Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1507211
B M & T ••• September/October 2023 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 33 When Greg DeShields Entered The Travel Industry In The 1980s, He Had What He Calls An "Awakening." By DARLENE DONLOE He had a sense of "we can do better." "I knew we could move the needle," he said. "The situa tion left me disheartened." The situation of which he speaks was and still is the lack of diversity in the tourism and events industry. While he acknowledges that things have gotten better over the years, DeShields, exec utive director of Tourism Diversity Matters (TDM), believes there is still a lot of work to be done, which is why, during his career, he's been unapologetically committed to creating muchneeded change. The always dapper and candid industry veter an with the broad, welcoming smile, has a confi dence about him. It isn't cockiness. He just knows what he knows. "Change Is Coming," he said. TDM, created in the summer of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, is committed to empowering the tourism and events industry to change and evolve as they work to advocate for an inclusive and diverse workforce and guest experience. "TDM was established to serve as a resource," said DeShields. "24/7 we focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and how we can con tinue to stay abreast as it relates to DEI. You select realistic expectations. Change with DEI is cultural. It doesn't change overnight. You set a measurable baseline and look at it again in six months to a year. It takes time and work. We are a movement. We aren't going anywhere." DeShields believes you have to give people a measurable interpretation of what change needs to be. "The inequality is when you look at how much people of color spend in the business and how much it is impacting those businesses," he said. "A lot of it is educational. DEI is centered on education. There is an unconscious bias." TDM's mission is to be a diversity resource that educates, advocates, engages, and empow ers the tourism and events industry, in collabo ration and cooperation with all other industry initiatives. "As an organization, we want to be a resource in order to respond to questions that exist in our industry," said DeShields, a former adjunct pro fessor at Philadelphia's Temple University School. "We want the ability to engage with leaders and organizations to connect with busi ness organizations that want to find ways to improve their companies." DeShields' responsibilities at TDM include building relationships and bringing awareness. He is a Certified Hospitality Educator, proficient in developing and implementing plans, strate gies, and initiatives specifically designed to raise destinations' image for diverse, multicultural travel. He is prepared to strategically position an organization to remove systemic barriers to inclusion, lead culture change, and transform the brand. DeShields enjoys the transformative part he plays when he literally connects meeting plan ners to local businesses, suppliers to communi ty leaders, and helps decisionmakers in the tourism and events industry better connect with a diverse workforce. "Part of my respon