been, I feel a heightened sense of responsibility to expose my daughter to her dual heritage and the world at large so that she grows up with an innate curiosity towards things she doesn’t know or yet understand, and an appreciation of all that’s yet to discover. I could wax poetic about the differences between French and American childrearing styles, à la Bringing up Bébé, but thankfully Pamela Druckerman has already done that work in my place. Instead, in anticipation of World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, I’ll share two things I hope my daughter learns as she grows and eventually, one day (but not too soon please!), sets out to chart a career of her own, abroad, or in this melting pot that is NYC.
1. The deception of perception. Understand how people see themselves, and how they see you.
After graduating college, I was determined to work abroad and thanks to a decent amount of grit and determination, I finally landed my first job in Paris. I was excited - excited that someone had finally taken a chance on me, excited to prove myself, and excited to climb the corporate ladder. One thing I gravely underestimated though was the nuanced relationships and the additional level of trust that you must build up as an outsider. It was as if the American heads-on spirit was subconsciously baked into my psyche, but my direct reports were not having it. After years of actively listening and being the first to raise a hand, jumping at the chance for extra credit and volunteer opportunities, being conditioned to lean into ambition and leadership, I was coming to head with a different pace of life that nothing but time, attention, and respect could crack. I very quickly learned that a copy and paste version of my American self wasn’t viable. Partially because I was engaging in a second language, and partially because I felt the need to adopt a more discreet persona. This wasn’t my home turf and it was my duty to adapt and conform, not the other way around.
When doing business internationally, I think this is an important concept to suss out. How do people see themselves, and how you reflect that back in your interactions? The identity-forming influences are decidedly different amongst native inhabitants, immigrants, and those who fall into the first-generation or binational categories. It’s messy, slow work, but if you want to work effectively and engage in fruitful business collaborations, it's necessary. As my daughter grows, I hope she knows it’s ok that sometimes she’ll feel more American, sometimes more French, sometimes a harmonious mix of the two.
It’s been 22 years since UNESCO’s Declaration on Cultural Diversity, in which the authoring member states recognized that cultural pluralism gives policy expression to the reality of cultural diversity”. Cultural pluralism, they asserted in Article 2, “is conducive to cultural exchange and to the flourishing of creative capacities that sustain public life.” Brands, in their best iteration, are a creative expression of a set of values, product differentiators, and a promise to consumers. Looking at it through this lens, we see that DEIB initiatives in creative industries are profoundly more than purpose-washing, they’re the spark that ignites creative expressions that simply wouldn’t exist without multiple perspectives and voices at the table.
2. In a fractured society, citizen diplomacy and the private sector are important complements to state politics
Within the foreign service, the United States has 194 Ambassadors abroad. In comparison, the State Department estimates that over 8.7 million Americans have emigrated abroad. What’s more, today, you’d be hard pressed to find a business that doesn’t have some sort of international ties, whether that be in the form of a global supplier or a dispersed workforce and international team members or contractors. When viewed in this way, it puts into perspective our responsibilities as individuals and companies to promote and amplify cross-cultural dialogue and understanding.
In my own personal experience, if I had closed myself off from embracing my Chinese, Lithuanian, Japanese, and Russian colleagues, based on their national origin or the ideals I assumed their nationalities would naturally subscribe to, I would have missed out on some incredibly valuable relationships and the opportunity to get to know them in all their complexities and multifaceted identities. Article 11 of the Declaration on Cultural Diversity aptly remarks that “market forces alone cannot guarantee the preservation and promotion of cultural diversity, which is the key to sustainable human development.”
We have to constantly advocate for cultural diversity, or risk slipping into a flavorless monocultural.
When my daughter enters the workforce one day, I hope she does so with a healthy view of what place work occupies in our lives, how we can take an active role of embracing cultural diversity in business and society, and a balanced view of success and self-preservation, drawn from her French and American heritage. In the future, when she celebrates the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, I hope that she will reflect and build upon the progress we’re making today.
