Juan Corpus is all about conversation and amplification.
A Green Bay native who previously spent 23 years in the corporate world with Humana and co-founded the Latino Professionals Association of Northeast Wisconsin in 2021, Corpus serves as New North, Inc.’s vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion. He says the challenge of being the first person in the role, as well as the opportunity to make an impact across 18 counties, were among the reasons he joined the economic development organization last February.
In his first year on the job, Corpus has helped develop the WiDEN.biz web platform — an online directory — to connect ethnic and diverse businesses and professionals across the state and make it easy for customers to find and support veteran-owned, woman-owned, queer-owned, ethnic-owned and rural enterprises. He’s also actively working to build awareness for New North, Inc.’s online DEI events calendar, which lists regional events that celebrate underrepresented communities with the goal of engaging everyone.
“Juneteenth, for example, is a Black community event, but the Black community doesn’t just want the Black community to show up,” Corpus says. “They want the [whole] community to show up.”
Corpus has brought together a group of executive directors from existing DEI organizations, such as Appleton’s People of Progression, Green Bay’s CASA Alba Melanie, and Fond du Lac’s Ebony Vision. He has also helped convene a cohort of DEI practitioners of color from across the region that meets monthly; it’s a population, he says, that faces high burnout rates.
Focus on talent
With New North, Inc.’s strong focus on talent attraction guiding its work, Corpus says he strives to amplify opportunity for underrepresented groups without sugarcoating the reality that the region, by and large, lacks demographic diversity in many categories.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had instances where folks who have moved up to the region have left because they didn’t feel welcomed,” Corpus says, adding that he’s always transparent and authentic when he talks to talent from underrepresented groups about moving to the New North.
He points to the conversation that started last summer when Green Bay was named America’s “best place to live” by U.S. News and World Report. Some saw the headline and pushed back, citing lived experiences specifically around diversity, equity or inclusion.
And that’s an authentic and true experience, Corpus says: “But I also think there’s this other truth of, ‘people are trying to help the community, trying to pull us together versus segmenting us.’ So I think two things can be true at the same time. We need to engage in a dialogue instead of just reading the headline. We can be the best place to live but still have challenges.”
Welcoming the conversation
Corpus says his efforts are organized into five “workstreams,” including K-12, young professionals, small business, corporate and community, but there are constantly new conversations and opportunities he’s compelled to embrace.
It’s not missed on Corpus that, as he’s having those conversations, the very term that encapsulates his professional purview has come under attack. Dozens of anti-DEI bills are circulating through state legislatures nationwide; legislative pressure in Wisconsin has led to DEI cuts in higher education. Nationally, DEI has been conflated with affirmative action and even racism.
Corpus understands some in the New North region hear “DEI” as a negative term. Those people typically don’t meet with him in the first place, he says, so he doesn’t receive a lot of direct pushback. But he says he would welcome the conversation.
“From a business community, I think it’s important to frame the conversation in ‘what does this ultimately mean?’ How is this going to help you, and it goes back to talent,” he says.
Corpus says young people graduating from high school today are not only more diverse, but they’re more savvy about asking questions of prospective employers regarding company culture. Companies that aren’t thinking about diversity, equity and inclusion will likely not attract the talent they seek. He says he believes emphasizing the “E” — equity — is key to framing a productive conversation about DEI’s role in the workplace.
“DEI is not a pie, where if I take a slice that means [you] have less,” Corpus says. “I look at it like a potluck. If Juan and all his friends brought chips and salsa, well, that’s not really a potluck. We need different folks to bring in more variety, like maybe I can try some sushi.”
On the web thenewnorth.com/diversity-inclusion/
