Out N About: Navigating Identity in the Workplace

Bruin Success

In partnership with UCLA Alumni Diversity Programs & Initiatives, the Bruin Success Podcast presents a collaboration episode: Out N About: Navigating Identity in the Workplace.

Moderated by Cleve Wong ’10, featured speakers Devon Dickau ’07, MBA ’15 and Matt Kaczmarek ’05 share their insights, reflections, and strategies on navigating the professional world as a LGBTQ+ individual. They include valuable recommendations to aspiring and current LGBTQ+ professionals, allies, and organizations seeking to foster and engage in inclusive work environments where all staff feel respected and valued for who they are.

Cleve Wong '10 is an executive health coach and product strategist with over a decade of experience in Fortune 10 companies and non-profit organizations, including Google, UCLA Health, Disney, and the Aspen Institute. He designed the first science-based mindfulness mobile app for patients and clinicians worldwide, earning recognition from the New York Times and Mashable. After a diagnosis of stress-induced facial paralysis, Cleve immersed himself in integrative medicine. He completed post-graduate training at UCLA Neuroscience and UC Irvine Health, and became a certified mindfulness teacher and a health and wellness coach. Today, Cleve takes joy in coaching leaders on stress management, burnout recovery, and helps clients design their journey toward holistic health and deeper fulfillment. Cleve is a board member of the UCLA Lambda Alumni and is committed to supporting underserved communities.

Matt Kaczmarek '05 is Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Private Debt Investing, and Head of the Los Angeles office at BlackRock. Matt is also global chair of the firm’s Out & Allies LGBTQ+ employee network. Previously Matt held senior economic policy appointments in the Obama Administration at the White House and Departments of State and the Treasury. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the UCLA Alumni Association, the Campaign Board of the National LGBT Victory Fund, and is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy and the Council on Foreign Relations. He received his MA from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he was editor-in-chief of the SAIS Review of International Affairs, and his BA from UCLA, where he served as President of the University of California Student Association.

Devon Dickau ’07, M.B.A. ’15, also holds an M.Ed. in Technology, Innovation & Education from Harvard. While attending UCLA Anderson, Devon was a TED UCLA Campfire speaker on the topic of covering in the workplace and was named one of Poets & Quants “Favorite MBAs” of 2015 for giving voice to the LGBTQ+ community. He is now currently a Board Director for the UCLA Alumni Association. After a career spanning the nonprofit, entertainment, and education sectors, focused on using media and technology for social change, Devon is now the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Offerings Leader at Deloitte Consulting, where he is also an ESG and Social Impact Strategist. Most importantly, he lives in Calabasas with his husband Peter and their twin toddlers, Rebel and Cosmo.

The Bruin Success Podcast is hosted and produced by Sara Mosgrove and Kelsey Beisecker. Thank you to our sustaining donors.