What we can learn from the Montpelier Foundation and Insights from our Work

If you have been following the news you have watched the very painful story of the Montpelier Foundation Board of Directors. Cutting to the end, one week ago the Foundation finally voted in 11 new Directors representing descendants of those enslaved workers at the estate. It was a multi-month journey to get this to happen and in reality hundreds of years overdue. Two years ago, in the cultural aftermath of the murder of George Floyd the board voted to strive for parity - with half of the board being composed of descendants and half non-descendant representatives. They also voted that the Montpelier Descendants Committee would be the group to submit nominations. Fast forward to March when the Board decided not to do this and the unrest on the staff caused resignations and firings.

I haven’t been in those rooms so we only have journalism to thank for the details we do have, but I can tell you we have been in similar rooms over the last few months. So I will paint a picture of what we are observing and why we think it is dangerous. In the summer of 2020 many companies, organizations, and individuals amplified their anti-racism statements. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) became a popular conversation.

What Serious Work Looked Like

Serious considerations spawned deep internal inquires, anti-racism workgroups, multi-step trainings, a review of human resources practices scanning for white supremacy (not Klan supremacy but structural supremacy), and slowly changes began to take place. These folks are committed to the long haul and have fostered a culture of inquiry to regularly assess each action.

What Performative Work Looked Like

At the same time, companies had one training for staff, quickly added DEI to their values, and did little more than pay lip service to the efforts. They asked for DEI to be embedded in their strategic plans, but only a little bit. Workgroups were started but staff was not given paid time to work on things. Recommendations emerged and were set aside because of time, cost, and complexity and now the backlash has arrived.

Consultant Observations

What we are seeing is a great backlash from organizations that only completed performative work. These places are uncomfortable with the concept of equity and almost universally didn’t do the hard work of confronting a white supremacist culture. Most of the situations involve a disconnect between leadership and staff - in companies, it rests in the C-Suite - in organizations, it is primarily in Board rooms.

A Plan

I’m sorry to say I don’t have a fancy solution that doesn’t require significant change management. I see the pathway as:

1. Education - and I don’t mean a 1 hour or 1-day training

2. Scanning - taking what you learned and applying it to your organization including a deep dive into obvious and not so obvious corners of your work

3. Adaptation - these are substantive changes - both small and large changes centered around confronting racism and striving for equity with leadership sponsorship and funding

4. Continuous Improvement - the regular assessment of situations, ideations around change, and improvements put into action