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Mark Kaplan

Seasoned Global Expert in Diversity and Inclusion Corporate Strategy

Mark was the CEO of MGK Consulting before becoming a principal for The Dagoba Group, a New England based organization development and training firm that specializes in leadership development, diversity and inclusion. He has been consulting since 1986 and has advised organizations in the areas of management development, executive coaching, team building and group dynamics, organizational assessment, and diversity management, assessment, and strategy development. Mark has worked with global Fortune 1000 corporations, non-profits, and small business organizations. He has worked on five continents, in many environments, and with all levels of management.

Mark is co-author of the best-selling book, The Inclusion Dividend:  Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off and SET for Inclusion: An Underlying Methodology for Achieving Your Inclusion Dividend . He has been published in leading diversity publications, a guest speaker at global D&I focused conferences and often quoted in international business publications.

Mark is comfortable speaking in an intimate small group setting as well as a convention environment. His style of speaking is engaging and participatory.

Speaking Topics

LGBT Inclusion

Is your company in the beginning stages of introducing LGBT inclusion? Are you looking for an effective workshop to move beyond awareness? Are you finding it difficult to create an engaging and constructive conversation? Mark is a global leader in LGBT workplace issues. He has helped companies create inclusive environments where everyone is valued. LGBT is an area of expertise with over 20 years of noted global success.  Mark has been included in Forbes India cover story of LGBT inclusion in the workplace as well as led several inter-bank forums in Europe and Asia on the topic.

Global Management: Leading Across Boundaries

Today’s global workplace demands leaders who can manage across boundaries and all dimensions of differences. Managing multi-national remote teams, securing global clients and multi-sourcing with international suppliers requires advanced inclusive skill sets. Our Global Management Leading Across Boundaries talk is targeted for global corporations seeking to bring their leadership talent to the next level. The talk is developed for senior leaders and high potentials geared for a global management track.

Unconscious Bias

A big challenge for leaders in today’s increasingly complex, diverse, and global workplace is developing a personal awareness of how their unconscious bias impacts the daily inclusive decision making process. Leaders make better decisions (e.g. policies, promotions, selection, team development) when they have a heightened level of personal awareness. In this client customized topic, emphasis can be given to the overall impact of mitigating unconscious bias in daily decision making or more narrowly to the talent acquisition and/or performance management process. Mark will speak to the different types of bias and how they reside in the different levels of systems from individual to group to systemic to marketplace. The talk can be pared with realistic experiential activities to increase the overall audience participation.

The Inclusion Dividend

Like any corporate investment, there is an expectation of a return. Historically, the business world has not applied this metric to diversity and inclusion investments. In the over 20 years Mark has been working with F1000 clients, he has seen firsthand the financial impact of a well-grounded D&I strategy. On this topic, Mark speaks directly to internal challenges and rewards as well as the external results of a more inclusive culture.

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Mark is a conscientious and passionate professional who works in both the diversity and inclusion and leadership development arenas. I have known Mark both personally and professionally for twenty years and have always had the highest regard for his insight, performance, and ethics.

Susan Mannlein, President/Managing Director, Global OD Solutions
“

Mark was instrumental in helping our senior leaders get a clear understanding of the benefits of an inclusive climate. He helped our leaders examine their own behaviors and practices and improve them. This had a tangible business and financial impact. I highly recommend Mark to any large global organization that is looking to tap the benefits of inclusion.

Director of D&I, Defense Manufacturer