ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary-Frances Winters came of age during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Starting with her days as editor of her high school newspaper, Winters realized that diversity, equity, and inclusion work is her “passion and calling.” Founding The Winters Group was the next step in fulfilling what she believes is her true purpose on this earth—breaking down barriers and building bridges across differences. As CEO of The Winters Group for the past thirty-six years, Winters has been able to magnify the impact of her thought-provoking message and has gained extensive experience in working with senior leadership teams to drive organizational change.

Among her many awards and distinctions, Winters received the Winds of Change Award, conferred by the University of St. Thomas at the Forum on Workplace Inclusion, for her efforts to change lives, organizations, and communities. She has served as a torchbearer for the Olympics and has been recognized as an ATHENA Leadership Award winner from the Chamber of Commerce for her professional excellence and for actively assisting women in their attainment of professional excellence. Winters received the Hutchinson Medal from her alma mater, the University of Rochester, in recognition of outstanding achievement and notable service to the community, state, or nation. She has also been recognized as a diversity pioneer by Profiles in Diversity Journal and named by Forbes as one of the top 10 trailblazers in diversity and inclusion.

Winters is a life member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Rochester and has served on the boards of the Chamber of Commerce, United Way, and the National Board of Girl Scouts of the USA. She is the author of five other books: Inclusive Conversations: Fostering Equity, Empathy, and Belonging across Differences; We Can’t Talk about That at Work! How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics; Only Wet Babies Like Change: Workplace Wisdom for Baby Boomers; Inclusion Starts with “Iⁿ; and CEOs Who Get It: Diversity Leadership from the Heart and Soul. She also wrote a chapter for the book Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion and numerous articles.

Winters has influenced hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals who often describe her as thoughtful, credible, results oriented, and innovative. She is known as a provocateur, especially in sharing the importance of Bold, Inclusive Conversations, an initiative that was developed to encourage organizations to create brave spaces and have dialogues about difficult workplace topics such as race, religion, and politics.