Right, so where’s that equality of opportunity? So many people won’t have that opportunity due to accident of birth or upbringing, class structure or demographic favoritism. Maybe it’s as simple as never seeing a good example to follow. We all lose out when they never have the opportunity.

In my example, my manager would typically not have that opportunity, and I would have lost out.

DEI was putting effort into looking for those situations, finding ways to identify or develop talent that would never have that opportunity. No one should get a pass or automatic favoritism, but it’s naive to believe we start from the same place with the same doors open in front of us