“Integrity is profitability’s long game.” - Ryker Knapp
Ryker Knapp (he/him) is working as a manager of inclusive learning and enablement at Indeed, in the United States, out of Arizona. Being a transgender man is what sparked his interest in advocating for others. It taught him true empathy for others.
“I've been in situations where life was not equitable. Life was not kind. And so I want to do the work to help others not feel like that.” - Ryker Knapp
When you have a marginalized identity, you live in a state of survival, especially in your younger years. Ryker was adamant about proving everybody wrong and being really successful in life. The best way he saw to do that was in the corporate world, so he worked very hard and became a people leader. At a certain point in time, his organization had a required diversity and inclusion training for all people leaders. That’s when he realized: ‘Oh my gosh, this is what I'm supposed to do with my life.’
“I need to be teaching people these concepts and this level of consciousness that so many people are just sleeping through.” - Ryker Knapp
Ryker’s role model is still the facilitator from that training that triggered him to want to do DEI work himself. He immensely admires her patience, understanding, and knowledge. “I want to be her when I grow up,” he says, smiling.
For a long time, he did DEI work as an extracurricular activity next to his formal role. He crafted an approach where he offers people a two-step dance, where they are asked to dive into an x amount of hours of training and then get to choose their own adventure from a bunch of different topics. Get them interested in something and feed their hunger, then they can find their own way to ‘Oh, now I want to learn this because that was so interesting, I had no idea.’ Ryker’s experience is that when a learner is motivated in that way, everything else comes a bit easier. Latching onto one aspect of DEI can be a home base where people feel their passion for the work, which trickles into learning more different things.
He extends that learning mindset to DEI professionals, inviting us never to stop learning, always keeping top of mind that being a DEI professional means that you know that you'll never know everything. The moment you think you do, you're not doing the work anymore. The world changes, and so do you, and you want to stay on top of it and learn more do better.
“The moment that you think you know it all, that you stop learning, that's where the danger is at.” - Vivian Acquah
Ryker’s experience is that you can’t do this type of work without having a sense of community. Being able to talk through the microaggressions that come up by having one-to-one conversations around this. We need to have somebody who understands the language, the impact, and the feelings that come up doing this work. To get the space to process what happened is really important.
And he wants to acknowledge that this is a very tumultuous time in history. It's exhausting. It's scary. A lot of us are afraid right now. He emphasizes that those feelings are so valid and encourages us to acknowledge and honor those feelings happening inside our bodies. It's our nervous system responding.
What he also sees is that we are in a major transformation period, evolving into a new level of understanding of what humans are. Ryker’s North Star, his light at the end of the tunnel that he looks forward to in about 5-10 years from now, is seeing where we're at that point because as we're getting all this major pushback, he sees that as a sign that we're doing the work and we're doing it right.
“You notice what’s happening in the world. And you also allow yourself to notice what happens inside, how your body responds. Notice in both of those ways.” - Marjolijn Vlug
Ryker talks about the importance of grace. It's totally okay to make mistakes, to practice and fail; that is how we elevate ourselves to a new level of understanding and competence. We easily don't give other people enough grace in this work either. And if we don't support them, that's when people become frozen in conscious ignorance. So help people find a home base, he says, in an early stage of their journey, around something that connects with them most, and then they can explore further from there.
Ryker firmly believes that nobody on this earth exists without having some form of an outsider perspective or marginalized identity. For some, this may be deeply below the surface. And for some, of course, there’s a lot more than for others. Yet if people can acknowledge that piece of themselves, Ryker says, especially people who sit in a lot more insider experiences, we can all realize, ‘Oh, I know what that feels like.’
“It's that empathetic human connection that is the most important part of this work.“ - Ryker Knapp
That ability to help others foster psychological safety amongst each other, ‘That is the hardest part of the work y'all, that’s it,’ Ryker says, Arizona style.
“When you really break it down, it's really just empathy.” - Ryker Knapp
Important in Ryker’s DEI work is to stay true to what he’s teaching with integrity. He chooses his own workplaces with care because of the many small nuances that are essential for him to be supported and cared for, as his marginalized identity is one that's so politically volatile right now.
His biggest reward is the light bulb moment, and he recognizes that although many people who have been teachers or trainers have that excitement, it is specifically valuable in DEI work because that light bulb has such a huge trickle effect. He vividly remembers someone who was in one of his classes and then hearing from somebody who reported to them, 2+ years later, saying, ‘My manager went to your training, and that completely changed them. We weren't getting along before, but now we go for cocktails after work.’
To recharge in between those lightbulb moments, Ryker takes breaks to do things he loves, like DIY, doing things outdoors, and spending time with his family and dogs. He also definitely relies on having a strong team as a collective support system.
He warmly recommends the way he has found to build a community of practice by regularly getting into conversations with people who are not like you, to learn about their lived experiences: go and do volunteer work. ‘I will never not volunteer in my life,’ is what Ryker is crystal clear on. You learn so much from it, it’s rich, and it’s free.
Ryker reminds you to give yourself grace and take a break. Acknowledge all the feelings that you're having. Don't push them down. Don't ignore them. Because you know, for the greater good, that you need to push through these feelings in the work. We are only as good and helpful to others as we are to ourselves. And so, making sure that we're honoring ourselves and the feelings that we have inside makes us better at this work. So do whatever that looks like; every day, do something for yourself.
“You also matter in the work and need to be taken care of just as much as we're trying to take care of the whole world right now.” - Ryker Knapp
About Ryker Knapp
Ryker Knapp (he/him) is the Manager of Inclusive Learning and Enablement at Indeed. His work focuses on creating and facilitating a well-rounded human-centered Learning Ecosystem enabling an environment of social continuous growth and belonging.
Connect with Ryker via
Staying True to Yourself in DEI: a conversation with Ryker Knapp