The Impact of Inclusive Intelligence

Kathleen Nalty, an activist and federal prosecutor who was raised in the South during the segregationist Civil Rights movement, begins her talk on differences by explaining the inequality she witnessed during her childhood, which prompted her to pursue a career in law.

Throughout her career in law, Nalty fought against hate crimes and other discriminatory offenses. As this meant that she was often in contact with juries, Nalty learned firsthand that diverse panels consistently outperformed panels that were homogeneous. This was because the diverse panels were less akin to falling into a group mentality, and therefore displayed better cognitive abilities as a whole.

With this example, Nalty shows the need for more diversity in government organizations and beyond, as she proves that panels who are not diverse do not take the time to consider different perspectives as well as they could. Rather, homogeneous groups tend to live in a sort of echo chamber, where biases are allowed to take over, and important information and experiences aren't considered to the extent that they need to be.