(Re)Introducing Jenn Tardy — Author of The Equity Edge
Our Increase Diversity Newsletter has published nearly 300 newsletters.
We are about to hit our 5-year anniversary.
We’re about to reach 85,000 subscribers.
And here’s something I’ve never said before:
I don’t remember missing a single week.
Because this newsletter has never just been about content.
It’s been about connection.
It’s been about community.
It’s been about staying in conversation with people who want to make workplaces stronger, fairer, and more human.
And today, I want to (re)introduce myself.
Not because I’ve changed who I am—but because I’ve become even more of who I’ve always been.
I’m Jenn Tardy.
Founder of Jennifer Tardy Consulting.
Diversity recruiting + retention strategist.
A believer in doing work–without harm.
Speaker. Mom. Truth-teller.
And now—author of The Equity Edge.
This book is about helping workplaces remove the obstacles that keep job seekers from opportunity.
It’s original.
It’s urgent.
It’s full of new language—and brand-new models you can use today.
Who I’ve Become
If you’ve been reading my work from the beginning, you’ve seen me grow.
I started by writing from experience—sharing what I’d learned firsthand in my work, my life, and my identity.
But something shifted over time. I stopped just staying in my lane.
I started looking lane-adjacent—asking deeper questions, building original frameworks, naming the obstacles that others weren’t seeing yet.
I started creating new language. New models. New solutions.
Not just what’s already out there—but what needs to be out there.
And most importantly, I got clearer on my voice.
Today, I protect my voice like it’s sacred—because it is.
It’s the thread that has kept this work grounded. And now, it’s in book form.
Why I Wrote This Book
The Equity Edge wasn’t the original title.
The first draft was called The Obstacle Course—because that’s what bias feels like when you’re a job seeker trying to access opportunity.
But my editor asked me something that changed everything:
“What if this isn’t just about the obstacle… but about the edge equity gives us?”
That question gave me a second wind.
Because she was right.
True equity—when done right—gives workplaces an edge.
It creates a competitive advantage in hiring, innovation, culture, retention, and leadership.
But more than that, it creates a human edge:
More compassion. More courage. More clarity.
The kind of edge you can feel.
And that’s what this book is about.
It’s a call to action. A new lens. A practical tool. A conversation starter. A mirror.
Who It’s For (and Who It’s Really For)
I wrote The Equity Edge for workplace leaders. Hiring managers. Recruiters. DEI teams. Executives.
But the truth?
I wrote this book for job seekers.
It’s dedicated to my sons, Austin and Aiden—who will one day enter a workforce I’m doing everything I can to help reshape.
Every chapter ends with a note directly to the job seeker—translating the lessons for the people navigating bias and obstacles every single day.
Because if we’re going to build a better workplace, we can’t leave job seekers out of the conversation.
Not anymore.
My Favorite Chapter
Chapter 7 is my favorite.
It’s where I introduce a concept I created: Lived Experience Intelligence.
Here’s a quote from that chapter:
“Hiring a person because of how they identify is like placing a period at the end of a phrase that should have a comma. My mission in life is to make sure that employers recognize the intelligence that goes beyond identity yet is inseparable from it due to the lived experiences shaped by our identities.”
Writing that chapter brought me to tears.
Because I realized that this concept came from my own lived experience intelligence.
I just didn’t connect the dots until I was knee deep in writing and editing this book.
That’s the power of language.
It frees us.
It clarifies us.
It invites us to go deeper.
What Surprised Me
Writing this book made me admit things I hadn’t said publicly before.
Like this:
“I genuinely believe that increasing representation in workplaces is an absolute necessity. However, I also think the way we’ve been going about this work has historically been somewhat ineffective. As a result, many companies—despite their best intentions—have been towing the line of identity-based hiring.”
Whew.
That’s not a popular opinion. But it’s mine.
And I stand by it.
Because we need honesty if we’re going to get to real solutions.
And this book is about real solutions.
What I Want You to Know
I talk in the book about enoughness—how the obstacle course can make job seekers question whether they’re “enough.”
And the truth is? I’m still in that journey, too.
Sometimes, I still hear whispers that say I don’t look like what a bestselling author should look like.
That being a Black woman, a single mother, a small business owner might somehow disqualify me.
But what I’ve learned is that those whispers don’t get the final word.
Because every preorder. Every comment. Every message from this community.
It doesn’t validate my worth.
It affirms the work.
It reminds me that I’m not alone.
It fills me up in a way that I didn’t expect—but deeply, deeply appreciate.
What Happens Next
If you preorder The Equity Edge, I want to say thank you in a meaningful way.
📥 Send your receipt to equityedge@jennifertardy.com.
🎁 I’ll send you a (free) bonus Instructor’s Guide—a tool to help you use and teach this book in your workplace, your classroom, or your community.
Because this book isn’t just for individual reading.
It’s for collective transformation.
As a matter of fact, over the next several weeks, you are going to hear from me on what today’s political landscape means for this work as we move forward. I have countless articles prepared for you on topics like the 2-Skill Tax on job seekers, what human, barrier-first progress means for us, and much more. Are you ready?
What This Moment Means
If this article travels far and wide—if it gets shared, quoted, posted, passed around—
It will tell me I was right.
That I’m not the only one who still believes there’s a way forward.
That there are still people on LinkedIn—and across the world—who have some fight left in them.
Who still care about access to opportunity.
Who still believe in equity.
And who still believe in each other.
🧠 If you’ve ever believed that equity could be done differently—this book is for you.
💬 If this newsletter has ever made you whisper “I needed this”—this post is for you.
📣 If you’re ready to be part of a movement that moves workplaces forward—this moment is for you.
📚 Preorder your copy of The Equity Edge today.
📥 Then send your receipt to equityedge@jennifertardy.com for a bonus Instructor’s Guide to help you turn this book into something bigger—at work, in school, or in your community.
Don’t forget:
📣 Post this article
💬 Tell me what resonates
📩 Email your receipt for the bonus gift
This is a (re)introduction.
But it’s also an invitation.
Let’s do this—together.
With gratitude,
Jenn
