We write weekly on the issues that are top of mind for us as we do the work of driving equity, shifting culture and co-creating inclusion with our clients. To receive these posts via email, join our free weekly email series, Self-coaching for DEI advocates and leaders.
One of the things we talk about a lot in our work with organizations is building a circle not a ladder.
What do we mean by this?
Well, a ladder is a hierarchy. There are people on top and people below. Often, those higher up on the ladder think that DEI work means extending a hand down to those below to help them up the ladder.
Um, no thank you.
Read MoreOur new website is live and we invite you to take a look: http://cocreatinginclusion.com.
It was hard to prioritize working on this because our previous site was working! Potential clients told us they were drawn to us because of it, that we were true to how we described ourselves, and then they hired us and generally proved to be a good fit.
However, it was also based on something created three years ago and while it was still true to who we are, it didn't reflect all of the work and iteration and deepening of our methodology that has happened since then through the work with all of our incredible clients.
Read MoreIt’s been a tough week of news out of Ukraine.
I have been trying to take special care and to be aware of the different and perhaps invisible ways that we all might be variously impacted, on top of everything else that is going on. I am noticing my responses, managing my energy, and trying to stay focused on where I can make a difference.
As the days passed though, I’m noticing other things.
Read MoreI’ve been experiencing a huge wave of grief lately.
Some of it is personal, some of it is systemic.
It’s painful, this deep and abiding grief.
Read MoreI have found it incredibly helpful to think of the four levels of oppression as the four levels of everything.
In particular, I’ve found it helpful to think of these levels as the four levels where we can have an impact and create change.
This doesn’t mean we should all necessarily be trying to work all four levels at once, although I do think we should try and consider all four levels at once.
However, one of the things that can be useful to figure out is where we personally are best suited to make the most impact.
Read MoreSomething that struck me this week is that it is a common belief amongst white people and an underlying default assumption that racism is about hate.
When they say they “don’t have a racist bone in their body” they mean what they also sometimes say which is that their “heart is full of love.” When asked why racism should be eradicated, they say it’s because “everyone deserves to be loved.”
Do white people really think that people of color don’t experience love? That we don’t feel loved? That we experience love less than white people do?
Read MoreLast week we talked about how feedback may be painful but is critical for equity and inclusion. To follow up on that conversation, it also feels important to say that transparency matters.
I often like to say that the only thing worse than not gathering feedback is gathering feedback and then not sharing the results.
Seriously. The distrust and loss of morale that can be caused by this is not to be underestimated.
And I can’t tell you the number of times we hear from staff that this has happened when we start working with organizations.
Read MoreWhen I first started doing DEI consulting, I have to say I didn’t expect that so much of what we do would be about opening up spaces so our clients can gather feedback from across their staff.
However, it has proven to be one of the most valuable aspects of our work.
What we’ve realized is that we are hired to uncover the truths that may be painful for organizations to hear but that have the potential to be transformative if only they are open to it.
Read MoreI won’t lie - I’m tired, although it comes in waves, and it’s hard to know if its from covid or just... all this. Burnout is coming up with some of our clients too, especially those on the frontlines of putting DEI to practice in their organizations. The work is tiring, and it can be hard to pinpoint what exactly is exhausting us the most.
I think, to some extent, it doesn’t really matter, or if you need an answer but can’t figure it out, it is probably all of the above. Figuring out the source can be helpful, but only to a degree, because what if we can’t change the source?
Read MoreI've also been thinking a lot about the systemic and intergenerational roots of trauma, hyper-vigilance, anxiety, over-responsibility and depression.
I am becoming more and more aware of how, as women of color, we are socialized to make ourselves over-responsible for.... everything. And we don’t just make ourselves over-responsible - we are made over-responsible, used as workhorses while being undermined, dismissed, devalued and uncredited.
And those of us with kids in a pandemic are not ok.
Read MoreThe topic of invisible work has been coming up a lot lately.
Invisible work has been an undergirding principle of capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy since the beginning of time immemorial - and it is deeply embedded into every aspect of US history and the ongoing legacy of a country founded on slavery, genocide and colonization.
Of course, at the inception of this country, it wasn’t just invisible work, it was the violently coerced labor of chattel slavery without which this country could not have built a viable economy, infrastructure or culture.
That legacy lives on today - we no longer have slavery but we still have invisible work.
Read MoreCan we talk about white violence?
Can we talk about white parents who bought their son a gun as an early Christmas gift?
Can we talk about the kind of white entitlement where a parent either assumes their son won't harm others or doesn't care that he might?
Read MoreThings are so much better than they were for my family now that the kids are settled back into in-person school. That they are thriving seems like a miracle, and with my younger son just a few weeks away from being fully vaccinated, there is the sense that I can exhale just a little bit.
And yet, with the exhale comes the grief, multi-layered. Waves and waves of it, especially, ironically, at the weekend when there is more space for it.
It can be easy to numb ourselves through a variety of means, including throwing ourselves into work. The danger is that grief unnamed can come out sideways to exacerbate power differentials and systems of oppression.
Read MoreLast week I wrote about my experiences with some IDEO design thinking courses and highly recommended them. However, one of our readers, Malla Haridat, very generously reached out to note that IDEO has had some serious conversations pop up around DEI that I should know about.
Yikes.
And sigh.
I have to admit I was not aware, and absolutely should have done my research, especially before making a recommendation. I regret that Malla had to reach out and let me know.
Read MoreDesign Thinking is an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding. At the same time, Design Thinking provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. It is a way of thinking and working as well as a collection of hands-on methods. - Interaction Design Foundation
Sounds like DEI to me!
Read MoreOoof. It came to my attention earlier this week that an architect had resigned from UCSB's Design Review Committee over the university's proposed Munger Hall Project, a giant monstrosity of a student housing project where 94 percent of the 4,500 students would not have windows in their small single-occupancy rooms. Further, these rooms would be grouped into suites of 8 bedrooms per one bathroom. Oh and those 4,500 students? There would only be 2 exits to the building.
How could this be? Well, as the article explains, "The idea was conceived by 97-year-old billionaire-investor turned amateur-architect Charles Munger, who donated $200 million toward the project with the condition that his blueprints be followed exactly."
Did I say ooooof already?
Read MoreThe other day, a walk around the block turned into a trip to check out a new ice cream store in my neighborhood, The Social. Excited to check it out, I quickly though, hmmm, this seems an awful lot like a knock-off of Ample Hills Creamery, a local-turned-national ice cream sensation my family has been enjoying for years.
A sign on the wall shared the story of the company - the owners of The Social actually WERE the original founders of Ample Hills, but had to declare bankruptcy right before the pandemic.
I sat down to enjoy my ice-cream (Chocolate Fudge and Ooeyer and Gooeyer for those who might be curious) and to google on my phone... what the hell happened????!
Read MoreA couple of weeks ago I found myself walking down the street in tears about something that happened to my family almost two years ago.
The anger, the rage, the hurt - it was so present, it surprised me.
Why was it coming up now?
It was because another family was experiencing something similar within the same community, even though for completely different reasons, and even though the community was now under different leadership.
Read MoreI’m finding it increasingly obvious yet horrifying nonetheless how how quickly one’s needs stop being prioritized as soon as you no longer fall into the middle of the bell curve.
Your safety isn’t prioritized, not necessarily because people don’t care, but because systems aren’t designed that way.
Read MorePretty much everyone I know is exhausted. There is still a pandemic, yet we're pushing forward with school and many office re-openings as though everything is normal.
Even for those of us in best case scenarios where we are seeing our kids come back to life again with regards to learning, the transition has been hard and a HUGE cognitive load.
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