As Best Buy’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion in 2004, Jim was charged by the company’s top executives to inspire people to think creatively about diversity. We wanted to encourage honest conversations and bold leadership.”
Pillsbury House artists worked closely with Jim and his team to develop a performance built around the realities of race and gender bias in the workplace. “Breaking Ice helped us grow,” Jim recalls, “by holding up a mirror and helping to nurture an environment where diversity is an opportunity, not just an obligation. Within a few years, our efforts were getting noticed by the Human Rights Council and the Diversity Journal.” Even years later, Jim will hear from Best Buy team members about how inspired they were by the Breaking Ice experience.
Meanwhile, Jim’s connection with Pillsbury House Theatre grew, and today Jim serves as a member of the theatre’s Advisory Board while also traveling around the country helping other organizations implement diversity plans—and somehow making time to tour with his blues band Jimmi and the Band of Souls.
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photo of Jimmi Langemo at the Highway 61 Festival by Dreya Morrigan