Habari gani? (What’s happening?)
In Swahili, the phrase “Habari gani?” means “What’s happening?” It was a question asked by village elders to younger members of the community as a way to gauge how they were doing. The habari gani menta (literally, “the person who asks, ‘What’s happening?’” but often translated as “mentor”) was charged with providing mentees with support to keep them from feeling disconnected.
In her February 13 presentation, Debi Jenkins, P.h.D, described how many employees from historically disadvantaged communities feel disconnected from their workplaces, leading to challenges in employee retention–and how we each can become a habari gani menta to our coworkers to help overcome those feelings of disconnection, thereby fostering a workplace environment that truly honors and supports diversity.