Paula T. Edgar, Esq., is a partner at Inclusion Strategy Solutions LLC, a consulting firm that provides innovative and strategic solutions on organizational diversity efforts, intercultural fluency initiatives, sexual harassment prevention and EEO compliance.

Paula speaks and consults on these and other topics by facilitating workshops, conducting live and virtual professional development training, delivering keynote speeches and coaching executives. Paula is an expert in inclusive executive/leadership development, personal branding, networking, social media and career strategies. She is a past President of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association (MBBA), New York’s largest black bar association.

Paula has previously served as the founder and CEO of PGE LLC, the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer at New York Law School, and as an attorney for the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

I met Paula at a conference in 2019 at which we were both speakers. I was so moved by her talk, that I went up to her, let her know that and asked if we could keep in touch. We started following each other on LinkedIn and I became an even bigger fan of hers. Learn more about why Paula is so awesome below.

I bet you’ve probably experienced a bit of joy at the hardship or failure of another person (oftentimes someone you don’t like or who brings out feelings of jealousy in you) at least once in your life just as someone has experienced joy at your negative expense as well.

Think back to when someone you didn’t care for much tripped and spilled coffee on themselves, or when a politician experienced a particularly humiliating fall from grace or when someone of whom you’ve always been envious got fired. It felt a little good, right?

So, why does it sometimes make us feel good when we hear bad news about people we know? Why does it feel strangely satisfying? And does it make us a bad person?