Meet The Woman Helping Minnesota Organizations Be Culturally Inclusive

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Northeast Minneapolis resident Lisa Tabor never thought she would venture out on her own.

However, that's exactly what she did a little over a decade ago.

Tabor started her career in retail management. It's what brought her to Minnesota.

"I didn't know anything about the Midwest," Tabor said. "I chose Minneapolis...because of Prince...through his movie, Minneapolis looked like a place that welcomed biracial people."

She left retail for a temp job that turned full time with the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce.

"I began to realize that there was a challenge for organizations to be culturally inclusive," she said, "my own included."

That's when she decided to go out on her own, starting CultureBrokers. Her business helps bring cultural intelligence to organizations.

"It is a change in the results that they are getting with people of color," Tabor said describing how her business works.

Tabor's formula: Diversity + inclusion x discipline = equity.

According to Tabor, this ensures that everyone regardless of race or culture is valued within an organization.

"When I go into organizations, I'm usually going in to address structural problems," she said. "So, I'm going in to help them understand how their policies, practices and how the situations they're putting people into are affecting outcomes."

She then applies the formula to her clients working with nonprofits and local government agencies, like the DNR and DEED. Tabor said discipline is usually the missing link.

"It's the structure around us," she said. "It's not about people, it's about things...policies and practices that are routine, that ensure that you get value from diversity and inclusion in order to achieve equity."

Eleven years later, she is still proud to be making a difference in a community that she never thought she would call home.

Tabor also said she is very proud of the work she did with the Ramsey County Corrections Facility.

The county was looking for a way to reduce the rate of juvenile detention.

By applying her formula as well as partnering with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, juvenile detention is down 70 percent since 2006 without sacrificing public safety.