017 // Aiko Bethea // In Rare Company

On Episode 017, Garland interviews Aiko Bethea  of RARE Coaching & Consulting.

Highlights of Episode 017:

• Aiko Introduction - 01:25
• Growing up bi cultural - 04:42
• Racial identity awareness - 07:55
• From Law into DEI - 10:14
• Community - 15:00
• Urgency in the work - 19:45
• Fear in the workplace - 22:45
• What do we do now? - 28:45
• What’s next - 34:30
• Inclusion drive my work - 38:29
• Full Circle - 38:45
• Afterthoughts - 39:27

Aiko is a leader, builder, and connector. She successfully navigated leadership roles in government, philanthropic. and corporate sectors. In each sector she created new roles to meet growing organizational needs and visions for evolving. She currently reports to the COO of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute where she leads Diversity & Inclusion. In this inaugural role, she developed and implemented the first enterprise-wide diversity and inclusion strategy. Her expertise in change management, building alliances and collaboration is reflected in her ability to scale impact.

Aiko is also principal and founder of RARE Coaching & Consulting, a consulting practice focused on coaching leaders and organizations to remove barriers to inclusion. Her practice integrates operations, leadership coaching and education strategies that yield measurable outcomes.

For over seven years, Aiko was with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where she served as Deputy Director of Grants & Contracts Management. She led a cross-functional team responsible for compliance and due diligence review of $550M of annual investments. She developed and implemented lean workflow process, and facilitated change management throughout the organization.

Aiko has served on several boards and provided pro bono training for nonprofit boards on governance, strategic development, and operational efficiency. She speaks nationally and locally on matters relating to leadership, diversity and inclusion, and organizational development. Aiko currently serves as Board President of the Seattle Children’s Theater. She is a leadership coach for The Coaching Fellowship, a global leadership program for women committed to social impact work. She is also a leadership coach for the Executive Mentoring and Peer Program for Women in Bio (WIB).

Aiko earned her BA from Smith College in Northampton, MA and her Juris Doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a graduate of the Hudson Institute of Coaching at Santa Barbara and is an ICF certified coach. Aiko is a Certified Diversity Professional and is licensed to practice law in Georgia. She spends much of her time learning from her two young sons.

HBR: https://hbr.org/2020/06/what-black-employee-resource-groups-need-right-now

Connect with Aiko:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aikobethea/
Twitter: @AikoBethea
IG: @rare_coach
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RARECoach


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