The Multicultural Mindset by Joycelyn David is a solid primer on multicultural marketing, but it leans more 101-level than groundbreaking. I’m rating it 3 out of 5 stars.

You can tell that Joycelyn David has spent real time thinking through her framework and brings a thoughtful perspective to the importance of cultural competency in marketing. That said, as someone who leads a multicultural engagement practice at a public affairs agency, I found the ideas here to be fairly surface-level.

Who this book is for:
I’d recommend this for junior-level employees who are new to multicultural marketing—particularly those who are not people of color and are just beginning to understand the space. It offers a helpful foundational understanding and makes a solid business case for why multicultural engagement matters.

What I wanted more of:
I was hoping for a deeper dive—something that would challenge or expand how I already think about strategy and execution in this field. Unfortunately, it didn’t offer that kind of depth. There’s value here, but it’s not especially revelatory for practitioners already steeped in the work.

Bottom line:
A useful starting point for beginners or teams early in their multicultural journey, but not essential reading for seasoned professionals in the space.

A well researched and compassionate book on inclusivity, anti-racism, and multiculturalism - mostly in the workplace. However, I felt a lot of these lessons could also be applied to personal lives, too. As a white woman who is a wife, mother, and family member to Métis Cree peoples, and has other loved ones/friends who are part of the BIPOC community, I felt this was such an important read, and came away with a lot of useful information to grow and learn with.

The Multicultural Mindset is told from a Canadian first perspective, with additional references from the United States of America. As Canada's strengths and pride is in their multicultural mindset, and as a citizen of the US, I will focus my thoughts from that lens. In 2025, DEI-part of the multicultural mindset- is under attack in the US. Many businesses, schools, and other institutional touchpoints have been asked to step back from anything that would showcase the beloved history of the diverse tapestry of the US. While reading this book might seem counterintuitive, I argue that it is needed more now for policy makes, teachers, librarians, mentors, coaches, physicians, academics and more. The multicultural mindset is something that each of us must take on for ourselves and with groups who offer community to put this mindset in practice. Further, I suspect that this toolkit will help develop the "soft skills" that will be not only desirable but expected.

In our current cultural climate, the stark difference between the US and, our friendly neighbor to the North, could not even be more divergent.

Who knew Canada took the initiative in celebrating differences rather than disregarding them (see: the Canadian Multiculturalism Act of 1988.) Granted, US history will be forever entangled with the complexity of race politics. The two countries pasts are starkly different but, perhaps, a book like this, will prod the reader to gain a new perspective.

So, yes, while this book may appeal to business leaders, it perhaps should be one that is read by those that are currently in college classrooms who will later inhabit our government offices, big businesses and other industries.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Advantage Books, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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