What to do when your profession is under attack?
Introducing a new Imagine Belonging Podcast Mini-Series, Navigating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion's New Reality. Discover how the show can help you build belonging spaces, and share with a friend!
In this current climate, where the professional diversity, equity, and inclusion industry is facing targeted attacks from activists and professionals within the federal government, our commitment to building spaces of belonging at work and in the community is more critical than ever before.
Yet, for those of us who hold formal roles as diversity, equity, and inclusion leaders, what do we do when our profession is under attack? To answer that question, I created a special 5-part mini-series entitled, Navigating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion's New Reality.
What you're about to experience was inspired by an exclusive leadership toolkit, originally commissioned for Fortune 100 companies, and now, with their permission, made available to you. Co-sponsored by Dani Monroe, Founder of CenterFocus International, and me, its purpose is to directly address the seismic shifts in the diversity, equity, and inclusion landscape.
We're talking about everything from navigating legal repositioning to applying daily tactics for effective implementation and, ultimately, improving both business performance and employee well-being. This mini-series dives deep into what it truly means to lead with courage and clarity when the ground beneath diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments is constantly shifting.
We’ll explore the fundamental changes impacting your work and provide you with a roadmap for action. By listening, you will gain the essential insights and practical strategies for what to do when you don't know what to do—empowering you to be the leader you’ve been waiting for, the kind of leader our world deserves, especially now.
The Historical & Legal Context for Our Work
Diversity, equity, and inclusion impact all of us, yet it is frequently misunderstood and increasingly weaponized by politicians and others. As leaders of this work, we are motivated by our long-standing core commitment to lifting all people as we level the playing field and expand equal opportunities to generate business, organizational, and community success. However, many fail to realize or accept the ways this essential work can help everyone in an organization.
We are well-positioned to continue this work, as the values enshrined in diversity, equity, and inclusion are as old as the Revolutionary War and the U.S. Declaration of Independence, signed into existence nearly 250 years ago. These values align with our nation’s mission of building a more perfect union, where all individuals are created equal—this self-evident truth serves as our North Star.
Earlier this year, Stacey Abrams underscored this point, stating:
As our nation has evolved, we have done the work of actually making our country match our mission, and as we continue to evolve, those who oppose these foundational values of diversity, equity, and inclusion—they’re panicking. Since the country got started, DEI has been the way we’ve built ourselves.
We tend to think of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the context of workplace strategies that evolved from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which regulated and helped ensure opportunities for all by introducing affirmative action. Over the past sixty years, diversity professionals worldwide have emerged as some of the best C-suite executives across all industries, thriving within and because of the complexity of these roles.
It’s important to remember that this body of work has emerged from a US-based context. It is governed by laws established to expand access to the promise of freedom by upending the discrimination and lack of opportunities that are in opposition to this country’s mission. These corrections go back as far as the Civil War and have resulted in our current laws, including but not limited to:
The Thirteenth Amendment (1865): Banning slavery.
The Fourteenth Amendment (1868): Granting citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the US and granting them equal protection under the law.
The Nineteenth Amendment (1920): Granting women the right to vote.
The Civil Rights Act, Title VII (1964): Prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967): Protecting employees over forty years old from workplace discrimination.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990): Protecting people with disabilities from discrimination.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (1993): Requiring covered employers to provide employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons.
The Respect for Marriage Act (2022): Recognizing in- and out-of-state same-sex and interracial marriages in all 50 U.S. states.
These laws were designed to help advance a wider range of people in the United States, including people of color, women, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, immigrants, Veterans, and those in low-income communities—all of whom want a fair shot to better themselves and their families, in business and beyond.
The current sociopolitical climate presents unprecedented challenges to diversity professionals, CEOs, and senior executives in Fortune 50–500 companies; it also threatens the workforce strategies they have championed for business success and the moral imperative. A rising tide of anti–diversity, equity, and inclusion rhetoric, media coverage, legislation, policies, and judicial decisions threatens to undermine the progress that’s been made toward a more just society. It’s my intention that this podcast mini-series offers the essential guidance you need to navigate this new era.
How to Use This Podcast Series
This podcast mini-series was created to equip organizational and people leaders with strategies, resources, and organizations ready to help you circumvent this volatile, uncertain, and complex landscape. It offers emerging strategies, promising practices, helpful resources, and trusted leaders to support your commitment to advancing the diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities critical to your organization.
This mini-series is also designed to be accessible, concise, and substantive. While you are welcome to listen to every remaining episode, I encourage you to jump to the episodes that will best enhance your practice. Here's a quick look at what we'll cover in the rest of the series:
We also offer our Belonging Practice Guide as a gift to support you and your team in managing the erosion of psychological safety & trust—a direct result of divestments in workplace culture-building efforts that lead to a felt sense of belonging for all.
Best Practices to Consider
To help you get the most out of this valuable content, I wanted to share the following best practices:
Center the relevance of your work. Tie your organization’s strategy and diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments to the business of the organization, either the services it provides or the products it produces.
Stay informed. Bookmark and subscribe to legal and policy updates from reputable organizations and the thought leaders mentioned in this podcast series.
Monitor public discourse. Follow trusted diversity, equity, and inclusion communications experts, journalists, social media influencers, and industry publications to understand the evolving narratives.
Network and engage. Participate in professional organizations and networks that you like, know, and trust. Continue supporting and attending industry conferences to connect with other diversity, equity, and inclusion experts.
Consult legal counsel. To ensure compliance and proactively address potential legal risks and challenges, consult with your company’s or outside legal counsel specializing in employment law.
Practices to Avoid
Avoid only using the acronym "DEI." When discussing your organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments, avoid only using the acronym without defining it and adding context.
Ignoring the issue. Don’t dismiss anti–diversity, equity, and inclusion sentiment as a passing trend. You’ll be challenged in the months ahead, and this resource can provide valuable support.
Making uninformed statements. Avoid making public statements about legal or policy matters without first consulting your company’s legal counsel.
Working in isolation. Don’t let loneliness and isolation impact how you engage in these matters. Engage with trusted colleagues in other departments (HR, legal, communications) to develop a coordinated response.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast mini-series and for sharing it with others within your network who can benefit.
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