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Are we getting it wrong with DEI? And how can we take Diversity, Equity and Inclusion beyond the blame game?

In Episode 82 of Women Disrupting Tech, systemic change guru Karim El Oteify joins me to explore why a systemic approach to implementing DEI could lead to better, more sustainable results.

Key Takeaways from the episode

DEI isn’t a quick fix. It’s a complex, systemic challenge. In this episode, Karim El Oteify shares why surface-level strategies often fail and how we can re-imagine DEI for lasting change.

Together, we unpack:
🔎 The Branding Problem: How to move from siloed diversity efforts to collective action to make a difference.
🤝 Privilege as a tool for progress: How allies can make a real impact and drive inclusive change.
🌍 Human-Centered Solutions: How Karim’s company, The Wheels of Impact, uses actionable strategies to create measurable, sustainable outcomes.

Curious to learn how we can get DEI right? Hit the play button below.

A Systemic Approach to Implementing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with Karim El Oteify | Ep. 82 – Women Disrupting Tech

Want to help build a more inclusive tech industry? Change starts here!

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Together, we’ll amplify the voices of incredible women in tech and inspire more men to champion gender equity in their circles.

Enter your email below to join the movement and make an impact today.

1. Key Takeaways from the episode
2. Want to help build a more inclusive tech industry? Change starts here!
3. What’s magical about the episode 🪄
4. The Two Zero-Cost Ways to Support Women Disrupting Tech
5. My Reflections on This Episode
6. About Karim El Oteify
7. About The Wheels of Impact
8. Let me know what you think!
9. What’s coming up?
10. More episodes like this?

What’s magical about the episode 🪄

Episode 82 of Women Disrupting Tech is a masterclass in tackling DEI with depth and nuance. Karim El Oteify goes beyond the buzzwords to challenge our assumptions about fairness, privilege, and systemic change.

Here’s what truly stands out:
Fairness Isn’t Real: Karim’s insight that fairness is a construct—one shaped by the systems we’ve inherited—resonates deeply. He explains how biases are embedded in the very fabric of organizational structures, making fairness an illusion rather than a guarantee. This was a lightbulb moment for me: we can’t fix what we don’t first acknowledge as broken.

Complexity Is a Strength: I’ve often been told that I overcomplicate things. Listening to Karim, I felt validated. His approach embraces complexity, showing how we can solve systemic problems by addressing their interconnected layers rather than oversimplifying them. It was inspiring to hear him argue that true progress demands embracing complexity.

Privilege as a Catalyst: One of the most powerful takeaways was Karim’s view on privilege. Rather than seeing it solely as an obstacle, he frames it as a tool for progress. He challenges allies—especially white cis-gender men—to use their privilege intentionally to foster inclusion and disrupt harmful systems.

Karim’s storytelling is thought-provoking and actionable. This episode reminded me that DEI isn’t about quick fixes or finding someone to blame. It’s about creating systems that work for everyone.

And that starts with rethinking how we define success, fairness, and inclusion.

Curious to dive deeper into these transformative ideas? Click the button below to tune in on Spotify!

The Two Zero-Cost Ways to Support Women Disrupting Tech

When you’re ready to support my guests in making DEI obsolete by the end of 2032, help out by doing these two things:

1. Use the share buttons below to share the podcast with friends, family, and co-workers. This way, you give the women disrupting tech the platform they need to make it happen. Use the buttons below to share.
2. Rate the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Better yet, leave a review. You can use a rating of one to five stars. This will help other people discover the podcast. And if you leave a review, it will help me improve.

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My Reflections on This Episode

Have you ever had the feeling of listening to a lecture without being lectured? Well, that’s the feeling I had while talking to Karim.

One of the things we talk about is the statement that ‘privilege is leverage.’ Karim highlights that the system we live in was built over time by white men with their needs and wants in mind. He emphasizes that this is not to attribute blame but rather to encourage them to contribute to systemic change.

So, how can they use their privilege? By building awareness, expanding their understanding of others’ experiences, and stepping outside their perspective. It’s about bravery and openness.

Are you ready to move beyond the blame game and start working on a systemic approach to DEI? Tune in to the episode on Apple Podcasts, or click the image with the quote to watch the episode on YouTube.

“This system, in many ways, is built to serve you, to support your endeavors,”

Karim El Oteify, Founder of The Wheels of Impact on the privilege of white men.

About Karim El Oteify

Karim El Oteify is an entrepreneur, speaker, consultant and the founder of The Wheels of Impact. He is on a mission to drive sustainable change by creating equitable and engaging workplaces where every voice is valued, and every talent is leveraged. To follow this inspiring personality, connect with Karim on LinkedIn.

And you can find his interview with our mutual friend Michiel Reith on Journeys of Empowerment.

About The Wheels of Impact

With The Wheels of Impact, Karim is working at the intersection of DEI, Communications and Change. The goal is to inspire, empower and transform organizations like KLM, Microsoft and Trivium Packaging by helping them to align their business objectives with DEI principles. You can learn more about The Wheels of Impact on their website and by following them on LinkedIn.

Let me know what you think!

Are we oversimplifying DEI and reducing it to buzzwords? And how do you feel white cis men should use their privilege? Share your views, questions and observations in the comments.

If you would like to suggest a guest that I absolutely must have on the podcast, please let me know via email or send a DM on LinkedIn. 

What’s coming up?

I’m taking a short break, but we’ll be back in the new year with two incredible episodes:

1. Diana Oganesian shares how Sestive uses AI to transform therapy and mental health outcomes.
2. Carla Canino explains how we can make Artificial Intelligence a force for good.

Stay tuned for more inspiring stories on Women Disrupting Tech in 2025!

Wishing you a Happy, Healthy, and Disruptive 2025! Until we meet again in the next episode, keep being awesome.

More episodes like this?

It’s always difficult to compare, but if I could recommend three episodes related to taking a more integral approach to DEI, it would be these:
– In episode 78, Katty Hsu highlights the importance of data when striving for gender equality in entrepreneurship.
– In episode 54, Kimberly Ofori explains how we can harness the power of financial inclusion to break biases in tech and beyond.
– In episode 7, Madhu Mathoera argues that real inclusion requires us to leave our comfort zone.

When he was standing in front of his colleagues to explain why Pride Week is important, it suddenly struck Pim Blom that he had a bigger mission. A mission that would result in a transition from a strategy consultant to a freelance journalist, writer and LGBTQ+ advocate.

In Episode 81 of Women Disrupting Tech, we explore how Pim uses storytelling to champion workplace inclusion and inspire change.

Key Takeaways from the episode

When listening to this episode, you’ll discover:
✨ The influence of LGBTQ+ representation in senior leadership on careers
✨ How storytelling drives diversity in senior leadership
✨ Ways allies can listen and act for real impact

Curious to learn how storytelling can change the workplace? Hit the play button below.

The Power of Storytelling for Unconditional Inclusion with Pim Blom | Ep. 81 – Women Disrupting Tech

Be an ally, be part of the movement!

Do you want to contribute to a more inclusive tech industry, as a woman in tech or as a (male) advocate?

Join the movement to help the women on the show shine as role models and help me encourage other men to support the female entrepreneurs in their lives.

To join, enter your email address below. By joining, you’ll get a weekly newsletter each Thursday afternoon (CET) with highlights and personal observations from the episode. You’ll also get early access to each episode, and you can access the full archive on Spotify.

1. Key Takeaways from the episode
2. Be an ally, be part of the movement!
3. The magic you can expect in this episode 🪄
4. The Two Zero-Cost Ways to Support Women Disrupting Tech
5. What makes this episode magical🌟?
6. About Pim Blom
7. Let me know what you think!
8. What’s coming up?
9. More episodes like this?

The magic you can expect in this episode 🪄

A couple of years ago, Pim Blom explained to his colleagues at Vinted why Pride Month is important. He told them that being LGBTQ+ was illegal in 94 countries. In other words, he could not be who he was in about half of the world. When he heard himself say this, he decided to do something about it.

Fast forward to the end of 2024, a year in which being LGBTQ+ is still considered illegal in about one-third of the world. Pim uses storytelling to advocate for inclusion and equality of LGBTQ+ people.

In episode 81 of Women Disrupting Tech, Pim and I envision an ideal world. One where everyone can be their true selves. We discuss:
– The impact of LGBTQ+ role models and representation on career choices.
– The crucial role of storytelling and education in increasing diversity at senior leadership levels.
– ️The importance of listening to LGBTQ+ people and amplifying their voices.

Plus, Pim turns the tables on me and lets me explore my biases and the boundaries of my own comfort zone.

🎧 Listen to episode 81 of Women Disrupting Tech to hear Pim’s inspiring journey and our honest dialogue. Click the button below to tune in on Spotify!

The Two Zero-Cost Ways to Support Women Disrupting Tech

When you’re ready to support my guests in making DEI obsolete by the end of 2032, help out by doing these two things:

1. Use the share buttons below to share the podcast with friends, family, and co-workers. This way, you give the women disrupting tech the platform they need to make it happen. Use the buttons below to share.
2. Rate the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Better yet, leave a review. You can use a rating of one to five stars. This will help other people discover the podcast. And if you leave a review, it will help me improve.

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What makes this episode magical🌟?

In this episode, Pim and I talk about an ideal world in which everyone can be their true selves. That includes being accepted as a person, unconditionally. And it goes beyond accepting or celebrating that people are different. It’s about considering these differences as normal.

Pim also highlights the role of early education, not on gender differences but on including different gender combinations in the materials we use at school. He says that “unconsciously, you learn from a young age that society revolves around cisgender men and cisgender women having a relationship.”

This connects nicely with the insights that Katty Hsu shared in episode 78 about the implicit biases of white men running for-profit companies in teaching materials for students at Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Pim’s story underlines the importance of how we tell our stories in educational settings. Click the button below to listen on Apple Podcasts, or click the image with the quote to watch the episode on YouTube.

“Representation and education are very important, especially through personal stories.”

Pim Blom, Freelance journalist and writer

About Pim Blom

Pim Blom is a freelance journalist and speaker about diversity and inclusion related to LGBTQ+ people.

He has a background in econometrics and started working as a strategy consultant for Bloom. Bloom was later taken over by Vinted, a European marketplace for preloved fashion, where Pim worked as a data analyst and as a product manager.

He currently lives in Hanoi with his husband, where he’s writing a book on how to be successful as a queer person in the workplace. The Dutch version of the book is out now.

You can connect with Pim and follow his journey as a writer on LinkedIn and on Instagram. And you can find the Dutch articles that inspired this episode here.

Let me know what you think!

What would be your ideal world? And how would diversity and inclusion fit in? Share your views, questions and observations in the comments.

If you would like to suggest a guest that I absolutely must have on the podcast, please let me know via email or send a DM on LinkedIn. 

What’s coming up?

In the Christmas edition of Women Disrupting Tech, systemic change guru Karim El Oteify will share how we can use DEI as a force for good in business.

After a short break, we’ll return in the new year with an interview with Diana Oganesian about how Sestive uses AI to transform therapy & mental health outcomes.

So stay tuned for more inspiring Women Disrupting Tech and their allies!

With that, I wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy, Healthy and Disruptive 2025! Until we meet again in the next episode, keep being awesome!

More episodes like this?

It’s always difficult to compare, but if I could recommend three episodes related to travel and entrepreneurship, it would be these:
– In episode 78, Katty Hsu highlights the importance of data when striving for gender equality in entrepreneurship.
– In episode 62, Ruben Brave shares how he’s creating new narratives for a more innovative society. This episode covers his work with Dutch New Narrative Lab.
– In episode 6, Jacqueline van den Ende states that gender should be a non-issue by the end of 2032, and as a result my podcast will be obsolete.