Can Crisis Line Messaging Help Improve Workplace Culture?

Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit that offers emotional support through text messaging, has spent four years connecting people in extreme emotional duress with online counselors. Now its founder is creating a startup called Loris.ai to help companies teach employees how to communicate. "There are a lot of companies right now that are fearful of having hard conversations," says Nancy Lublin, the founder of both Crisis Text Line and Loris.ai. "Managers are nervous having a one-on-one meeting with a direct report of a different gender, and that holds women back. People worrying about inclusion worry they'll get it wrong, and that holds people back."