Chief Jona Olsson has been an educator and political activist for more than three decades. She on is the founder and director of Cultural Bridges to Justice, a national training consortium founded in 1986, and has been the fire chief of the Latir Volunteer Fire Department in Questa, N.M., since 2004.

Olsson joins FIRE CHIEF Associate Editor Mary Rose Roberts to discuss diversity issues in the fire service. In the podcast, she addresses what are often considered sensitive topics, including why diversity is an issue in the fire service and what it really means in the 21st century. Specifically, she explains the importance of a diverse society and why the fire service should welcome everyone, regardless of race, gender and sexual orientation. She also offers ways fire chiefs and fire-service leadership can build a work force that encompasses all types of personnel and the importance of creating within the industry a diverse workforce that represents the broader society. Finally, she provides her perspective on the state of diversity in the fire service and the next steps it must take to ensure that leadership is focused on inclusion not exclusion.