Imagine a system of violence that doesn’t just turn white people on Black people, but Black people on Black people, Asian people on Asian people, and white people on white people?

Dismantling oppressionAlethea FitzpatrickFebruary 5, 2023#violence, #tyrenichols, #policeviolence, #conditionalsafetyComment

Why DEI belongs outside HR, despite being critical to HR (part 3 of 4)

More often than not, especially for small to mid-sized organizations, DEI is considered to be part of the HR function and initial DEI efforts are lead by HR.

In fact, it is often, although not always, HR that reach out to us about hiring us as DEI consultants, and we have worked successfully with many of our clients this way.

However, we are increasingly of the belief that DEI should not be conflated with HR and that it is beneficial to have DEI as a separate function from HR.

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickJanuary 29, 2023#HR, #humanresourcesComment

How can the process of hiring a DEI consultant itself be co-creative? (part 2 of 4)

At Co-Creating Inclusion, we often talk about how we believe the process of creating inclusion should itself be inclusive - it’s in our name!

This is no less true even during the process of hiring a DEI consultant.

We have found that organizations often default to standard processes for “vendor procurement” that replicate existing power structures of “the client’s needs come first” and assumes a more transactional relationship where a client outlines a scope of work and then has vendors bid competitively on it.

No more.

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickJanuary 22, 2023#deiconsultant, #DEIworkgroup, #DEIbudgetComment

When is it time to hire an internal DEI leader? (part 1 of 4)

A question that often comes up is - when should organization hire an internal DEI leader as a full-time employee? The answer to that question, as to most questions is… it depends. And there is no right answer.

However, at CCI we do have some recommendations.

What does DEI have to do with operations?

I know we’re a few news cycles out from the Southwest Airlines debacle over the holidays, but this post from Southwest pilot Larry Lonero titled “What happened to Southwest Airlines?” hit home for me, and I believe it’s important to keep at the forefront of our minds as we move into 2023.

Oooof. I’m sure this situation rings to true to anyone who has ever had to deal with any kind of large and flailing system, whether it’s an airline, cell phone carrier, car rental company, hospital, health insurance company, public school system, bank, or pretty much any aspect of the government.

Inclusive LeadershipAlethea FitzpatrickJanuary 8, 2023#workplace, #operations, #frontlinestaff, #feedbackComment

I don’t know what will happen next

Early in the pandemic, literally in the first month, a friend shared with me something that was really helping them during that time of global uncertainty, which was that “I don’t have to know what to do next.”

Somehow, over time, and through this pandemic, this has morphed in my mind into:

I don’t know what will happen next.

Inclusive LeadershipAlethea FitzpatrickDecember 18, 2022#uncertainty, #pandemiclifeComment

Willing but unable

Something we encounter in our DEI work with client organizations is what we have started calling “willing but unable” - folks who really want to do the hard work of integrating DEI into everything they do but are unable to do so.

Of course, every time we say that, I find myself thinking, but are they really willing, though?

And if they are so willing, what is getting in the way?

Willful negligence

We’re down to the wire in this dystopian process known as the NYC public high school admissions process.

It’s hard to explain exactly how complex and overwhelming this process is, from uncertainty as to whether we would be returning to the pre-covid schedule or the more delayed covid schedule (it’s the earlier pre-covid schedule - but this was only announced two weeks before applications opened!) to the undecipherable hexadecimal “lottery” number that each student is assigned that is a) very hard to find and b) once you find it, impossible to understand what it means based solely off information shared by the DOE.

And that is barely the tip of the iceberg of what is confusing about this process. In fact, I don’t think you could make the process more confusing or stressful if you tried.

Dismantling oppressionAlethea FitzpatrickDecember 4, 2022#education, #schools, #systemsofoppressionComment

When a culture is designed around its leader

There has been a post circulating about a certain CEO of a certain social media platform who seems to be rapidly running it into the ground, whether deliberately because of a hidden agenda or through sheer incompetence or both.

The post is by someone who was an intern at one of this CEO’s other companies, and they talk about how managing this person was a huge part of the company culture.

Inclusive LeadershipAlethea FitzpatrickNovember 27, 2022#workplace, #workplaceculture, #managingup, #feedbackComment

Feedback is a gift, even if you don’t like the wrapping paper

Something that people often find unexpected about DEI work is that sooooooo much of it is about feedback.

And one of the things we have come to say with quite a bit of frequency, thanks to Malaika, is that feedback is a gift, even if you don’t like the wrapping paper.

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickNovember 13, 2022#feedback, #fearofbacklash, #fearofopenconflict, #victimblamingComment

So much that goes unspoken

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much there is that goes unspoken. It comes up a lot in our DEI work with client organizations. When things go unspoken, we rely on socialization for a common understanding. We also rely on a homogenous or dominant culture where everyone is socialized into the same norms. If you don’t understand or follow the unspoken norms, you’re excluded. A lot of the work of assimilation, that is, of fitting into a dominant culture, is figuring out the unspoken norms.

And when norms are unspoken, it is much easier for them to become invisible, unchallenged, and unchanging.

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickOctober 23, 2022#shiftingculture, #change, #assimilation, #unspokennormsComment

Getting up close and personal with the system

NYC high school admissions season has begun. For those of you unfamiliar with this process, it’s a unique and “interesting” opportunity to get up close and personal with one of the most segregated school systems in the country - I’m talking about the public school system but of course, the way it interfaces with the private school system is part of what makes it so segregated.

Dismantling oppressionAlethea FitzpatrickOctober 16, 2022#schools, #education, #systemsofoppressionComment

Overworked but underutilized

Staff, usually those least aligned with power and privilege whether because of their identity, position in the organization, or both, are often expected to carry a heavy workload without appropriate compensation or support, and they are expected to do so with little complaint or pushback either.

The assumption is that they will work miracles with little time, money or other resources. Those who raise concerns about unrealistic expectations or lack of resources risk being characterized as “not a team player” or “divisive” or a “troublemaker” or they are blamed for being poor performers. Meanwhile, those with more privilege, usually white men, are the first ones to get money and other resources thrown at them to fix crises that they are rarely held accountable for.

Dismantling oppressionAlethea FitzpatrickOctober 10, 2022#workplace, #workplaceculture, #workload, #overworkComment

Listening does not have to mean being silent

We often hear about the damaging impact of silence from staff more deeply impacted by systems of oppression within our client organizations. Silence equates to lip service, failed allyship, cowardice, lack of engagement, lack of caring, lack of commitment, lack of safety, leaving the burden of the work to those less aligned with power and more.

Inclusive LeadershipAlethea FitzpatrickOctober 2, 2022#listening, #silence, #learning, #growthComment

Vacation report back - the struggles and rewards of replenishment

Summer vacation already seems like a far away dream, but having gone into August with the intention of vacationing differently, I wanted to make sure I reported back before it receded into the distance altogether.

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickSeptember 25, 2022#vacation, #replenishment, #experientiallearning, #reflection, #learningComment

On not taking things personally

A pattern that we often see with our client organizations is where those more proximate to institutional power seem to “personalize” feedback from those less proximate to power. This is a form of defensiveness where feedback from staff, usually given in good faith and not meant as an attack, although often not with frustration, pain and anger, is experienced by leadership as a personal attack.

Learning builds trust

It is interesting to me how defensiveness functions in an environment where the goal is to shift towards equity and inclusion. Defensiveness is a natural and human reaction, but it often functions in the exact opposite way than we intend and would like.

Perhaps within a hierarchical environment, defensiveness helps us maintain power by shutting down feedback or criticism that feels like an attack. We maintain credibility and trust by being able to shoot down other perspectives, thus proving ourselves to be “right.” In academia, you are expected to literally defend your thesis. It’s a pretty standard format in debate, courts of law, art school critiques and… well, pretty much everything.

Inclusive LeadershipAlethea FitzpatrickAugust 7, 2022#defensiveness, #learning, #trust, #lipserviceComment

Vacation

Every year at Co-Creating Inclusion, we take the month of August as a break from external meetings and facilitation in order to prioritize our own strategic planning, professional development and self-care. We do the same for the last week of every month (February, April, June, October and December). We also tried to hold Wednesdays and Fridays from 9am-2pm EDT as “slack and meeting free time” although we do make exceptions when needed.

What kind of leadership does it take to drive change towards equity and inclusion?

Leaders are often “visionaries” and “change makers” by definition. They have a vision for something that is different than currently exists, and they have the drive to make that vision a reality.

Not every leader is suited to driving change towards equity and inclusion however.

Alchemizing anxiety into trust

I have not historically considered myself to be a particularly anxious person. Have I always carried fear with me in ways I may not even have realized at the time? Absolutely.

But I’ve fought the socialization and expectation to stay small and quiet. Perhaps it’s the extrovert/external processor in me but the impetus to speak, and to speak the truth, has been strong.

These past few years in the pandemic, though, seem to have brought out an anxiety in me that feels superimposed and unwelcome, and I know I’m not the only one.

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickJuly 17, 2022#anxiety, #selfknowledge, #trust, #acceptance

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