March 14, 2018

Meet Amber Cabral of Cabral Co. in Plano

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Cabral.

Amber, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
A native Detroiter, my interest in the diversity and inclusion space began long before I had any idea this work could be a career. I just remember being frustrated by all the people of color at my job working in hourly roles – myself included – and all the salaried management being white. I remember the interruption in identity I experienced when I looked around at my family, friends and community and realized that there wasn’t much evidence that I could be the President or own a company or even purchase a home. I remember feeling like the American Dream wasn’t accessible to me and set out to prove to myself and anyone watching that I could be whatever I wanted to be, too.

Over the years, my career led me to take on roles where few looked like me – neither in complexion, gender or even age. Although, my roles were not always diversity-focused, I evolved into questioning the absence of diversity in my workspaces, into being intentional about ensuring opportunities were accessible to diverse people. I learned to bravely lend diversity strategy and perspective to programs and projects under my guidance, and strategically messaged the importance of inclusiveness at every phase of my Fortune 500 company laden career. Eventually, my passion for the work outgrew the reach my organization permitted me, so I landed at what I do what I do today: I help organizations and individuals shift their mindsets and behaviors around inclusion, equity, and execution. Through strategy development, training, coaching and speaking, I help organizations and high performers appropriately disrupt the status quo to invite the innovation, momentum, and diversity of thought necessary to achieve their goals.

I am also passionate about nurturing the next generation of decision-makers. So, I am an active contributor to multiple non-profit organizations committed to promoting diverse representation in the arts, in workplaces and in communities and empowering women and girls, globally. I serve as Board Secretary for National African American Women’s Leadership Institute, Chair of the Board for Brown Girls Do Ballet and I lead the steering committee for IRON Dallas. My life’s purpose is to fight for fair.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Diversity, equity and inclusion are difficult topics and the work is deeply emotional and personal work. Companies often try to make it all sound very statistical and robotic but we are talking about humanity and identity – those are very sensitive to discuss in life, let alone at work. So there are always struggles – the most troubling has been encountering leaders who don’t want real solutions but just want to make the numbers or check the box. Avoidance is easier but it only exacerbates the inequities that exist. I have also had to learn to manage my own emotions when encountering challenging attitudes about why ensuring opportunities are as equitable as possible is critical to being successful.

Cabral Co. – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
At Cabral Co. we know every problem requires a tailored approach. You won’t find redundant, off-the-shelf diversity, equity and inclusion resources but rather, solutions crafted to address an organization’s unique culture and needs. From content development to strategy design, to custom messaging, we deliver what a business needs and how it needs it to move ahead. We offer a full array of services and programs to develop and sustain inclusive leadership, culture and diversity behaviors. We help create authentic, safe spaces for corporations, law firms, foundations, non-profits, educational institutions and government agencies. Our focus is on both individual and organizational changes that inspire awareness and enable practical, long-term solutions. I am most proud of our willingness to keep the humanity in the work we do by assessing each client’s culture before proposing solutions. What sets us apart is we want to be partners in achieving sustainable change, not just trainers or strategists.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment in my career was having the courage to decide to leave a corporate career and launch my own consulting firm. There are a lot of wonderful and impactful things I learned being at a corporation and I wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world. It just happens that the kind of legacy and impact I would like to leave in the world requires me to approach work from this perspective for a while.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Tafari Stevenson-Howard, Stephon Latham

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