Folio: Authentic – The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work with Jodi-Ann Burey

Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum is pleased to welcome author Jodi-Ann Burey for a compelling discussion on her new book, Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work. Jodi-Ann will be in conversation with Folio member and social entrepreneur Karen Okonkwo.

Workplace dynamics in recent years have been a dizzying storm of broken promises. Companies that once encouraged employees to “come as you are” and bring your full, authentic self to work are now shutting down initiatives, part of an ongoing cycle of trading in our identities when it’s convenient and profitable. Those calls for authenticity were never honest and are actually harmful. Jodi-Ann Burey delves into the dangers of disclosure in environments that aren’t built for our well-being. With insights from pop culture, academic research, and interviews with other professionals of color, Burey argues that we can do better than shallow ploys for representation. Our physical and emotional health are at risk, and too much is sacrificed―for ourselves and for collective progress―when our full potential is blocked by racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism. Authentic is a powerful reckoning―and now is the time to reclaim our agency. Even at work.

Books will be available for sale at the event through mam’s books, the only independent Asian American bookstore in Seattle and the entire Pacific Northwest, providing books and titles to the community by Asian American authors and writers.

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