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I usually like, personally, anything that has to do with historic preservation or my hometown of Augusta. But, bigger picture since it’s not just about me, I like the stories that open my eyes. That’s what I found when I talked to Liz Greason and Deb Breiting, of Maine Intercultural Communications Consulting, for a feature that ran in our Dec. 14 edition. It’s easy to think “diversity” means just hiring more diversely, but this story opened my eyes to the nuances of looking at it from the other angle what it means to truly embrace diversity. The article was spurred by another favorite, a report from the Maine Economic Policy Council, authored by James Myall, that I covered for our Daily Report on Nov. 13, about how systemic racism in Maine is a huge hit to the state’s economy. Both articles brought forward issues that are easy for a lot of us to ignore, even if we think we’re not. So, those were my one-two favorites this year. ....
Maine’s focus on diversity in hiring may have been energized by this year’s national reckoning on race, as a variety of businesses and organizations in the state pledged to make it a priority, but it began with something more prosaic. Historic unemployment among white workers the past several years meant jobs were going unfilled, and, so, attention turned to Maine’s people of color, whose unemployment numbers stubbornly remained in double digits. “Up until this crisis moment, I think there were good intentions, but people didn’t really know they didn’t know,” says Deb Breiting, cofounder of Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants. Employers’ attitude was often, “We want to hire people as long as they have the skills to fit into our company culture.” ....