Voices at the Table: Innovation in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

What role does design thinking and innovation have in DE&I work?

The Hatchery invited Roshni Rai to Emory Innovators to speak with us about her career in innovation and DE&I, her tips on starting out after college, surrounding yourself with the right people, and inviting a diverse group of voices to the table in innovative projects.

Roshni is the Field Marketing Manager at Creature Comforts Brewing, where she focuses on partnerships and Design Thinking benefitting social/sustainable impact, as well as DE&I.  She has had the opportunity to increase social impact, sustainability, and diversity, equity & inclusion while also reducing costs and increasing revenue through creating partnerships with national and global corporations, non-profits, and government such as IHG Hotels and Resorts, American Red Cross, US Department of Energy, and more. Roshni has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Emory University and an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business.

Roshni filled the conversation with practical tips for students on their way to the workforce. She talked about trying different classes and activities while at Emory, to find out what she liked and didn’t like to do. She shared the idea of having your own personal board made of five different types of people to help move you forward in life and work.

Roshni has used innovation practices not only in her career, but in her decision-making processes, like applying design thinking tools to decide whether and where to go to graduate school. She pictured herself as the user, evaluated the feasibility aspects of cost and time, and looked at the value adds of different programs to find the one for her. She ended up choosing USC for the focus on sustainability and diversity, equity, and inclusion, in addition to being able to work on real-life problems she cared about. Not to mention, she’d be able to move to a new place out west.

Roshni also talked about her role at Creature Comforts Brewing as well as the benefits to innovating within a smaller company. She spoke about the challenges and joys of blending design thinking work and DE&I. Roshni said some of the biggest challenges are bringing everyone to the table, making sure that everyone feels like they have a voice, and gaining buy-in through building relationships.

“It takes time to pull all those voices together, to really understand what’s going on,” Roshni added. She tries to understand the people she is working with and what they need, so she can help address it. “When you come and bring your voice to this table, we’re going to help you solve your issue at the same time.”

To hear more from Roshi Rai, you can watch or listen to the conversation. To stay up-to-date on everything happening at The Hatchery, you can subscribe to our newsletter.