Waving the flag for diversity

January 30, 2023

"I love how diverse Deloitte is."

That’s Joey Tackett, partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP, in Houston, who may run the most diverse team in the organization: 25 people from 12 countries.*

Recently, the team decided to celebrate their diversity very visibly: they turned one wall of their client-site office into a gallery of flags—one for each of their countries of origin.

“We’d been talking about painting murals or getting some art for the walls of our office when Joey came up with the idea of hanging flags,” says team member Rukhsana Momin, born and raised in Pakistan.

Joey, who is of Mexican heritage and grew up in New Orleans, delegated the task to a team member—an Italian-American—and the next thing they knew, there was a wall of flags from Brazil, Cuba, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain, Syria, Sri Lanka, the United States, and Zimbabwe. Joey noted a Texas flag has also been included "and it's not even a separate country!"

Each team member gave a presentation on their flag and its symbolism. The conversations became a bright spot during the day as they learned a little about each other’s heritage and their own.

“The flags give people a sense of pride. Everyone loves being in the United States, but everyone’s connected to one of those flags and what it means to them.” Joey says.

As the team’s diversity grows, they also have assimilated Texas-style: “We all have boots,” Rukhsana says. “Whenever someone gets a new pair of boots, we all make a big deal out of it, joking and critiquing.”

Beyond their fun with flags, the team recognizes that their diversity gives them an edge. “We feel like our team’s diversity makes it easier for us to connect to our clients,” Rukhsana says.

“And diversity of thought makes a difference too—you don’t want everyone to be thinking along the same lines. We create better solutions because we come from different experiences and backgrounds. We may be different in some ways, but we’re all respectful and passionately curious about each other. I think that makes us a better, more well-rounded team.” Joey says.

*Since this photo was taken, the team has added flags and professionals from Sri Lanka and Nigeria!
 

Learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion at Deloitte.