My mission in life is to create a more empowered and inclusive world, one where we can all belong. And while part of making this happen includes interrupting forms of oppression through my work as a DEI expert, the personal empowerment work I do is just as important.

Why do I think this?

Because both social justice work and personal empowerment work are about making the world a better and more welcoming, accepting, and loving place for everyone who has been the target of hurtful and hateful life experiences. And when we as individuals feel strong, grounded, and empowered, we have the energy and resilience we need to help empower others.

In this #ShineWithRitu video, I share how personal empowerment is deeply connected to social justice as well as one of my favorite quotes from one of my heroes that I hope inspires you too!

Watch now!

For more videos on how to be more socially conscious and stand in your power, check out these playlists:

– Be Socially Conscious

– Stand In Your Power

The post How Social Justice is Connected to Personal Empowerment appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.

Sometimes life can feel really hard. And by sometimes, I mean a lot of the time!

There’s conflict and war all around the world, oppressive laws are being passed that seriously harm LGBTQ+ communities (and especially trans people), the global pandemic continues to make life very difficult for so many, and so much more.

And then there are the personal challenges, which there can be no shortage of (for me, at least), which can leave you feeling so stressed, sad, and deflated.

Even though I’m an optimist  — one of my key anchors is the message that “Life is both hard and beautiful” — I keep coming back to this message again and again to get me through hard times.

And in fact, this really tough period has taught me a lot about the concepts of happiness and joy. For one thing, I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a permanent state of happiness (stay tuned for a video on this — I have lots to say here!). But I’ve also learned about a key ingredient to finding joy during tough times — and it’s not about toxic positivity!

In this video, I share my anchor for finding joy during difficult moments and what you can focus on to get you through tough times.

Watch now!

#ShineWithRitu #LiveAuthentically

The post What’s the Secret to Finding Joy When Life is Hard? appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.

As a social justice warrior, I care deeply about the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and in my job as a professional inclusion speaker, I consistently speak about how equity is the key to creating a more inclusive world for women, BIPOC, and people from communities that experience marginalization.

But the concept of equity can often be conflated with diversity and inclusion even though they are very different! In one of my previous videos, I broke down the definitions and differences between these three concepts and said that we can’t have diversity and inclusion without equity.

In this video, I wanted to dig deeper and highlight why that is — why equity is key for building a more diverse and inclusive world, disrupting oppression and hate, and more.

Watch now!

The post You Can’t Have Diversity and Inclusion Without Equity appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.

Given all that we are seeing happen in the world right now, we’re hearing a lot about the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (or DEI). As someone who has been teaching DEI concepts for almost two decades now, I know first-hand how vital each of these concepts are in creating more accepting, inclusive workplaces and societies where everyone feels comfortable living as their Authentic Self.

I also know that the unique concepts of equity, inclusion, and diversity can be tricky to describe, and that far too often we are presented with generalized definitions that fail to capture the nuances of and differences between these distinctive principles.

In this video, I explain the difference between equity, diversity, and inclusion and share which of the three I think is most important for creating social change.

Watch now!

The post The Difference Between Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity appeared first on Ritu Bhasin.