CEO settles in at Michigan Roundtable
April 22, 2008 - Detroit Free Press
Whether it came from working at an auto plant as a college student or his early work as a defense attorney, Thomas Costello learned to appreciate other people's backgrounds.
He's seen how other people live.
"I've never seen the differences," said the 54-year-old Grosse Pointe Park resident. "Rather naively, I say, I see people as people. Why can't other people do that?"
He's hoping that with some discussion and education, they will.
"People have to view diversity not as a threat but as a benefit," said Costello, the new president and chief executive officer of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity & Inclusion.
The mission of the organization is to reduce discrimination and racism and its roots in southeast Michigan go back to 1941.
Costello was appointed by the group's board of directors and started his new role in March. He said diversity adds creativity and energy to communities, schools and workforces.
The area's immigrants built vehicles and helped incorporate language classes at schools. They brought experiences and traditions from their cultures to music, literature and art and developed software solutions and technology for companies like Compuware, where Costello spent 23 years as general counsel.
Costello, a board member for about three years before his appointment, said he sees efforts to bridge ethnic and cultural divides in the region. For example, high school students are working to create an inclusive environment in their schools by forming diversity clubs.
He hopes more people will become interested in replicating the roundtable's work.
Costello is spending his first 100 days talking with school and religious leaders, board members and civic and community leaders about their concerns. He hopes to make the roundtable a statewide group and spread its programs, with the help of grants from private foundations.
Costello's experience with implementing diversity programs at Compuware makes him a good fit for the job, said Bruce Nyberg, 62, of Birmingham, a vice chairman on the roundtable board of directors.
"Human rights organizations are not simple organizations," he said. "They're quite complicated when you're trying to change the human fabric for the better. He understands that."
Marc Siegler, cochair of the Lakes Area Community Diversity Council and a Walled Lake Board of Education trustee, said Costello's idea of taking the roundtable statewide would be beneficial.
"We have a lot of people who have not had the ability or opened up their eyes to people from other parts of the world," Siegler said.
Contact CHRISTINA HALL at 586-826-7265 or chall@freepress.com.
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