The Adventures of the Austrian WDLS-EU Steering Committee In Washington DC

in the Metro Station heading to Capitol

On day 2 of our visit in Washington DC we visited Congressman Alcee Hasting at Capitol. Feel free to join us on this trip, get a glimpse of the historical and impressive Capitol through the lenses of my iphone!

DC Metro Station Dupont Circle, our starting point

my iphone your iphone, who has the best iphone?..

after visit of Congressman Hastings
with Alice Irvin (far left)
Director Press + Information
 Austrian Embassy DC

Claudia and Beatrice visiting Howard University,
the first Black University in DC

it feels good to be on this campus!

 Flowers of Howard University

Claudia takes a break, where?
Just guess where,
you can't miss it!

back to Capitol Visitors Center for a tour!

on the guarded tour and ignoring the guard!
no doubts, we are from Austria :-)

the amazing 1st King of Hawaii People

ladies' time in the Rotunda in the US Capitol

the impressive celling of the Dome
C. Brumidi's "The Apostheosis
of Washington, 1865

Petra obviously likes being in
the Rotunda of the Capitol

Edwin taking to A. Lincoln while Norbert eavesdrops!

Claudia in the company of the historic trio of women
members of US Congress of 1923:
Alice Robertson,  Mae Ella Nolan and Winnifred Mason Huck 

A very powerful moment!
Beatrice meets Dr. M. Luther King Sr. in Capitol!

Austrians in the old House of
Representative in US Congress

Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. in the Rotunda

A glimpse of Lady Liberty

So much information, too many impressions,
no wonder Norbert needs a break!

not just Norbert, the others too....

No waisting time, looking for the next target

Come back again if you want to know where our next target took us to

and do please feel free to post your comments.

Let the sun shine! 

Beatrice and Claudia in DC

Austrian WDLS-EU Steering Committee Delegation left Boston to Washington DC

WDLS-EU Delegation at the Fairmont Hotel in Boston

 After an amazing and very inspiring WDLS 2010 at the Harvard Medical School, the Austrian WDLS-EU Steering Committee Delegation left Boston to Washington DC on Thursday morning.

Austrian Deputy Ambassador welcoming
Austrian-American Diversity Think Tank Talks
in Washington DC

Upon arrival in Washington the Delegation was received and warmly welcomed by the Austrian Minister, Deputy Chief of Mission Andreas Riecken and Alice Irvin, Director of the Press and Information Service at the Austrian Embassy in Washington DC.

Over 15 US leading Diversity Think Tanks and executives based in DC and New York, including Sherry Snipes (AIA), Christian Baldia (Constellation SAS), Liz Mcgillivray (ORC), Tanya Odom (The future of work) joined the Austrian delegation at the Embassy for two sessions of highly reflective exchanges of experiences, good practices, challenges and trends of Diversity and Inclusion from a European/Austrian and American perspectives.

Think Tank reception
at the Austrian Embassy

Both groups acknowledged the importance of such exchanges and the enormous learning process it offers. Both groups agreed on the different approaches of D&I between Europe/Austria and the US. Meetings such as ours offer great learning opportunities for both contexts. It was therefore agreed that these round of exchanges need to be continued.

A rich exchange of experiences,
best and worst practices and
a discussion about current trends,
challenges and expectations

The Austrian Embassy in DC showed great interest in facilitating future Think Tank exchanges. Achaleke, initiator and leader of the delegation committed herself to making sure that this kind of exchanges become an integral part of WDLS-EU and that future Think Tank meetings reach out to many more communities.

Join me to celebrate the diversity of thoughts and of differences!

It is about me,

It is about you,

It is all about us!

Don’t let it pass you by!

Diversity Think Tank group photo, Austrian Embassy 

Today, Thursday morning the delegation members will meeting Congressman Hastings in Capitol for further exchanges. Congressman Hastings represents his native state of Florida by serving as Congressman for District 23, which includes parts of Broward, Palm Beach, Hendry, Martin, and St. Lucie Counties. Among Congress' most respected voices in international affairs, Congressman Hastings is the Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.  Commonly referred to as the Helsinki Commission, this independent U.S. government agency was created in 1976 to monitor and encourage compliance with the landmark human rights and democracy-building treaty signed in Finland the previous year.In 2007, Congressman Hastings became the first African-American to chair the Commission and continues his work in the areas of human rights, economic development and parliamentary diplomacy.

Thereafter Achaleke is very much looking forward to taking part in talks at the Howard University DC, the first ever Black University in DC.

Log in tomorrow for further updates of today’s events as they unfold!

Feel free to send me your comments!

Beatrice Achaleke
Claudia Blaas

WDLS-EU Delegation headed by:
Beatrice and Claudia 

An impressive WDL Summit at Harvard Medical School, Boston 2010 comes to an end

A great summit, with lots of eye-opening moments,  sources of inspiration, thought provoking moments
great speakers, unique networking opportunities, and great diversity of thoughts.

Much too tired tonight  for a write-up. as such just a few images from the day:

WDLS Strategic partner for EU addressing WDLS 2010 attendees

Members of the Austrian Delegation( Pauser, Schäffer Gregorits

Bildunterschrift hinzufügen

Achaleke, Blass, Pauser, Schäffer, Gregorits

the phenomenal Carlos Domingues

slide massages from Carlos

changes predicted by Carlos

Achaleke announcing WDLS-EU 2010 at Boston Symphony Hall

WDLS-EU Delegation: Bichler, Böhm, Blaas mit WDLS Founder Douglas Freeman

finishing a job well done, wrapping up a great conference: Bichler, Achaleke, Freeman and Blaas


As from tomorrow the WDLS-EU delegation takes off from Boston to Washington DC.
Watch out for our updates from DC!!

Yours very diversity driven, Achaleke

News from WDLS Boston 2010

Some food for thoughts from high ranking panellists to ensure  engagement, productivity and innovation in a modern working environment.

• Find out what is going on in your working environment/company
• Have a diversity vision
• Be able to connect with the world
• Benchmark where you and your organization are, find out where you are going to and where we want to be
• Know what you expect from leaders and colleagues and see to it that you are on the right path, and do this on a regular basis
• Adopt a generation-wise approach by finding out how people change in your company over the years
• Find out how a good leader should look like

How inclusive is your working environment? Here are some guarding questions

• What are the critical norms a global company? How should it look at?
• How are you and your organization dealing with cultural norms? 
• How inclusive is the thinking about cultural diversity in a culturally inclusive environment?
• What tools do we offer for customer support and how does this transform into visible benefits?
• How do we treat our customers in a globalised marketplace and in different environments? 
• And with different backgrounds and cultures?

some thoughtful perceptions of diversity!

Diversity is .....

• like finding an unexpected profit, like the money you can find on the sidewalk. 
• It is a way to drive revenue and profit through identifying untapped opportunities
• having the right to be different!
• finding ways to drive innovation and profitability
• customising engagement for different employees, find the right tools, being technically competitive, creating good working environments and management development strategies.
• the making of and consideration of differences
• breaking through the glass ceiling not embracing or caressing it
• having the right to be different (Norbert Pauser, member of the Austrian delegation)

Claudia Blass WDLS-EU Assistant

WDLS-Harvard Medical University Boston 2010: "Next Generation Diversity and Inclusion"

Andrés Tapia's Inclusion Paradox, the world is upside-down

The world is upside down:

To be young is to be experienced

To be a minority is to be a majority

To be a woman is to be a rising opportunity

To be disable is to be differently able

To be an economic superpower is to be a declining power

To be a developing nation is to be on the Ascent

Who are the “locals”? and what does this imply?

WDLS Boston 2010: Take-aways from conference day 1

EMC Welcome  & Opening remarks + keynote Andrés Tapia

Foto Andrés Tapia, Opening Keynote 

• We could kill a company if we miss innovation and if we turn off our minds from competiveness and change. 

• Today more than ever economies need workforces where people are feeling engaged and can give their best.

• Embracing diversity means creating environments where people feel comfortable and can be innovative.

Overview of WDLS Boston 2010

Black to the future: from Martin Luther King to Obama

• Celebrating new knowledge, new ways of communicating through embracing new social networks

• Diversity is opening up the horizon for people from different backgrounds to come in. It means creating the right environments for innovation knowing that innovation is critical for the success of a company

• Talking about diversity as innovation to the business case is connecting people to the rest of the world

Cross section of attendees 2010

• Diversity is how to improve our organisation by opening up our minds, ears, and eyes to people from and with different backgrounds

• Diversity is for everyone and it means taking full advantage of the diverse and unique backgrounds of people.

Panel: Global people Management: Engagement, Productivity
and Innovation with Norbert Pauser from the Austrian Delegation

The first Conference day was not only very productive, inspiring and thought provoking but also very intensive and tiring, combined with intensive jet-leg.

Come back tomorrow for the  next feedback!