5 Things / Always Intersectional
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This week I spoke with a few clients to discuss the workshop series for 2023. What impressed me most was the care to ensure a variety of diverse identities were represented in the content and presenters. In fact, on one call, I was joined by leaders from the LGBTQ+, Women’s, and Black Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to discuss a series of workshops that thoughtfully included all identities.
The Human Rights Campaign recently released their criteria for the 2023 Corporate Equality Index (CEI). Part of the revised criteria is about ensuring that employee training is intersectional. Intersectionality is a big word and was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, who describes it as, “We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality or immigrant status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts.”
I really do believe that intersectionality has become more than a buzzword. Equitable programs, policies, processes, and partnerships must be intentionally intersectional. That means asking questions like “What can we do to make this a great [hiring process, onboarding process, customer experience, conference… etc] for a Black, transgender woman with a disability?” Because if you can make the organization a great place for her, it will be a great place for everyone. (This concept is adapted from the book Unleashed)
Keep intersectionality in mind when you’re booking speakers for events (DEI or non-DEI events). We have some great folks on our team with fascinating stories to tell, and I can personally refer you to some fantastic speaker friends.
Here are the good vibes I found this week:
Meet Chelsea -- The First Barbie With Scoliosis
Barbie continues to represent more dimensions of diversity. There’s a new Barbie doll named Chelsea, and she has scoliosis. The doll comes with a removable back brace. More than 100,000 kids are diagnosed with scoliosis each year, and wearing a back brace can be incredibly stigmatizing for these kids. This matters because the doll normalizes the wearing of a brace and playing with this doll can start powerful conversations and build empathy with other kids (and even adults).
‘We Need to Stop Viewing Employees as Merely Resources and Start Treating Humans as Valued People.’
The HR software company Greenhouse has a “Global Passport” program which allows its employees to experience cultural immersion by spending up to 60 days working in different countries without using PTO. What a fun idea! I love how this program encourages – gives permission! – to employees to learn in this way This matters because flexibility is a key factor in attracting talent, and when we immerse ourselves in other cultures, we generally become more curious, empathetic humans.
Mellody Hobson Has An Ingenious Idea To Narrow The Wealth Gap
Project Black is a new fund created by Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO and President of Ariel Investments. The private equity fund invests in middle-market companies, installs Black and Latine executives if needed, helps them acquire smaller minority-run businesses, and positions the companies sell to large corporations. The ultimate goal is to satisfy big companies’ supply chain needs and diversity goals at the same time. This is a radical idea to help close the racial wealth gap, and it’s already working – read the article for a fascinating case study about their first investment. This matters because only 2% of corporate spending goes to minority-owned suppliers, and of the ~500 private companies in the U.S. with $1+ billion in sales annually, just five are Black-owned. That’s astonishing.
& 5. Artists Made History At The 2023 GRAMMYs
At the Grammy Awards this week, there were lots of milestones. Beyonce’ became the winningest artist ever, with 32 awards. It’s incredible that a Black woman holds that honor, even as she lost out on Album of the Year. History was made again when Kim Petras became the first transgender woman to win a Grammy Award (for her song “Unholy” with Sam Smith, who stepped back to allow her to do all the talking). And actor Viola Davis won a Grammy for her audiobook, giving her the coveted EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). This matters because these women show young Black women, young queer people, and young trans people that they, too, can achieve whatever their dreams happen to be. Representation matters.
This week’s call to action:
More Black History Month resources – check out this Black American History Crash Course, a series of short (~12 minutes each) animated videos on YouTube: Black American History Playlist
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