Category Archives: General Info

Three segments of the LGBT community and suicide

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Providing affirming social settings for LGBT elders can help build community, reduce loneliness, and reduce suicide rates. (Photo from the Boston Globe)

Here is the next monthly guest blog from my cousin Brandon Garrick, Masters of Social Work Candidate at North Carolina State University. This blog expands upon his last month’s blog, “Five facts you may not know about suicide, and connection to diversity.” This specific blogs goes into one diversity constituency I work very closely with as a workplace diversity consultant, the LGBTQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning) community.

Suicide can be a difficult and sensitive subject to discuss in detail as it is a problematic social issue that affects all members of society. I have done various research and have attended multiple suicide prevention workshops and there is one major target population that is always discussed when it comes to suicide. The L.G.B.T.Q. (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning) community is at higher risks for suicide then their heterosexual counterpart. I will discuss three specific areas of the L.G.B.T.Q community that is at severely higher risks of suicide.

1. Youth. L.G.B.T.Q youth have high risks of suicide and contemplation of suicide according to multiple research studies. According to the Trevor Project, L.G.B. youth seriously contemplate suicide at almost three times the rate of heterosexual youth. In addition L.G.B. youth are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth. In a national study, 40% of transgender adults reported having made a suicide attempt,with 92% of these individuals reported having attempted suicide before the age of 25. For more information on this major area that needs focus, link to the Trevor Project.

2. Rural L.G.B.T.Q individuals. Individuals who identify with the L.G.B.T.Q. community who live in rural areas are at higher risks then L.G.B.T.Q. individuals who live in urban areas. There has been ample research explaining why rural L.G.B.T.Q are at higher risks then their city living counterparts. Research shows that there is generally wider acceptance of LGBTQ people in cities, were there is far less social stigma around sexual orientation. More resources need to be focused on this severely under-served population, made complicated by rural areas often being spread out and difficult to reach compared to concentrated city centers.

3. Older L.G.B.T.Q individuals. Isolation and dealing with multiple physical issues have generally put senior citizens at a higher risk for suicide then younger adults. However the gap is significantly increases for senior members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community. I recently attended a presentation by SAGE (an organization supporting LGBT leaders) that explained why suicide is a major issue for older L.G.B.T.Q members. One issue is the decreased presence of similar individuals within senior living faculties. The L.G.B.T.Q community is already a societal minority, now imagine being older in a senior living with no other L.G.B.T.Q. seniors among you. The importance of having social relationships is vital to fight depression when it comes to getting older. Research indicates that lack of social relationships is a major issue for older L.G.B.T.Q members. Link to SAGE for various resources.

September is National Prevention Month! Make a difference in someone’s life; if you or another individual are feeling suicidal please call the hotline. 1-800-273-8255
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

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Guest blogger Brandon Garrick is a Masters of Social Work Candidate at NC State University

Brandon Garrick is my second cousin who I enjoy spending a lot if time with. He recently completed his Bachelor of Sociology at North Carolina State University, and has now entered their Master’s Program of Social Work. He worked full time at North Carolina’s Central Prison as a corrections officer while completing his bachelor’s degree, and has a deep concern about the many social issues facing our nation and the world. He will now be a regular guest blogger discussing these various issues.

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NOTE: The Sept 7-20, 2018 issue of qnotes, North Carolina’s bi-weekly LGBT paper, has several article about suicide and the LGBT community.

An innovation in Diversity Recruiting!

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Raymahl Sutton, CEO & Founder of Applyable, Inc.

Since I facilitate the module on Best Practices in Diversity Recruiting for the National Diversity Council’s DiversityFIRST Certification Program, I am always on the lookout for innovations in this space. And last month at the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce’s first annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Conference, I found one; Raymahl Sutton, Founder of Applyable Inc., a panelist in one of the sessions I attended. His points were so compelling that I later I met him in some shared office space of a Raleigh Think Tank facility to discuss his venture to address implicit bias in hiring.

Stan: Raymahl, thank you for sharing your story at last month’s event. So was that the catalyst for forming this company?

Raymahl: Yes! After I graduated from NC State with my degree in Polymer & Color Chemistry, I circulated my resume with no bites for 9 months. A recruiter I scheduled a meeting with reviewed my resume and suggested I change my first name of Raymahl on the resume to Ray, and within 2 months I had an offer. I then realized that there could truly be implicit bias in resume review including impact of ethnic sounding or non Anglo-Saxon names.


Stan: So what was your journey after starting work in the pharmaceutical industry?

Raymahl: Yes, I had seven successful professional years. But then in 2015, I saw a television special about issues with diversity hiring in Silicon Valley on CNN, and I felt that this was an issue that needed to be addressed and that I could do something about it.


Stan: So what happened next?

Raymahl: In my little bit of spare time, I researched issues in implicit bias in the recruiting process – how things like names, colleges attended, previous companies worked for, etc., can introduce bias in applicant evaluation, and even trump key skills or ability to succeed in the position. I then took some computer programming courses so I could prepare myself to design software that could evaluate resumes while removing these biasing factors. Eventually I left my Project Manager position so I could full time launch my new company, Applyable.


Is your recruiting process helping or impeding building a successful diverse workforce?

Stan: How will the Applyable system work?

Raymahl: First, when companies post their jobs on our site and applicants submit their information and responses to screening questions, our system creates a decluttered resume that removes names, ties to gender, ethnicity, age etc. Second, our system evaluates the decluttered resume to present the hiring companies a strong diverse list of qualified candidates to interview. The names, schools, etc can then be provided later, but now we’ve neutralized the human error of the unconscious mind in these preliminary stages.


Stan: So what is next for Applyable? Are you looking for clients?

Raymahl: Right now we are in a pilot program with the county and city of Durham, North Carolina and working on creating an early adopter program with several smaller and medium size enterprises to collect more user feedback and fine tune our solution for a broader launch. I’ll eventually be seeking some venture capital for this next step in growth once we prove our value.


Stan: How can my readers learn more about your work and keep up with your progress?

Raymahl: Yes, they can check out my website, https://www.applyable.io And of course I can be emailed at [email protected] or called at 910-284-1304. My web site is a great place to start since it explains the business case for a diverse workforce, human error and the cost of bad hiring, and more about the Applyable approach.

Stan: Raymahl, thank you for your time. You are indeed addressing a huge business need with your venture, and I look forward to following up as you prepare to launch on a larger scale.

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Please also read my earlier two-part blog series on implicit or unconscious bias:

Seven Biases in the Workplace – Let’s Be Brutally Honest About It!

More About Unconscious Bias – A Guest Blog by John Luecke