Increase Diversity Is Getting Bigger. So Is the Question I’m Asking.

This is #IncreaseDiversity, a newsletter series + Increase Diversity Academy sharing best practices for employers who want to learn how to… well, increase diversity. To see previous editions, visit JenniferTardy.com. | IG: @IncreaseDiversity | Increase Diversity - YouTube

For a long time, when I talked about increasing diversity, I was talking about work.

Who gets hired?

Who gets overlooked?

Who gets promoted?

Who gets access to opportunities that can change the trajectory of their lives?

I’ve spent nearly two decades thinking about those questions.

And through Jennifer Tardy Consulting, I built an entire company around helping organizations identify and remove the barriers that keep qualified people from accessing opportunity.

But something interesting has happened as I’ve become an entrepreneur in other industries.

I realized:

I keep building companies around the same problem.

Not the same industry.

Not the same customer.

The same problem.

Barriers.

More specifically, the barriers standing between people and the things they need to thrive.

And once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it.

First, there was access to opportunity.

This is the work many of you know me for.

Through JTC, I’ve spent years studying the systems surrounding hiring, advancement, retention, and inclusion.

I've learned that talent is everywhere.

Opportunity isn't.

And that question feels especially relevant in October, as we recognize National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

For people with disabilities, access to opportunity can depend on whether workplaces are designed to recognize talent, remove unnecessary barriers, and create meaningful pathways to employment and advancement.

The numbers offer an important reminder of why this matters.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 22.8% of people with disabilities were employed in 2025, compared with 65.2% of people without disabilities. Among people ages 16 to 64 with disabilities, the employment-population ratio was 38.1%.

These numbers describe employment in the United States. They don't tell us everything about why employment outcomes differ, but they do raise an important question.

The question isn't simply whether someone can do the work.

It's whether the systems around the work allow them to access the opportunity in the first place.

And very often, the difference between the two isn't someone's ability, ambition, or willingness to work hard.

It's access.

That idea became foundational to how I think about diversity.

But eventually, my work took me somewhere completely different.

Then, I started thinking about access to care.

I became an owner of PWP Health, a behavioral healthcare company serving individuals and families, including communities relying on Medicaid.

Different company.

Different industry.

Different problems.

Or so I thought.

Because once again, I found myself looking at barriers.

People who need behavioral healthcare shouldn't have to navigate an obstacle course to receive it.

Can I find a provider?

Will they accept my insurance?

How long will I have to wait?

Can I get there?

Can I trust them?

Can I get the kind of care I actually need?

Once again, I was looking at the distance between people and access.

And then came EchoMom.

This time, the question became: Who gets access to support?

EchoMom started with a question that became deeply personal to me:

Who takes care of the person everyone else depends on?

There are so many people, women especially, who are extraordinarily capable.

They are leading companies.

Raising children.

Managing households.

Caring for parents.

Showing up for friends.

Remembering birthdays.

Making appointments.

Solving problems.

Holding everyone else's lives together.

And then we tell them they need better boundaries.

More self-care.

More resilience.

Maybe.

But I've started wondering whether some of them simply need more help.

Because support is infrastructure, too.

And access to enough support can change the way someone experiences their entire life.

That's when the connection became clear to me.

JTC asks:

Who gets access to opportunity?

PWP Health asks:

Who gets access to care?

EchoMom asks:

Who gets access to support?

And I keep coming back to the same larger question:

What stands between people and the things they need to thrive?

That question is becoming one of the defining questions of my work.

And because of that, I'm expanding what we talk about here.

Welcome to the next chapter of Increase Diversity.

Some of you have been reading this newsletter for years.

You came here because we talked about hiring.

Recruiting.

Diversity.

Equity.

Inclusion.

Belonging.

Those conversations aren't going anywhere.

But I am widening the lens.

Increase Diversity is going to become a place where I explore access, barriers, and what allows people to thrive through the different businesses I'm fortunate enough to own and build.

And I'm bringing back something else, too:

We're going weekly again.

Well...almost. 😊

For now, you'll hear from me three weeks out of every month.

Each week will take us into a different part of my world.

One week, we'll explore opportunity through what I'm learning and seeing at Jennifer Tardy Consulting.

Another week, we'll explore access to behavioral healthcare through what I'm learning as an owner of PWP Health.

And another, we'll explore care, support, and the infrastructure of a well-supported life through what I'm building with EchoMom.

Then I'm taking the fourth week off.

Because apparently even my newsletter believes in having support and margin. 😂

Eventually, there may be a fourth company with a fourth set of questions worth exploring.

We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

For now, though, I'm excited about this.

Because after years of building companies, I can finally see something I couldn't see while I was in the middle of building them:

My companies aren't as different as they look.

They are different expressions of the same belief.

I believe people deserve meaningful access to the things that allow them to thrive.

Opportunity.

Care.

Support.

And whatever comes next.

So perhaps Increase Diversity was never meant to be a newsletter only about the workplace.

Maybe the question was always bigger:

What becomes possible when more people get access?

That's the question I want to explore with you now.

Welcome back to the weekly-ish Increase Diversity Newsletter.

We've got a lot to talk about.

Where do you need more access?

As Increase Diversity expands, I want to make it easier for you to follow the part of this work that matters most to you.

Opportunity: I want to create better access to jobs, advancement and talent. JTC
Care: I want to connect people with behavioral healthcare. PWP Health
Support: I want more support in my own life. EchoMom