The most successful organizations have a superpower, says Jessica Nordell: they know how to fight bias. Bias has a real cost for every organization—in revenue, in growth, in talent and beyond—which is why confronting it effectively propels companies and individuals to greater heights. Jessica’s book The End of Bias: A Beginning is the definitive work on finding success by eliminating bias—New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant described her writing as “the single most fascinating and useful exploration of bias that I’ve read. Ever.” In dynamic talks, Jessica draws examples from her research, like the law firm that reduced gender bias and saw a 70% growth in revenue, improved trust, and happier, more engaged employees. Jessica’s warmth and compassion make these talks inclusive for everyone: a recent audience member remarked, “You didn’t blame or shame anyone, and you gave me concrete things I can do.” Her practical strategies empower you and your team to create stronger, more fair environments at work and everywhere else.
Jessica Nordell is on a mission to end bias, because she sees that it prevents us from living in a world where we all get to prosper. When bias undervalues women or historically marginalized groups, we all lose something from that homogeneity: a new opinion, an essential lived experience, a fresh set of eyes that can solve critical, collective problems. But since so many biases are unexamined, we may not realize they’re there. This is why well-meaning diversity and inclusion programs have inconsistent results, and why the barriers to women’s advancement in the workplace often go unnoticed. But we can do something about it. We can uncover bias—even the biases that we don’t know about it—and we can create a workplace culture and a society that is so much more equal and exciting.
Using an unforgettable blend of neuroscience and real life stories, Jessica lays out what she discovered from a decade of work on her book The End of Bias. She dives deep into the causes of bias and how we can push back against it, sharing stories about the preschool that uprooted gender stereotypes with gender-neutral language, and Johns Hopkins doctors who eliminated discrimination by putting into place a new diagnostic checklist. She shows you how to learn from these lessons and how to create a plan for changing the way you work, create, and lead. Bad habits can be hard to break, so she’ll teach you how to find out you have them and how to stamp them out. Inclusive cultures are hard to build, so she’ll teach you where you start and where you go next.
Beverly Tatum, the bestselling author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, called The End of Bias a “cause for hope”, and readers have described it as “life-changing.” Jessica’s book is also being used by the Scottish government to inform and guide their AI strategy.
Deeply engaged with connecting across differences to expand and heal the human experience, Jessica’s own early-career experience with workplace bias inspired her passion for tackling discrimination and for seeing others in their full complexity and humanity. Jessica is optimistic, honest, and refreshing; she is willing to hold her own biases up to scrutiny, giving you a model for how to do that work in your own lives and in your own workplaces and communities. This is why Jennifer Szalai of the New York Times Book Review called her “a reflective and capacious thinker.” More than anything, Jessica’s warmth, relatability, and openness touches people who are completely different from each other. She makes sure that everyone listening feels safe, respected, and heard—while preparing them for the real work of doing better.
Jessica has led an incredible career as a science and culture journalist, and her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, the New York Times, The New Republic, and many other publications. Jessica’s work on The End of Bias was shortlisted for the Lukas Prize for Excellence in Nonfiction and the Royal Society Science Book Prize, is a finalist for the 2022 NYPL Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, and was named a Best Book of the Year by the World Economic Forum, Greater Good, AARP, and Inc. Jessica holds degrees from Harvard and University of Wisconsin, and her work as a writer and producer earned her the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio and Television.