Anti-Racist Leadership available now!
CULTURE DESIGN LAB
Transforming Company Cultures
to Be More Inclusive
We work with CEOs, executive teams, CHROs, and boards to:
utilize frameworks and tools to evaluate and re-imagine company cultures
re-think organizational design
transform culture with a diversity, equity & inclusion lens
We believe DE&I needs to be addressed at a system level to:
move beyond tactics
build new DNA into all systems by design
OUR MISSION
To guide CEOs and leaders to create diverse, equitable and inclusive
work environments for all
We are explicitly anti-racist, pro-black, pro-LGBT and feminist. We believe that Black Lives have always mattered, LGBT rights are human rights, people of all abilities deserve respect and access and that
people of all genders have the right to sovereignty over their bodies and identities.
Our mission is to dismantle the systemic and structural racism which has been built into the fabric and
foundation of organizations and guide CEOs and leaders on a journey to become truly
diverse, equitable and create inclusive work environments for all.
PLAYBOOK ON HOW TO BUILD A DIVERSE COMPANY BY DESIGN
CEO AS CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER
Cultural transformation starts with the CEO
In order for diversity and inclusion initiatives to be transmitted throughout the entire company culture, the CEO must own the DEI operations. All too often, DEI agendas end up stalled within HR leadership, which does not hold the power to fully realize top-down transformation. DEI initiatives must either be led by CEOs, or the top diversity leader must be imbued with significant authority and agency.
TRANSFORM TEAM COLLABORATION
Co-create company culture
through action learning
In order to ensure people of all backgrounds get a fair shake at career-making projects, assemble Action Learning Teams to address problem-solving collaboratively. Using Action Learning and Design Thinking frameworks allows employees to co-create the culture that is most conducive to an innovative, fair, and inclusive workplace.
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT AS CHANGE LEVERS
Empower your management through action learning and create system-wide changes
Identify and train the managers that reach the largest number of employees. Those in middle management positions have the opportunity to transform the entire culture of a company. While lofty goals can get stalled when there is a disconnect between executives and middle management. Empowering a key group of company change levers can not only change the working experience of those they oversee but also creates opportunities for those employees to distinguish themselves as leaders.
DEBIAS HR SYSTEMS
Because goals, performance and pay change behavior
Hiring and promotions are two of the most important places to consider when making a diversity and inclusion transformation. If your company has a “pipeline problem,” reexamine how you do your hiring. Have you performed an audit of your hiring, promotions, and review practices to ensure they are just and equitable? Are your employees receiving equal pay for comparable work, regardless of gender, race, sexuality, and other protected classes? Debiasing HR systems is an ongoing process, rather than a one-and-done training to check off a list.
CULTURE DESIGN LAB SERVICES
CEO COACHING
Design a "For All" Culture
We provide CEO coaching with a focus on problem identification, developing a strategic plan to activate and drive the change into the executive team and a CEO Culture Design Communication Plan.
EXECUTIVE TEAM ALIGNMENT
Operationalize Strategy and Culture
We help build a strategic roadmap with your executive leadership drawing on various tools to create system-wide transformation at your leadership and management level.
Action Learning
"For All" Leadership
Skills for Engagement
Change Management
Leaders as Teachers
CULTURE FIRST BOARD DESIGN
Build Culture in the Board Room
We work with boards on auditing company culture, support boards on ESG related topics and assist with board composition with a diversity, equity and inclusion lens.
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT
Start the Journey of Culture Transformation
Create a personalized discussion for your executives or company town hall with James D. White to address the topics of DE&I, transforming culture and creating a great place to work for all.
THE TEAM
JAMES D. WHITE
Co-Founder and Chairman
James D. White is a transformational leader with more than 30 years of experience as an operating executive in the Consumer Products, Retail, and Restaurant industries. He is the former Chairman, President and CEO of Jamba Juice, where he led the successful turnaround and transformation of the company from a made-to-order smoothie shop to a global, healthy active lifestyle brand.
James has had operational experience at Jamba Juice, Gillette, Safeway Stores, Nestlé-Purina PetCare, and Coca Cola. And he has been a board director for over 20 years on numerous private and public boards including Panera Bread, Simply Good Foods, and Medallia.
Throughout his entire career, James has demonstrated his commitment to diversity and inclusion and is the Co-Founder and Chair of the Director’s Academy, a national not-for-profit with a mission to identify, develop and advance the next generation of diverse corporate board members and board leaders. He previously served on the non-profit boards of the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center, The Organic Center and the Network of Executive Women.
RHONDA WHITE
CEO
Rhonda White is a 30-year marketer and CMO, a board advisor and director, business executive and champion of DE&I in consumer products, technology, financial and cybersecurity industries.
Rhonda has C-level experience working with Fortune 500 and privately held companies including HP, Symantec, McAfee, Qualcomm, Porter Novelli (An Omnicom company,) PeopleSoft, Centrify and MobileIron.
Rhonda has advised CEOs, created and executed C-level internal and external communication platforms, led and scaled global GTM growth strategies, deployed digital transformations for B2B and B2C companies and executed M&A.
Throughout her career Rhonda has been guided by the disciplines of a “for all leader” using her platform in marketing to build inclusive cultures and brands, recruit diverse teams and provide C-level sponsorship to employee resource groups.
KRISTA WHITE
CMO
Krista White is a writer, actor, and passionate champion of social justice. Since graduating from Columbia University, Krista has worked in marketing, public relations, and writing for the performing arts. In addition to her DEI work with Culture Design Labs, Krista has consulted with individuals and companies on their stategies for racial justice. Krista is also the founder of a Kiki For The Future™, a platform that connects LGBTQIA+ people with sexual health resources.
