Inclusive Leadership in Practice: Opportunities and Challenges
December 10, 2025 | Green Commons J101, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Attending the Center for Inclusive Leadership (CIL) research event, “Inclusion in Scholarship and Action,” offered a compelling, real-world lens on how inclusion can be embedded or excluded across both business practice and academic research. Featuring two presentations and a panel discussion, the event brought together Whitney Falk, Co-Founder & CEO of B Corp ZZ Driggs, and Dr. David Guttormsen from the University of South-Eastern Norway. Despite their different professional contexts, both speakers converged on a central question: whose voices are recognized when we define “impact” and “success”?
Whitney Falk shared how ZZ Driggs builds inclusive practices and integrates sustainability and inclusion into its core business model rather than treating them as peripheral CSR initiatives. By framing furniture as a circular, long-life asset and offering rental and rent-to-own options, her company challenges the logic of “fast furniture” and overconsumption. Her discussion of B Corp certification highlighted the rigor of accountability in inclusive business, while her reflections on the recent backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion underscored the growing pressure on firms to demonstrate genuine commitments to inclusive hiring, sourcing, and governance.
Dr. Guttormsen shifted the focus to the ethics of knowledge production. Drawing on a review of approximately 7,500 articles in leading business ethics journals, he revealed how rarely marginalized groups are centered in academic research. His critique of “elite-centric” scholarship challenged researchers and students to question whose experiences are considered legitimate sources of knowledge. He called for more reflexive, qualitative, and problem-driven research approaches that engage directly with low-status workers and marginalized communities.
Together, the two talks reframed inclusive leadership as a systemic practice one that shapes business models, research agendas, and personal career choices. The session encouraged participants to move beyond symbolic commitments and toward sustained, critically reflective engagement with inclusion in both action and scholarship.
Written by
President of INCrew, a student-led organization promoting inclusion at APU.
She is passionate about using business to create meaningful and positive change in society.
