Denise Brouder: DEI hasn’t failed, but it has lost its shared understanding

Introduction

Denise Brouder’s journey into the future of work began with a question many women still face, and most workplaces rarely answer well: Can I be both a committed professional and a present parent? After rising through the ranks at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, Denise faced that crossroads. She chose her children and used that decision to ignite reinvention.

“I remember thinking, Elon Musk has a car floating in space, and yet we still haven’t figured out how to support women at work,” she told me. That moment captured something deeper: a world obsessed with technological innovation while clinging to outdated models of work. Instead of adjusting a few policies, she began questioning the system itself.

Today, the DEI conversation feels stuck. Many leaders hesitate, teams stay silent, and between performative gestures and political noise, the original purpose has faded. Denise and the Future of Work Alliance - a practitioner-led network focused on building more human-centered systems - see this moment as a necessary pause—a chance to reconsider what truly matters and how change actually happens.

We talked about how DEI became misunderstood, the small acts that shift cultures, and why middle managers are often the most powerful change agents. 

Here are five human-centered solutions she offers for building a more just and inclusive future of work.

1. Reclaim the Meaning Behind DEI

In the Future of Work Alliance’s report, Building a Humanized and Just Future of Work: DEI Reimagined, the message is clear: DEI hasn’t failed, but it has lost its shared understanding. What began as a framework rooted in justice and innovation has become mired in misunderstanding and tension. Denise believes confusion, not resistance, has stalled progress.

“Everyone knows the word DEI, but nobody really knows what it means,” she said. “And when you don’t understand something, you can’t ask honest questions. That’s when it becomes too sensitive to touch.”

The Alliance’s strategy begins with stripping away jargon. Rather than chasing new terms, they advocate for anchoring DEI work in clear, human values—fairness, respect, and collaboration—values that resonate across political and generational lines.

As Denise puts it, “The workplace of the future isn’t about choosing between merit and inclusion—it’s about designing systems where both thrive together. At its core, DEI was never about lowering standards or forcing outcomes; it was about removing barriers that prevented a true meritocracy from emerging. A workplace built on fairness, transparency, and opportunity ensures that the best talent—regardless of background or starting point—has the chance to contribute based on ability, not access or privilege.”

2. Make It Personal: A Case Study of Costco

While many companies have gone silent on DEI, one stayed firm: Costco.

“Costco didn’t abandon DEI. They said it works for us because it helps our people,” Denise told me.

She had just read the news coverage of Costco’s stance and decided to do something rare: act on it. She went to her local Costco and asked to speak with the store manager. The employee looked cautious, likely expecting a complaint.

When the manager, a young black man, walked over, Denise could see the concern in his eyes. “He looked like he was bracing for a complaint,” she said. Instead, she smiled, shook his hand, and said, “I read about what your company is doing. Thank you. It means something. And now you have a lifelong customer in me.”

The surprise, the handshake, and the message landed.

“That’s DEI,” she told me. “It’s not a program. It’s a moment. If all of us did something small, like recognizing someone’s effort or showing up with empathy, the ripple effects would be huge.”

3. Start Where Culture Actually Lives: With Managers

Denise is passionate about line managers. “They may not set company policy,” she said, “yet they set the tone every day.” Culture shows up less in value statements or all-hands decks and more in the everyday, one-on-one interactions between managers and team members.

When managers are trained and empowered to model inclusive behaviors, the organization’s culture grows more resilient and trustworthy. This is where retention strengthens, innovation speeds up, and team performance reaches new levels.

The Alliance’s DEI framework is designed for these moments. It invites managers to:

• Define shared principles that reflect their team’s purpose
• Translate those principles into observable, repeatable behaviors
• Review them regularly through open, honest conversations

When done right, inclusion becomes infrastructure.

4. Think Differently Before You Act Differently

To change how we work, Denise says, we first need to change how we think.

“Our subconscious drives most of what we do. That includes bias. Bias doesn’t make you a bad person—it reflects that you’re human.”

Instead of ignoring this, Denise encourages thoughtful reflection: What assumptions shape your hiring choices? Who gets heard in meetings? Who moves forward, and why?

This kind of awareness calls for clear behavioral norms, transparent promotion pathways, and objective tools to guide hiring decisions.

“It isn’t about guilt,” she told me. “It’s about curiosity. It’s about having the courage to slow down and ask why things are the way they are—and whether they still make sense.”

She gained this insight through lived experience. After stepping away from a high-powered finance career to care for her young children, Denise saw firsthand how inflexible the system was for people like her.

“I used to feel like I failed,” she said. “Eventually, I saw the truth: the system was never built for me. That realization pushed me to start building something better.”

5. Build Connection: You Shouldn’t Do It Alone

For years, Denise worked from the outside to help teams build more compassionate, remote-first cultures through her company, Sway. The work mattered, and the impact was real. Still, something felt off. The deeper she went, the more she saw how siloed the efforts were. Everyone was pushing for change, yet so few were pushing together.

“I hit a wall,” she told me. “There were so many smart people doing incredible work, but they were doing it in isolation. What was missing was connection.”

That realization sparked the idea for the Future of Work Alliance—not a think tank, not a consultancy, but a platform for shared progress. A space for educators, technologists, researchers, and frontline leaders to come together and build new systems from the ground up.

Denise believes the future won’t be shaped by solo visionaries. It will come from networks of people who choose to show up consistently, who listen deeply, and who work together to fill the gaps no one can solve alone.

“It isn’t about being the loudest voice,” she said. “It’s about creating space where real voices can be heard—and supported.”

The Bottom Line

DEI is not about political correctness. It’s about operational clarity. Denise’s insight reframes inclusion as a systems challenge, one that starts with mindset, is shaped by managers, and lives or dies in small everyday choices.

It doesn’t require a rebrand. It requires responsibility.

The companies that lead the future of work won’t be the ones with the best slogans. They’ll be the ones whose people feel seen, trusted, and treated fairly.

And that starts when someone, somewhere, decides to do something small.

📝How to Put This Into Practice

Even the best intentions need structure. If you’re wondering where to start with fairness and respect in your workplace, here are five small steps that can lead to meaningful change.

1. Name Your Principles: What values actually guide your team? Write them down. Make them real.
2. Translate to Behaviors: What does fairness look like in meetings, hiring, or promotions? Be specific.
3. Run a Feedback Loop: Ask your team: Are we living our values? Where are we falling short?
4. Train Managers First: Give line managers tools and space to lead inclusively. Culture flows through them.
5. Start with One Honest Conversation: Share this article or the Alliance’s report. Ask: What would “just work” look like here?

About Future Work

Work accounts for a significant part of the time and energy we invest. The way we approach it through our attitudes and behaviors shapes our life experience. The future often brings uncertainty, but it is something we have the power to build. I connect with thinkers, builders, and change-makers who turn insights into action and help others uncover opportunities for greater fulfillment, meaning, and growth at work.

Who should we talk to next, and what challenges should we explore together? Message me HERE.