March is Women’s History Month, and the theme this year is “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.”
To celebrate the women in the learning and development field and multiple education spaces, we reached out to internal and external partners and thought leaders to talk to them about their professional lives and how Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion have impacted their careers.
At ansrsource, we believe in the power of DEIAB … Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging … to educate, elevate, and enrich people’s lives. We are grateful to the women who chose to share their experiences with us.
We hope you enjoy learning about the women we spoke with as much as we loved speaking with them.
Happy Women’s History Month!
Alanna Colton
Product Experience Executive, ansrsource
Q. If you consider yourself a DEI advocate or activist, what inspired you to do this work? Can you share a personal story or experience that fueled your passion for this cause? Have you had role models or mentors who have influenced you in this work?
As a white women born in Canada, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to live abroad in Brazil, Thailand and India for much of my childhood. Through natural exposure to diversity, I learned to celebrate and appreciate individuals for their unique differences. Being a mother of bi-racial children, I have seen firsthand how children start to identify what they consider to be “normal,” at a very early age, sometimes excluding what doesn’t fit in their concept of that picture. This has led me to inclusive & equitable messaging and exposure to diversity, in a space where I have the most impact—with my own children. This shows up as encouraging them to be proud of the diversity in our own family and also through normalizing the celebration of their peers’ unique personalities, preferences, cultures and traditions.
Q. Whether or not you consider yourself and advocate or activist, has your professional life intersected with or been impacted by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs? If so, how?
My time spent with ansrsource has impacted my understanding of and connection to DEI in a positive way. We educate others through training on the topic of DEI and our work culture is a wonderful example of applied DEI values. Prior to working for ansrsource, I thought of DEI more as something to support & advocate for on behalf of others, rather than something that I was included in personally. I had an “aha moment” recently while sharing with our own Chief Innovation Officer, Rachel Walters, a bit about my own experientially diverse background. As white woman living abroad and having a non-traditional scholastic & lifestyle experience, I have sometimes masked elements of my personality, as I feel quite different from my peers in many ways. As I was defending what I consider to be my own quirkiness, she made a remark that expanded my perspective. She said, “That’s the beautiful thing about DEI, it not only accepts but celebrates others for their uniqueness. It’s not about tolerance, it’s about creating a sense of belonging for who you really are.” She included me in a definition of diversity in such a natural way that she probably didn’t realize the impact that moment had for me. I moved from considering myself an advocate of DEI to a feeling of also being supported by it.
About Alanna:
Alanna Colton has worked with ansrsource since 2023 in the role of Product Experience Executive, helping ansrsource clients achieve digital accessibility in their online learning environments. Alanna brings a wealth of experience around complex solutioning, having spent over a decade working in high tech sector around data cleanliness, quality, visualization & reporting. Alanna resides in the Boston area with her husband, two kids and their two dogs, Lola & Cash.
