Today we’d like to introduce you to Cecilia Stanton Adams. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Cecilia Stanton Adams, CEO of Stanton Adams Consulting and the Diversity Institute, is a visionary leader with more than 15 years’ experience as a strategic diversity expert. As a native New Yorker with roots in Honduras, she grew up surrounded by diversity and was driven to make a career focused on bridging the gap across cultures. She pursued educational degrees in psychology, sociology and industrial psychology.
In 2010, Cecilia partnered with her wife Malissa Adams to launch Stanton Adams Consulting, a family owned and operated diversity, equity & inclusion consulting firm. Cecilia & Malissa met as teenagers at the, now well-known Hetrick-Martin Institute in New York City. Even then they were driven by a passion for bringing people together across differences.
After re-connecting 20 years later, they continued building on their earlier dream and founded Stanton Adams Consulting. with Cecilia’s experience in social science research and Malissa’s background in racial equity, the two set out to help organizations across the country identify and address diversity, equity and inclusion challenges. Side bar: they also got married!
On their journey, it became evident that, regardless of industry, size or geographic location, organizations were struggling with adapting to the changing demographics. Sometimes these challenges resulted in issues of race, gender, religion or generation but more commonly the issues surfaced as employees feeling disconnected from leadership. Conversely leaders were wanting to do what it takes to change the culture but weren’t sure of exactly how to do it.
Often, what employees and leaders wanted was the same, but the perceptions on how to get there were vastly different. The Stanton Adams team believed that cultural awareness was a first and critical step for these organizations to successfully build a culture of inclusion.
While requests continued to pour in for strategy development and training, the Stanton Adams duo were devising another strategy. One that could reach people where they were. That’s when they took yet another courageous step in piloting Diversity Institute workshops.
The first Diversity Institute workshop was offered in 2015 with a total of 6 participants. Never ones to be deterred, they continued refining their offerings and identifying a broad network of diversity trainers that could provide the expertise needed for this new venture. By their second year, workshops were growing in size and offerings expanded into the East Coast.
Confident in their initial vision, the Stanton Adams team took another BIG, BOLD step on September 4th, 2019 and officially launched The Diversity Institute. With an expanded team of diversity practitioners and trainers, the Diversity Institute continues to provide a brave space where leaders can increase their cultural awareness, deepen knowledge and practice skills in a supportive learning environment.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Both of my parents were born in Honduras, Central America. My mother came to the United States with my grandmother at the age of 5. A few years back I found the original ship’s registry on ancestry.com. I was surprised to learn that all she had with her was one suitcase. I often wonder what was in it. What few possessions did my grandmother have to start her new life in a brand new country? It is very humbling when I think of all the materialistic things I have grown accustomed to having at my ready disposal.
My father grew up in Honduras and he came to the United States at the age of 20. I love when he tells the story of his arrival. He shares that when he was younger he and his friends would talk all the time about the United States being paved with gold. They believed that America held the promise of abundant opportunity. The day he flew into America, he put on his best silk suit and his stylish leather sandals and he got off the plane in New York City in the middle of one of the worst December storms. As he stepped onto the tarmac he immediately learned that the streets were not paved with gold, they were piled with snow!
My parents didn’t meet until they were much older so they both had their separate lives before meeting. They had both been married with children, my mom had three kids and my father had six. By the time they met and married they became a blended family with nine children. Then, I come along!
Now, for a child that always believed she was meant for the spotlight, it didn’t help to be child number 10! I fought to stand out and I did, after all, I could hold on to the fact that I was the youngest …. That is until number 11 came along, my baby brother was born!
As you can imagine, I started out from an early age just trying to figure out where I fit-into this large family. I yearned to discover what made me different and unique. I struggled with the question of how I could stand out and where my place in this world was. That was my initial struggle but it continued when I started school.
My parents instilled a lot of pride in me when it came to my Latino heritage and yet at the same time, I longed to fit into the American culture that I was very much a part of. I struggled with whether to relate more to my Latino roots or embrace the American culture that I was being raised in. My friends would have slumber parties and go to the movies without adult chaperones but that just wasn’t the culture my parents were accustomed to. I found myself stuck between those two worlds trying to figure out who I was within those multiple identities.
I was born and raised in New York City where I experienced the extreme diversity in social economic classes. Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money but because people from all socioeconomic classes lived in close proximity, it was challenging to see others live with luxuries that I did not have access to. I remember watching the kids who went to the private school up the block from where I lived. They would go in and out of school with an array of sporting equipment that I’d never seen before and I wondered, how it was possible that their world was able to exist right here within my world. I wondered if there was a reason why I didn’t belong. Perhaps I didn’t deserve it. I struggled for a long time to discover the answer but luckily I finally learned my purpose in life. Now regardless of the challenges or setback I am driven by an unrelenting mission to foster equity and inclusion.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
In January 2020, a popular headline came out, it said: “Chief Diversity Officers: The hottest & toughest job in business.”
This was a clear sign that the industry of DEI is changing quickly, and DEI leaders are claiming their seats at the executive table. However, little attention is paid to the mentorship, coaching, and development of DEI talent.
These gifted leaders are expected to take full accountability for assessing, implementing, and sustaining change in organizations whose culture has been steeped in tradition for decades.
I know this experience first-hand. Almost 20 years ago, I accepted my first DEI role. While it was exciting, it was also very lonely and scary. It forced me to dig deep and find my true north to remain not only resilient but confident and innovative.
Throughout those early years, I made the discovery that DEI work was not a career, it was a calling. Since then, I’ve had the fortune of leading organizational transformations within educational institutions, non-profits, government agencies and corporate organizations.
Despite this success, I always yearned for a community of like-minded professionals who could be my sounding board, where I could learn and grow. I wanted a mentor, a strategic partner, and a coach, but that didn’t exist, so I designed the Art & Science of DEI because I wanted to share my knowledge and experience as a diversity practitioner, consultant, and coach.
Through this course, I aim to provide an anchor of healing, education, and inspiration in order to ignite potential and cultivate genius. Simply put, Diversity is an Art and a Science. I’ve learned to master this practice and now I get to teach it to others.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I learned that human beings are quite resilient. We can overcome far more than we give ourselves credit for. I was also reminded that life is not promised to anyone. I never want to forget how blessed I am to be alive!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.stantonadams.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cecilia.stanton
