Puneet Lath, Expensify Talks About New DEI Series Featuring Trevor Noah, The Daily Show
One of the biggest obstacles facing leaders is how to approach DEI topics with their teams. Traditionally, meaningful DEI policies have all-too-often been either ignored, pushed to be an HR focus only, or delegated to an annual training session. Things have changed in the past two years but full equity in the workplace remains a work in progress.
My guest in HRchat episode 355 is Puneet Lath, Director at Expensify, a ‘preaccounting’ platform, and co-host of a new series of timely conversations on DEI.
The first episode stars Trevor Noah, host of Emmy and Peabody winning series, The Daily Show. Trevor is a leader in dealing with issues of race, equity and inclusion both as an orator covering these topics in his show and as a business leader working through them on a day-to-day basis.
Puneet co-hosts with Joanie Wang and in collaboration with culture and diversity expert Zanele Mutepfa-Rhone.
Watch the Interview with Trevor Noah
Questions For Puneet Include:
- Expensify is a ‘payments super-app that helps individuals and businesses around the world simplify the way they manage money’. Tell me more.
- We’ve had some big names and brands on the HRchat show to date but we’ve never had a Daily Show host! Take a couple of minutes and tell our listeners about the mission behind the new series of conversations – one I understand includes exploring the nuanced issues relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion that continue to plague businesses globally.
- The series kicked off on October 12th, 2021 with an awesome episode featuring Trevor Noah. Tell us about it.
- Everyone has a rough idea of Trevor’s story and understands that he hasn’t had the easiest rise to the top. Coming straight from South Africa he has constantly had to deal with questions such as “Is he black enough? Is he African enough” or “Is he American enough to do the daily show?” Why was Trevor the perfect choice to host the first episode?
- “It’s hard to have nuanced conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace because they can be difficult and scary,” said Joanie Wang, Director of Marketing and Brand at Expensify. “Our goal was to create an intentional space to discuss issues in a way that was compelling to everyone, whether it is your first conversation or your 100th.” Can you elaborate?