5 Things in 15 Minutes / disability pride month with Patti Flynn

This week on 5 Things in 15 Minutes, Bernadette was joined by Patti Flynn, who is Equality Institute’s Senior Consultant. The pair start off with a shoutout to Disability Pride Month, highlighted by Kellogg’s recent efforts to accommodate blind and visually impaired consumers.

On the note of things people sometimes take for granted, it is a good time to be Illinoisan! Illinois has mandated that Asian American history must be covered in schools. This is less than a decade, Patti mentions, after another requirement to include LGBTQIA+ history in the education system as well.

And representing progress in LGBTQIA+ acceptance, Lizzo (she/her/hers) modeled true allyship by making what Bernadette called an “off the cuff” correction of paparazzi who misgendered fellow celebrity Demi Lovato (they/them/theirs). Patti clarifies that authentically representing people who are not in front of you is one of the best moves you can make as an ally.

Meanwhile, putting their money where their mouth is, Best Buy has committed to spending $1.2 billion with diverse suppliers in less than four years. That’s not a number to sneeze at in such a short amount of time! The company stated it will include its marketing plan, where representation of different groups of consumers is expected to be focused on.

Another company opening their wallets to lessen the racial wealth gap is Nordstrom. They signed a 10 year commitment to The 15% Pledge, where black founders specifically are given 15% of shelf space. Nordstrom is the first retailer to make such a serious and long term commitment, leading the way for what will hopefully be a path towards minimizing the racial wealth gap experienced by these communities.

Something a little different: after going over the 5 Things, Bernadette also talks about dealing with unsolicited feedback. Watch on to find out more about the experience.