Courageous Conversations: Episode 2
Episode two of Courageous Conversations is moderated by PIOW board member Jonathan Allen and features Keith Marion, Head of Workplace Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Point32Health.
We were thrilled to sit down with Keith during Black History Month to discuss how he grounds his DEI leadership strategy within a nuanced understanding of difference and his own identity as an LGBTQ+ ally and Black man. Jonathan and Kieth model the type of courageous conversations we all need to begin having with one another, through which we can better recognize our communities’ intersections to drive personal growth and societal change. Join us in watching this dynamic discussion below.
This conversation explores:
- The acknowledgment of difference to promote inter-communal learning and understanding
- The relationships between influence and power, and their ability to steer individual and collective narratives
- Corporate performativity and accountability in response to recent social movements
- And more!
We at Pride in Our Workplace want to thank the leadership team at Point32Health for their ongoing commitment to supporting our organization, LGBTQ+ professionals, and the LGBTQ+ community more broadly. Opening authentic dialogues with allies and DEI leaders like Keith will be key to moving the needle on LGBTQ+ workplace equity across this nation. For those unfamiliar with Point32Health, the organization represents the coming together of Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care – two organizations with a rich history of providing equitable healthcare and support to LGBTQ+ organizations across New England.
Courageous Conversations highlights the complex societal dynamics that influence our relationships, professional opportunities, and quality of life. Our 2022 Black History series celebrates Black LGBTQ+ leaders and the significant contributions they make towards our collective progression. If you would like to learn more or request a moderated screening available at your workplace, please contact info@piow.org.
Click here to watch episode one of our Courageous Conversations series with Beth Chandler, and be sure to follow us across social channels to be the first to know when episode three goes live. Not on social? Join our mailing list!
Our Speakers

Keith Marion (he/him)
Head of Workplace Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Point32Health
Speaker
About Keith Marion
Keith Marion is the Head of People/Workplace Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Business Leader for Point32Health the newly combined Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC) and Tufts Health Plan organization. He is a seasoned executive with expertise in leading strategic enterprise-wide DE&I initiatives. He leads corporate initiatives and programs through a DE&I lens that contribute to measurable business impacts in revenue growth, managing costs, product and service innovation, brand awareness, customer satisfaction, workplace equity, employee engagement, inclusion and belonging. Keith’s approach values the many differences present in society and seeks to create business value through those differences while bringing the organizational purpose, values, and culture to life. He is a practitioner that is well versed in DE&I best practices and find them important and helpful; but often moves toward positive disruption and innovation to uncover next generation and customized solutions. Keith believes that there is DE&I in all aspects of business and that if identified can be strategic levers for people and business growth.
Keith graduated from Newton South High School Newton, MA; holds a BS in Business Administration from Lincoln University (PA), Diversity Champion & Leadership certificate from Bentley University, graduate from The Partnership Next Generation Executive Program, past recipient of the Boston Business Journal Diversity Champion award, Chair of the Berkshire Partners Blue Hills Boys & Girls Club (Dorchester) Advisory Board, member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Board of Trustees, Co-Chair of the YMCA Boston Achievers Board, and member of the SPOKE/Medicine Wheel Board. Keith believes that we are all learning all the time and is a current MBA candidate at Cambridge College. He is a proud resident of Dorchester MA.
About Point32Health

The combination of Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care represents the coming together of two of New England’s most iconic nonprofit health care companies. Representing nearly 90 years of combined service to our members and the community, together we are building upon our diverse legacies and innovative collaboration by making it our purpose to guide and empower healthier lives for our members — no matter their age, health, race, identity, or income.
That’s why we’ve named our new corporate entity Point32Health. The Point32Health name is inspired by the 32 points on a compass. It speaks to the critical role we play in guiding and empowering the people we serve to achieve healthier lives.
Point32Health is our corporate name. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan and our other brands will continue to show up as they do today—trusted, high-quality health plans for people across the country.
As Point32Health, we strive to be a different kind of nonprofit health and well-being company, with a broad range of health plans, and innovative tools that make navigating health and well-being easier, guiding our members at every step of their health care journey to better health outcomes. We are committed to providing high-quality and affordable health care, improving the health and wellness of our members, and creating healthier communities across the country.
Learn more: www.point32health.org

Jonathan L. Allen (he/they)
Director of Development, Leadership Brainery
Moderator, PIOW Board Member
About Jonathan L. Allen
Jonathan L. Allen (he/they) is a champion for equity and empowerment. He is Co-founder and Director of Development at Leadership Brainery, a Boston-based nonprofit addressing inequitable access to master’s and doctoral degrees and workforce leadership opportunities for underrepresented talent, including people of color, individuals from a lower socioeconomic status, first generation, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Additionally, he is the inaugural Innovator-in-Residence at Boston University’s student innovation center — BUild Lab | Innovate@BU. Jonathan also has a lifelong commitment to public service, and recently ran for Boston City Council in the Fall 2019 election. In response to the pandemic, Jonathan worked at Partners in Health as a supervisor on the Community Contact Tracing Collaborative working to stop the spread of COVID-19 throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts — through which he helped develop protocols and train teams for equitable data collection.
Jonathan followed his maternal and paternal grandmothers’ footsteps and began preaching at age 11, and was ordained at age 20. Recognized as a social engineer and an advocate for love and equity, his beliefs surrounding transformative leadership, collective responsibility, political spirituality, and social and emotional intelligence have influenced individuals and groups throughout the world.
As a first-generation college student, he became freshman and sophomore class president, junior senator, and Student Body President of Grambling State University. After receiving his BS in Business Management, Jonathan worked to expand services for a pediatric day healthcare center for chronically ill children until departing to earn his Master of Theological Studies degree from Southern Methodist University | Perkins School of Theology.
Jonathan is a 2019 graduate of Boston University School of Law, where he was an active leader. He has participated in international arbitration and mediation competitions and served as the president of the Black Law Students Association. Jonathan has written speeches for U.S. Congresspersons while studying Faith and Politics under former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry at Wesley Theological Seminary. He was later a fellow at Free Speech for People, research assistant to the Honorable Geraldine S. Hines of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, research assistant to Rev. Cornell Brooks who is former President and CEO of the NAACP, and fellow at Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice.
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