Find out more about our founding members
Shaista E. Khilji
she/her/hers
I am an academic in every sense of the word. The Oxford Dictionary defines an academic as ‘relating to education and scholarship’ and (of person) as ‘interested in or exceling at scholarly pursuits and activities’. I would elaborate by describing myself as an academic as someone who is an idealist, always dreaming and engaging with (through teaching, research, exploration, observation, questioning, and reflection) messy intellectual curiosity (to wrestle with “what, whys and how” of interdependencies and complexities of life- i.e. individuals, organizations and societies).
I am driven by the prevailing “wicked” problems that impact the global world at large. In particular, based upon my research of globalization and how that impacts individuals, societies and organizations around the world, I am intrigued (as well as saddened) by the rising levels of global inequalities. I look at the ‘global leadership crisis’ as one (note only one) of the contributing factors. Over time, I have turned to humanistic leadership as a possible solution. You may ask why; what is with humanistic leadership? While I am open to other solutions from a variety of disciplines, I use the leadership lens because it aligns with my expertise and makes sense to me in the given context. To explain further, I outline my personal assumptions below, which influence my thinking and inform my worldview.
Life is messy, and complicated. We are constantly surrounded by paradoxes. The paradoxical and complex nature of societies both fascinates and perplexes me. I believe that to make sense of life is to a) live in the ‘and’ and, b) accept that individuals, organizations and societies exist in a pluralistic world of contradictory values that oftentimes compete, inform and strengthen each other.
Balance is important in life, however, not as a constant but as a shifting and dissolving reality.
I believe in an un-owned view of change, whereby I expect change to be relentless, continuous and pervasive. I believe that humans have an extremely limited ability to fully comprehend- they can never know it all—hence we have incomplete or partial understanding of the situations facing us. In order to effectively make sense and cope with the social transformations and leadership approaches discussed here, there should be greater awareness of uncertainty and ‘otherness’.
A majority of us live with an illusion of rationality. Indeed it is a human tendency to rationalize the decisions we make. However, I believe that nobody is completely rational.
It is said: life is lived forward but understood backwards. However, even in understanding life backward, learning can be critical for future growth.
In a world (unfortunately) divided by theory and practice, it is wisdom that I search for. Hence, I hope to promote leadership wisdom, beyond leadership knowledge and practice. I realize that human progress doesn’t only lie in what is known (in any case much is unknown) but rather in the manner in which knowledge is held and put to use (Weick, 2009). Thus I consider it important to balance knowing with doubting.
I find the concept of ‘poetic-self’ interesting because of its evolving nature and the ability to authentically question our assumptions and relationships. For me, the poetic self signifies self-exploration, self-expression and self-renewal in relation to the other. It is the exploration of “self, intersection of our values, our past, our sense of connections to others and our aspirations” (Freeman & Auster, 2011) that defines who we are and how we can improve to relate to others. This gives me the freedom to be on an unending journey.
I have come to believe in the strength of the human spirit. Whether it is the quick hands of a young mother (with her infant) searching for food scraps in a trash can in Guangdong, the ingenuity of a puppeteer in inner city Lahore, or the loud call of a homeless person at Foggy Bottom, I see resilience. I believe in the power of everyday connections that unite as one humanity. I have found connections in the lush green mountains of Pakistan, exotic Moroccan bazaars, Ivory tower classrooms at Cambridge University, segregated areas of South Africa, family-run businesses of Nicaragua, chaotic lanes of Bangladesh, and in the busy streets of Washington DC, Chicago and NYC. Because I search for beauty, I find it in individuals and their stories. I hope for a better tomorrow. This is the idealist and the romantic in me. It keeps me motivated in my research and work.
I am a “work in progress’. I hope to use my research to learn more and continue to inform the questions that are being asked. My students are aware of the ‘divine dissatisfaction’ (McCoy, 2007) with which I approach global issues. I want to thank my family, peers, and students for keeping me grounded and feeding my intellectual curiosity.
Shaista E. Khilji, Founder
Jason Smith
he/him/his
I am a husband, dad, son, and brother. I strive to be a leader who exemplifies the values of creativity, reason, adaptability, loyalty, fun, and seeing the bigger picture. I also am a traveler along life's road who believes that learning and having new experiences create the potential for seeing things through perpetually young eyes. For work, I am a leadership development manager, and leadership coach. I love helping people learn, grow, and make personal breakthroughs that open up new paths and possibilities for them. I worked in the US Federal Government as analyst and manager of analysts for 13 years in the field of international relations before transitioning into leadership development full-time for the Federal Government in 2016. This new field kindled a strong desire for a bigger career and life transition. Always eager to pursue a new possibility, I took steps to make this happen, leading me to meet Dr. Khilji, Mia, and Zoe through The George Washington University's Organizational Leadership and Learning graduate program. If was going to make a mid-career costume change, then GW's OLL program, along with a certificate in leadership coaching from Georgetown University, would be two of my main vestments. Both those programs were life changing; Georgetown's coaching program triggered massive personal vertical growth for me and GW introduced me to the concept of humanistic leadership. Like Dr. Khilji, examining how countries interact globally had exposed many flaws for me in how our world's leaders and businesses currently interact with each other, their communities, and our planet. We need to have meaningful conversations about addressing the challenges of our quickly changing world, including rising inequality, environmental degradation, and climate change. Humanistic leadership represents a new way forward to me, one that is more inclusive, sustainable, and enlightened. I'm so excited to have the chance to help others learn about this concept and to develop more humanistic leaders.
My career change happened in spring 2019 as I left public service for the private sector, looking for additional growth and a better alignment with my personal values and place of work This career change also coincided with a major life transition as my wife Mary and two kiddos, Olivia and Parker packed up our home in Virginia for a new adventure in Colorado. I hope this adventure results in more growth for me and my family. I hope for stability at the same time. I also hope to be able to contribute a small part to creating a better future for us and the world we live in.
Jason Smith, co-Founder
Mia Amato Caliendo
she/her/hers
I grew up on St. Maarten, the half-French, half-Dutch island southeast of Puerto Rico. Born to U.S. parents, my upbringing included a melting pot of influences, parallel to the diverse island that St. Maarten is. It was at a young age I learned about being “other,” and when I moved to Miami, FL to attend the University of Miami in 2006, I began academically exploring identity. Through courses in race and ethnic relations and gender studies, I began searching for the answers to my existential questions. It was around this time I began reading articles and history from the perspective of African Americans and not solely white authors in my free time. In 2010, I began working for Apple in the first cohort of the Apple Store Leader Program. Over the course of two years, I learned everything there was to know about how to run an Apple store, from selling an iPod to supporting an iMac repair, to leading teams from the front and talent selection. I was promoted to Manager in 2012 and went on to work in five different stores for Apple in South Florida and Boston, including flagship locations. My leadership platform was one centered around inclusion and I began using diversity and representation as filters in my decision-making process. I led extensive hiring and staffing strategies, designed mentor blueprints, built inclusive workplace programs, and worked with my team to launch new products and help customers from all over the world.
In 2014, Apple like many other tech companies in Silicon Valley released their diversity data. At this time, I was working in South Florida at a flagship location for Apple and fielded some challenging questions from my team, particularly one queer, black femme employee. She felt surprised and defeated because our store was very diverse, but Apple as a whole was overwhelmingly white and male. I too felt disappointment, but I believed Apple was going to address this gap because when presented with a challenge, I had always watched Apple rise to the occasion. In 2017, I got the opportunity to work on the Apple HBCU Scholars Program in a temporary career experience, one of the programs under the I&D umbrella. This was a dream come true because I could very directly support the work that leveled the playing field. In the four months I worked with this team, I was reinvigorated. I had just lost my husband to cancer and this work made me feel like I was a part of being the change I wanted to see. After I returned to my role in the stores, I made a decision that I was going to do everything I can to be a candidate for a role in I&D. Six months later, I started the Organizational Leadership and Learning program at the George Washington University. Here, I met Dr. Khilji and quickly became drawn to her. Her courses in globalization and humanistic leadership gave me the language to better push the human race forward. With a focus on context and a knack for asking thought-provoking questions, I knew I had selected the right graduate program.
After my first semester, I ended my eight year career with Apple in an effort to attend I&D conferences and events and focus on my research. I met Jason and Zoe in my final semesters and appreciated the perspective they both brought to our class. We often interacted on the virtual discussion board and shared different learns from our course content and personal lived experiences. In my final semester, my inclusion and diversity research merged with my interest in race and ethnic relations and humanistic leadership. I looked at employing postcolonial theory as a framework in building a more inclusive workplace, with recommendations centered around humanistic leadership and the both/and approach (Chen, 2001). In March 2020, I started working as a global project manager in tech focused on internal talent movement and was informed my research, pending minor edits, was accepted in the Journal of Diversity Management. Starting to work on the Humanizing Initiative with Dr. Khilji, Jason, and Zoe feels something like a lifetime achievement despite only just getting started, because when people come together and share their expertise to leave the world better than they found it, magic happens.
Mia Amato Caliendo, co-Founder
Zoe King
she/her/hers
Growing up, a common refrain I heard was “what are you?” Through the eyes of childhood innocence, I didn’t realize what it was that piqued people’s curiosity. Being biracial, my father Black and my mother White, was not wrong or different until I grew old enough to realize that there were pockets of society that made it so. I was grateful to be raised in a melting pot suburb just outside of New York City, where families were just as colorful as mine. However, this was juxtaposed with exclusion from my own bloodline: not approving of a biracial marriage, I grew up never knowing my maternal grandparents. In diversity, equity and inclusion work, it’s often said that you cannot understand inclusion without understanding exclusion. It is this experience with exclusion that has led me to invest in work that is rooted in equity and liberation.
I am passionate about cultivating opportunities for people to show up authentically in the workplace so that they can do their best work. As a graduate of GW’s Organizational Leadership and Learning Master’s program, I am fascinated by the intersection of adult learning theory, diversity, equity and inclusion and organizational effectiveness. My interest in building humanistic organizations comes from an approach that is centered upon building spaces where people are celebrated for the unique perspectives and identities they bring to their work. The case for diversity and inclusion in organizations is often packaged with a return on investment narrative. My hope is that organizations may adopt a more human-centered approach that is rooted in cultivating time for reflection and dialogue, dismantling systems of oppression and celebrating identities, authentically. When people feel safe and valued to show up to their work as they are, productivity and organizational effectiveness will merely be a happy byproduct.
Professionally, I work as a Senior Recruitment Partner at the George Washington University, passionate about connecting great talent to support our university’s common purpose of “Only at GW, we change the world one life at a time.”
