The Courage for Risk: No One’s Coming to Save You with Jason Desentz

Of those raised in the lowest income bracket, only 4% reach the top 20% of earners. Jason Desentz, CHRO of Toshiba, is one of them. Desentz explains his philosophy: "Listen, Learn, Lead," and how he leads his people based on his lived experiences.

Show notes from our host, Emily Trant:

I first met Jason in early 2025 when he was speaking about HR leadership at a conference in Atlanta. As I listened to him talk enthusiastically about the value of hard work, I sat in the audience and misjudged him. He’s a successful HR leader, and I assumed he came from a successful family background and that his ‘hard work’ narrative was cover for his privilege. Boy was I wrong.

Later that same day I hosted a roundtable discussion on financial inclusion, and Jason joined in. Afterwards, he came up to me and began to tell me his story. His humble background, how he knows what it feels like to grow up poor, and how that fuels his leadership style.

I knew then that his story needed to be told.

Jason does a lot of public speaking but he never talks about this part of his life, and I am honored that he was willing to open up and tell his story on the Invisible Worker podcast. 

Thank you, Jason, for your authenticity, for your courage, and for lighting the path for so many people to follow.

Here’s more information on some of the topics we discussed:

• USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS): (https://www.fns.usda.gov/) for data on SNAP participation, benefit levels, and program expenditures.
• Pew Charitable Trust: for data on social mobility and the proportion of children who earn more (or less) than their parents. https://www.pew.org/~/media/legacy/uploadedfiles/pcs_assets/2012/pursuingamericandreampdf.pdf 
• Brookings Institution research: finds the U.S. has lower rates of social mobility compared to many other developed countries. It takes about five generations, or 150 years, for a family in the bottom 10% to reach the average income.

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