Impact Makers Podcast With Jennifer Mcclure

Joe Gerstandt isn’t just a straight white dad with tons of tattoos. He’s also an expert on diversity and inclusion who has trained leaders at Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, the government, and more. He also speaks on how each of us can become conscious champions for diversity and inclusion in our work and in our lives. Jennifer and Joe talk about his journey from small-town America to where he is today, and what he teaches that changes so many people. Joe grew up on a farm in a small town in a class of 26 kids. From there he went into the Marine Corps for four years, a transformational experience in terms of diversity. Then Joe went from sales to working in a non-profit, and finally into corporate life before becoming the thought leader he is today. But when Joe talks about how he got from there to here, his guiding principle was that he was a person who made mistakes and LEARNED from them. As a young adult, Joe didn’t believe things like racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination really existed.