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28
I
Nonprofit
Performance
Magazine
T
he majority of children born in
2011 were children of color, born
into a world that less than 50 years
ago granted their parents equality on
paper. But non-whites are born to
a world of intersecting oppressions
that will, most likely, greet them
with lower pay, more surveillance,
harsher punitive assessments for actual and
perceived infractions, and limited health
and educational outcomes. The majority of
children born in 2011 were born into a world
that has built a legacy of racial and gender
oppression that, in practice, holds more
weight than the U.S. Constitution. If the
legacy of disparate outcomes outweighs the
power of the Constitution, then intentional
and collective efforts are the most viable
recourse. Otherwise, we run the risk of
reinventing apartheid.
Many businesses and organizations have
responded to the need for diversity and
inclusion through diversity training. These
trainings have often adopted the perspective
of benevolence without introspection. Simply,
the call to action has been understanding
and acceptance. While well intended,
this perspective is short sighted. A lack
of diversity does not happen through the
efforts of those who have historically been
excluded. A lack of diversity in professional
and educational settings is the result of a
legacy of discrimination. Therefore, diversity
efforts should seek to include the historically
excluded, while recognizing and minimizing
practices and policies that are the source of
exclusion.
Training must recognize ways in which bias
may be imbedded in recruitment, hiring,
promotion and cultural environments.
Modules for implicit bias have been
relatively successful in meeting this objective.
Unfortunately, training has traditionally
stopped at the point of recognizing that a
hypothetical problem may exist, rather than
creating the analytical tools to recognize
existing bias, dismantle policy and practices
that contribute to exclusion, and create
intentional efforts to cultivate diversity and
create an inclusive culture.This necessary and
comprehensive objective is not something
that can be done in a single session. The one
and done model for diversity and inclusion
training is ineffective and is only capable of
meeting self-fulfilling objectives.
To be effective, diversity and inclusion must
exist within a strategic plan and therefore
be sustainable. Processes that engage
organizational growth, expand networks,
and extend the reach into a potential hiring
pool or client base, must also consider
diversity and inclusion. To recruit diversity
and practice inclusion requires the building
of capacity to cultivate creative strategies to
bring in talent, as well as capacity building
to cultivate an inclusive environment. These
processes require steps that have to be
generated with consideration to the current
work environment. This means that strategic
plans must be willing to take risks and invest
in things that may not seem to have tangible
benefits.
Beyond One and Done
Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion
DEVON LEE
What does sustainable diversity and
inclusion look like? There needs to
be context as to its importance by
considering what is at stake if it does
not happen. That context can then
be used to develop initial training
similar to implicit bias. From that
point, organizational structure and
processes must be designed and exercised
with the intention to create a diverse
population and inclusive environment. This
transformational stage includes training
that builds capacity beyond initial training
to achieve explicit benchmarks. If phase 1
training recognizes implicit bias, phase 2 may
identify exclusionary practices and processes.
While those are reflective, phase 3 must be
corrective in implementing diversity and
inclusion standards into a strategic plan.
After training leads to the articulation of
a strategic plan, iteration of the above-
mentioned process will lead to sustainability.
Once standards are achieved, new
standards must be articulated in a way that
transcends the original mission. If you are
successful with recruitment and creating
an inclusive environment, that will create
new opportunities to build relationships
outside of the existing sphere of influence,
share knowledge, and expand the original
mission.This is what sustainable diversity and
inclusion looks like: it is constantly evolving.
Devon Lee is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of
Sociology, specializing in Africana Studies at Virginia
Tech. His research studies the historical development
of Pan-Africanism in Belize and current realities
grassroots organizations with similar principles face. As
an Africana Scholar, Devon practices scholar activism
and reciprocity by working closely with grassroots
organizations.