E9: Embracing Bias with Dr Nicole Ortiz, Learning and Belonging Manager, Denver Zoo
Description
We know we all have biases - it’s our brain’s way of speeding up decision-making and keeping us safe. We also know these quick decisions and snap judgments often don’t reflect today’s real world challenges and dangers.
Destigmatizing bias is an important step toward acknowledging and then interrupting bias, but how might that work, exactly? And how might we help our report-tos, leaders and teammates sit with, challenge and unravel their own biases so we might all be better designers and create better, more equitable experiences for our visitors and audiences.
This week we sat down with Dr Nicole Marie Ortiz, EdD, with Denver Zoo to learn more about how her team has transformed recent learnings about bias into regular practices to embrace and interrupt it. Nicole tells us what role ‘small moments’ plays when seeking to create a culture of bias interruption, and how you might develop similar practices with your team, institution or organization.
Nicole Ortiz LinkedIn
Denver Zoo LinkedIn
Links to resources discussed in episode
Brofenbrenner’s Ecological Model
Book: Community by Peter Block
Adreinne Marie Brown talks about ‘small is all’. This can be found in a two part series on YouTube: Part 1, Part 2
Three I’s: Introspection, Interdependence and Intentionality (no link for this one, these are part of the internal practice at Denver Zoo)
Am I holding space for introspection for myself and for others?
Am I seeing that this work is deeply interdependent and I am connected to other people..and we can help each other see the world from different viewpoints.
What will I do purposefully? What intentional steps will I take to try and do something different - to try and hold another thought? And how might that other thought impact how I might behave?
Karpman’s Drama Triangle - (not Cartmans Drama Triangle!)
& the Circle of Reciprocity, and the line between the two is the Line of Regulation
Deb Dana’s work on polyvagal theory & how to become regulated
Marianne Williamson - when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously invite others to do the same.
Book: Love & Rage by Lama Rod Owens
Book: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Podcast: 10% Happier
Connect with us
Have questions or topics you’d like us to explore on the podcast?
Or, want to discuss a user-centered project, evaluation or experience design strategy?
Please drop us a line via our website to get in touch!
Hello Friends!
We are taking a little break for the winter, working up some new offerings for you, and lining up some exciting episodes!
Our first digital offering is almost ready for you!
It’s the 5-Step process I’ve used when facilitating teams to design personalized ways to build more...
Published 12/27/23
When designing spaces, why is a feminist lens important?
What might egalitarian social spaces look and feel like?
How might museums, parks and cities be designed differently to include the needs of women, caregivers and girls?
Historically, a male-centric perspective has been dominant in the...
Published 11/29/23