Author: Seniye Groff

Morocco and the Love of Food

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I spent the last two weeks in Morocco and was lucky to see a fair amount of this wonderful country. I flew into Casablanca and then went to Rabat, Chefchaouen, Fez, the Sahara, the Atlas Mountains, Ouarzazate, Essaouria and finally Marrakech. Each region was unique but what was consistent was how great and generous the food was, no matter the location. Each Riad served breakfast which typically included Msemen flatbread, baguettes sliced, boiled eggs, jam, butter and sometimes a white cheese or yogurt.

I really enjoyed the diverse beauty in the multiple areas I visited and even though this is a Muslim country, I never felt ill at ease. The people were genuinely kind, helpful and accommodating. What I loved the most was the cooking, especially tajines. I am vegetarian and so ate either tajine or couscous in pretty much every city I visited. One morning my eggs arrived in the tajine and that is when I realized this tajine has a lot of flexibility and even though I almost never buy souvenirs I did bring home a tajine so that I can experiment at home. I plan on, of course, making vegetables in the tajine but I think I am going to also cook pears and apples in it this fall.

I felt cooking in Morocco felt like an act of love and there is a bit of showmanship in cooking with the tajine. The flair when they raise the cone-like lid to do the “big reveal” was one of my favorites things on this recent trip! Some other food “winners” was pureed broccoli, cumin on everything (but especially on boiled eggs), the amazing Msemen flatbread and coffee with cardamom and cinnamon. One version of the Msemen had so many layers similar to filo dough. I asked what the secret was since it really set itself apart from my other daily breakfasts of Msemen and was told that it was rolled and folded many times. Wow, what a difference that made to essentially laminate the dough similar to a biscuit.

“The Wake Up” Part Two

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Reading “The Wake Up” by Michelle Mijung Kim has been powerful and informative. She shares so much great information. Her comment, “Many of us desire to have good impacts, but sometimes even our best intentions can bring unintended consequences of harm.” This results in fear to do or say anything but then harm is also caused by inaction.

Kim suggests a few things to do when you get called out for being harmful:

  • Listen and calm your defenses.
  • Apologize and acknowledge the harm.
  • Express gratitude for the feedback.
  • Make amends without expecting forgiveness.
  • Commit to doing better and then actually do better.
  • Get support for yourself.

“The Wake Up’ by Michelle Mijung Kim

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I believe it is important to constantly continue to learn. And I love learning new things to to help me consider other points of view. So, I was definitely intrigued to read Kim’s book. She is a queer, immigrant Korean American woman writer and like every other person in this world, she has a unique perspective. This perspective informs her work in the DEI space. The premise of this book is good intentions vs. real change, which also is challenge in the DEI space.

Some things that I liked from this book:

  • Her definition of allyship. She states that it is, “the active and consistent practice of using power and privilege to achieve equity, inclusion and justice while holding ourselves accountable to marginalized people’s needs.
  • I agree with her comment that good intentions produce unwanted outcomes all the time. “Doing good” is not the end game. Validation must come from the group that is marginalized. They decide what doing good really means. For example, ” By failing to set accountability metrics that are driven by the very people such initiatives have been created to support, companies end up solving nothing and doing no good.”
  • Kim’s distinction of do-gooders vs each of us owning that we “each play a critical role in upholding and dismantling systemic oppressions that ultimately impact all of us.” Who does your “why” serve? Yourself? Or historically marginalized people?
  • We need to understand they ways in which we are harmed by or benefitting from different systems of oppression. We all benefit from some and cause harm in other ways. And the belief that everyone has the opportunity to succeed through hard work and their own skills is a myth. The folks that hold the power, access and resources while not acknowledging the barriers marginalized people face, have enjoyed success, believing they earned (and deserve) their success.
  • I think about the Afghan man that I am teaching English to and how motivated he is to learn so that he can improve his opportunities. Someone that already speaks English clearly has advantages over this immigrant. This is a simple example but shows how inequities begin and stay in place.
  • White supremacy exists in every system we have in place: work, healthcare, criminal justice system, real estate, the interviewing and hiring process…the list goes on and on. “Racism is a complex set of systems, policies and beliefs that reinforce the marginalization of people while privileging white people in society.”

Kim lists a few questions to help guide us:

  • Who has the power?
  • How is the power being used?
  • Who benefits?
  • Who is harmed?
  • What historical, social, cultural or political context might I be missing?

There is so much to this book, I am going to write multiple posts about it!

This Year is Flying By!

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Fall is here, hence the pumpkin-flavored everything all around us! So as the year is coming to a close with only three full months left, now is a great time to look backward and forward.

Some things to consider:

  • What do you still want to accomplish before year end?
  • What is reasonable to accomplish by year end?
  • What would be most valuable to accomplish by year end?
  • What have I already accomplished that will set me up for success in the new year?
  • What should I repeat next year?
  • What do I still need to accomplish, learn or get rid of?

What other things should you consider to close out this year and begin the next year?

“Say the Right Thing”

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I love learning new things and certainly have spent the last several years reading, watching and listening to anything I can get my hands on about diversity, equity, inclusion, bias and belonging. So I recently picked up, “Say the Right Thing” by Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow. The premise of the book is to learn how to talk about identity, diversity and justice.

The authors suggest a framework called A.D.D.A. which stands for avoid, deflect, deny and attack. The authors contend these are conversational traps that one needs to be aware of and prepare for as one tries to have conversations around identity, diversity and justice issues. I thought this framework really did capture how conversations derail, sometimes before they even start!

One line in the book really captured the issue for me:

As excruciating as it can feel to have conversation about identity, it’s important to remember people from nondominant groups have always experienced emotional turmoil in these dialogues from being ignored, mocked, tone policed, or subjected to retaliation. When you find yourself wondering, “Why am I so uncomfortable? You might instead ask, “Why have I been comfortable until now?” You might then hear the answer: “I’ve been comfortable because until today, the other person has carried all the discomfort on their own.”

The authors suggest some strategies to deal with the emotional discomfort of these types of conversations such as a growth mindset by treating mistakes as opportunities to learn, self-affirm by reminding yourself what is most important and right-size feedback by remembering claims about privilege are often not as extreme as you perceive them. Reframing the situation can make you more open to the conversation in an objective way.

There are lots of helpful nuggets in this book. The authors share stories, examples and suggestions. One of the ending notes I think was helpful, “Don’t ignore people’s group identity, but also don’t reduce them to their group identity.” And finally, educate yourself! It is your responsibility to do so. Be curious, humble and ask for help but don’t expect someone else to educate you. Check out this book and let me know what you learned.

North Cascades National Park

Posted on by Seniye Groff

This past week I was finally able to check another item off my bucket list…North Cascades National Park. I’ve been intrigued by this destination after scrolling through lots of pictures from various sources and also learning that it is one of the least visited national parks. The lack of crowds was a definite draw. And needless to say, North Cascades National Park did not disappoint on either point.

The drive from Portland took about seven and a half hours and I drove through areas I have never seen before such as Yakima and Wenatchee. These areas seems to be an agricultural hub and were beautiful in their own right.

North Cascades National Park is known as the American Alps and I would say that name fits this stunning scenic area. The vistas, valleys and mountains were just incredible. I chose to stay in Winthrop, a small town holding on to it’s mining façade with enough shops and restaurants to provide options for a multi-day stay. Just driving on the North Cascades Highway (Hwy 20) is reward enough for the long drive to get to this amazing area.

Along Highway 20 are several overlooks and you should stop at EVERY SINGLE ONE. The Washington Pass Observation site is the first one heading west on Highway 20. It allows you to appreciate the magnitude of the mountains and the valley and if you are afraid of heights, get ready to be scared!

Next I hiked Rainy Lake, which is an very easy, but very rewarding hike. The path is easy, groomed and ends at a stunning alpine lake. Next stop was the Diablo Lake Vista Point and driving over the Diablo Dam. Equally stunning is the Gorge Lake Overlook and the suspension bridges to the Trail of the Cedars and Ladder Creek Falls.

The final jaunt of the day was hiking Blue Lake. This was a five mile hike with a little elevation. As we were climbing, hikers coming down spoke excitedly about the mountain goats at the lake. I have yet to see any animals during all my years of hiking so was thrilled to think I was finally going to see an animal in the wild! When we reached the incredibly blue and clear lake, there were no goats to be seen. I am guessing too many people had already seen the goats and they likely went to higher elevation to be left alone. Nonetheless the lake was incredible.

On the last mile of my descent, I tripped over a large rock and fell and hit my left knee very hard. That ended hiking for the day and the following day. The three hikes I had earmarked for the next day did not happen…sadly. Oh well, I guess it means I will need to return at some point. Regardless NCNP should not be missed.

Garibaldi Lake

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I recently visited Vancouver, BC and hiked Garibaldi Lake. It was a 12 mile, 3211 elevation gain well-maintained trail. There was lots of switchbacks, inclines and three stunning lakes. The trail culminates in the magnificent Garibaldi Lake. This was a tiring, at times grueling hike, but well worth the effort!

DEIB Training Efforts

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Training is a necessary component to any change initiative. And the topic of DEIB makes training that much more crucial. I believe training in this space is about creating “ah ha” moments rather than telling people what they have done wrong. Think about it…who wants to be reminded of all their faults and poor behavior. Ultimately we need people to WANT to learn and to change and to grow and to EVOLVE.

Some key points for your training to be successful are:

•Employees need to learn about each other, connect and engage.

•Focus training on positive actions employees can take. 

• Discuss how can employees positively affect an outcome.

•Workplace training on rules, regulation and what behaviors are prohibited should be a separate session.

•Think about pre and post-work.  Level-set definitions and base information so that the classroom gets used for the important stuff like dialogue and discussion!

•Importance vs. time devoted. Too often I hear companies saying, “We can only devote one or two hours to this session.” Well, if DEIB is as important as you say it is, doesn’t it deserve an appropriate amount of time to train??!!

Multiple sessions vs one long one. This helps work around the belief that there isn’t enough time. It also allows people to ruminate and consider what they learn, put it into action and then return for the next training session.

There is lots of discussion on whether or not training should be voluntary. Some points I think you should consider are:

•Employees should believe they are opting in.

•Deliver a clear and consistent communication plan that shares importance, expected outcomes and opportunity to be involved.

•Remind employees it is not voluntary to be inclusive at work.

•Consider what your competition doing?  And then ask, “Does it matter?”

•Training is centered around white people.  Ask your what marginalized employees need. This is overlooked almost 100% of the time but is a very valuable perspective.

Let me know what other strategies have worked for DEIB training.