Embracing the Intersections: A Hispanic Heritage Month Q&A with Bianca Robinson

A: As a Puerto Rican trans woman, I’m aware that I often am the ‘only one’ in the room with my identity profile. I leverage my unique lenses to be of service through out-of-the-box perspectives, an ability to disrupt assumptions, and a deep desire to question traditionally held beliefs and standards. I believe these skills are why and how I arrived at the work of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity. I also believe this is why it is so critical to have diverse perspectives in the room. As we build a more socially conscious workforce, we must lean on diversity of thought, identities, backgrounds, and experiences.

A: I have a few pieces of advice:

• The skillset that got you here will not always get you to the next level: I’ve heard this idea before but not until recently did I truly understand it. Without having a growth mindset, taking actionable steps, and creating a development plan, our dreams will remain just that; lean into constant transformation,
• Set aside cancel culture and cultures of exclusions, and embrace dialogue: Disrupting harm in the moment is important, but let’s not forget that facilitating a dialogue is a much harder skill to master; and,
• Hard work does not equate to strategic thinking: As Latinx/e folks we pride ourselves on hard work and may lose sight of thinking about the bigger picture as we develop our careers.

We are all being called to address our own communities’ systemic barriers to access that have gone unexamined for far too long. We must adopt a culture that encourages discussion of  the limiting dynamics, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that perpetuate the current state of uncertainty in our community. Younger generations are deconstructing the ‘us vs. them’ model and embracing radical acceptance. I believe that what we have long been fighting for is a state in which being gay, bi, trans or nonbinary is a non-issue.