Racial Equity and the Health and Wellness of Your Company or Organization
Richmond is full of robust and amazing reports these days like the United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg 2017 indicator report , the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation Equity and Health Fellows report and Richmond Magazine's Navigating Richmond's Nonprofit Article.
The pervasive theme in all three was racial equity and its place in our city. These are dense and important reads that your business or your nonprofit need to take to heart. In the last two weeks we have called the question with clients - "Look around your table - are all of the people making decisions on behalf of others representative of the community?" This is an uncomfortable question with complicated, hard, and often expensive solutions.
Here's a List of What Not To Do
1. Don't put "Diversify your Board" in your strategic plan without a real and detailed plan of how you intend to accomplish it. Saying it isn't enough.
2. Don't let unconscious bias slip by in meetings. Call out all forms of racism - intended or otherwise.
3. Don't think that a focus group or community meeting really cuts it. You need to do true community engagement featuring shared leadership and group processing. Don't just study a community, involve them.
We are spending time as a staff, (currently an all white staff) to think deeply about this as we expand our team of contractors and employees. But awareness is only half the battle, action steps are required.