The Equity Mindset E-Book

Ifeomasinachi Ike

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 324

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Learn to implement the intentional practices and make the hard decisions that true equity demands In The Equity Mindset, celebrated researcher, attorney, and activist Ifeomasinachi Ike delivers a moving and impactful exploration of why equity is so important, the shortcomings of institutional diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives, and how we creatively and boldly design cultures centering the expertise of those who know first-hand how inequity has shaped work culture. The book examines the dynamics of normalized institutional oppression, offers real-world case studies, and provides readers with new practices, key performance indicators (KPIs), and milestones for measuring the success of modern DEI efforts. At its core, The Equity Mindset is about adopting a problem-solving mentality to address social inequities to ensure we all thrive. This nuanced treatment of principles, practices, and production also includes: * Practitioner interviews with guidance on how each person, regardless of industry, can advance equity personally and professionally * Strategies for addressing organizational bias, inequity, and lack of representation * Tools for leaders and decisionmakers seeking concrete steps to create safer cultures for communities historically marginalized A can't-miss resource for managers, executives, board members, and other business leaders, The Equity Mindset is for those with and without traditional authority who seek to advance the movement for equitable treatment in every environment.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

My Mommy's Foreword

Introduction: A Book of Problems, Possibilities, and Practices

1 Forty Thoughts on Designing with an Equity Mindset

#EquityMindset with Christopher Dennis

2 The Work Culture We Inherited (and How It Erases Us All)

3 Thoughts on Being an Equity Designer

4 An Equity Lens: Seeing the Right Problem

Case Study: Where Are All the Black Engineers?

Better Understanding of the Problem

Setting Intentions: Vision, Commitments, and Tracking Equity Outcomes

Embedding a Statement of Acknowledgment

Note

5 Testing Assumptions About What Our Cultures Must Be

Establishing New Learning Behaviors

# EquityMindset with Rebecca Cokley

6 Are Your People S.A.F.E.?

Seen Holistically

Access to Support

Free to Be in, and Address, Conflict

Encouraged and Radically Affirmed

Note

7 Remote Work Is a Reasonable Accommodation (and We Owe the Disability Justice Community an Apology)

Have You Heard of the “Ugly Laws”?

Humanizing This Topic

Notes

8 Confront Your Issues with Black Women

Note

9 The Case for Radical Sabbaticals

Problem Statement: In Pursuit of Rest

Not Designed to Rest: How Rest Is Not a Real “Choice” for Many Black Women

Beyond Paid Leave: A “Case for Black Women Leave” to Be Beyond (and Disconnected) from Work

Notes

10 Safety, Access, and a Good Sandwich

#EquityMindset with Dominique Morgan

11 What Is Your Equity (Mindset) Journey?

Where Are the Swings?

Sister Fox Is Racist. And I Hate History.

Two Poor Girls Walk into a Dorm in West Virginia …

We Just Want Clean Water

#EquityMindset with Javier Lopez

12 Centering Proximate Leadership in Our Research Practices

Testing Current Assumptions about “Community‐Led” Mindsets

Respecting Impacted Persons as Innovators and Researchers

The Power of Community Conversations as a Research Tool

#EquityMindset with Alisha L. Gordon

Note

13 Pipelines Are Deep Work: What You Should Know and Be Prepared For

14 Reimagining “Chief”: Ways Leaders Are Designing with an Equity Mindset

Leaders with an Equity Mindset Model Commitment and Vulnerability

Leaders with an EM Identify How White‐Dominant Culture Impacts Their Organization and Then Practice Different Behaviors

Leaders with an EM Support Experimentation

Creating Space for Partners to Engage in Equity Design and Problem Solving

# EquityMindset with Ross Moskowitz

Note

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

My Mommy's Foreword

Introduction: A Book of Problems, Possibilities, and Practices

Begin Reading

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

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IFEOMASINACHI IKE

THE EQUITY MINDSET

DESIGNING HUMAN SPACES THROUGH JOURNEYS, REFLECTIONS, AND PRACTICES

Copyright © 2024 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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To all who march against hate, to essential workers, and to survivors of hostile work environments.

Thank you for showing up and not shutting up.

My Mommy's Foreword

When my daughter, Ify, asked me, “What work culture do I believe I deserve?,” I paused. I may have even repeated it back to her a couple times. Because in my 43 years of working, it is not a question I am used to being asked or even something I am used to thinking about. But the first thing that came to my mind is a place where I would have peace of mind. It's not even about making money, for me. I would have peace of mind. People will appreciate me, and I will appreciate them, and we can still be productive. I would feel comfortable. Because when you feel comfortable, when you are accepted, and you like what you do, no matter how difficult the work is, it makes the work you do easier.

For example, when I started working as a nurse at a rehabilitation center, the fifth floor was the hardest floor to be on. On that floor, there are so many acute issues, including brain injuries. Every move is critical, and everything is urgent. Because of the intensity and stress, nobody wanted to work there. But when I'm asked, “Bernice, can you work double shift? We will put you on the third floor,” I say, “No, don't put me on the third floor. It's easier, I know. Put me on the fifth floor.” Because even though the work is harder, the people who work there make me feel joy and purpose as I work. We are a team. So when we talk about the culture we deserve, I cannot stress how much environment impacts productivity. And how good people should not be taken for granted. It makes a big difference.

Being an undocumented immigrant when I came to the United States from Nigeria in 1979, with no more than a sixth‐grade education, work has always been difficult to endure. The circumstances were not ideal when I landed in New Jersey: I had no green card, and my husband had finished college but without documentation; he couldn't look for a regular job or he would have been deported. And a month after I came here, I found out I was pregnant with Ify. When you don't have certain tools, like education and work experience, the job “option” is the lowest‐paid job. And because it's the lowest‐paid job and you have commitments and obligations, work makes you put in a lot of hours away from your family. So my first job was cleaning people's homes. I would have loved to be in a position where I made enough money and stayed home with my children, especially when they were little, and watched them grow up. I desire to go back at times to catch what I lost.

And stay a little bit more with them.

Play a little bit more with them.

But the reality is that for the majority of my life, I've had to work at least two jobs at a time to make ends meet. When you start having a family, you want to spend time with them. Our society, however, doesn't value that, at least not for everyone. And that's why when I retire—which is this year—I know I've made it. I will have a new full‐time job: being there for my grandchildren, something my children didn't experience. There was no way I could not work. I could never afford to be sick, even though I feel pain throughout my body on a constant basis. But as a mother of five, I thank God, because He was faithful and was there all along, filling the gaps when I couldn't be present. And for that I'm grateful.

When it comes to equity, it pains me, the state we are in. I know there's a saying here: “survival of the fittest.” Only the strong survive, I think is the way my kids taught it to me. And in my mind, I wonder, “Who are we labeling as the strongest? Is it the people with the most? Or the ones surviving the most?” Society has pushed us to spaces where most days, we can't afford to care. Everything is driving us to think it is about “me and mine.” Someone could be right next to you at work, dying—even if it's a slow death; their existence is not evidence that they're okay. We have normalized poor people, especially, being neglected. One of Ify's uncles told me about an older rich white man he used to take care of back in the day. They were having a discussion about South Africa at the time, when the Free South Africa movement to end apartheid was happening. Her uncle was so troubled when the response from his patient about the treatment of poor people was, “Forget about the poor, they are used to suffering.”

They are used to suffering.

That is a real sentiment driving the apathy and lack of action within our culture. And as a result, so many of us are taken advantage of. We have companies giving big dollars to major causes while treating their own workers without dignity and ignoring their needs, which include comfort and joy. And just because we don't die immediately, it is not lost on me that everything I am was intended to be used up, to exhaust me, to eliminate me. Even when we have to apply for things that may put us more in debt or fill out papers for things we need assistance in, they know people will not read the fine print. And they're capitalizing on that.

They capitalize on the fine print.

And they know many of us can't afford another option.

This is why we need more people with an equity mindset. It is not about having all the answers. It is about being considerate of one another's journeys. To remember how the people you work with got to work, and how their people before them got to work. And why they need to work. Some people go to work hungry: remember that. Some people cannot work because of their disability: how can we fix that? This is not an activity of the privileged or the few. This is about building our muscle to find solutions. And you do not have to help the whole world; some of us are already holding the world on our backs.

But if someone doesn't have a vehicle and they are on their way to work, can you pick them up?

If the only thing separating someone from having a chance is education, can we fill that gap?

If we understand better what people endure, and the history of that burden, then we need to create more solutions. Sincere solutions that actually solve problems, not just use the poor to give the appearance of such. And please don't be two‐faced with how you connect with those of us on the margins. You cannot pour out resources with one hand, and then support the systems that bring havoc into our lives with the other. If that's your intention, please leave us alone. It's too expensive to fix up charity wrapped in your public image.

To contribute to this book is a privilege and an opportunity of a lifetime. I am so grateful that I would be counted worthy to pour my insights, and also to be poured into in this way.

Ify, I am proud of you. I am proud of your heart. Ever since childhood, you have considered other people and all others around you. You don't do things because of money, not that you don't deserve to get paid. But I know that that's not what drives you; I have witnessed you do so much for free just because it needed to be done. You have always been that person who just wanted people to be aware and to know what the real story was from under, not from the top. Because when you are under, you see the real truth and the real people. It shows a lot about you and your care for humanity and your concern. I pray that this message will touch people's hands, and they can see that they can help one another from the grassroots. The majority of people who care started from the bottom up. And even if they are not recognized, that labor, care, and concern has resulted in each of us having a much stronger foundation.

Bernice Chijiago Ike

Healthcare professional, lover of God, Ify's mom

While this book is about equity, I want to acknowledge that my language is not perfect and my practice is evolving. Please know that I continue to build better terminology, awareness, and understanding, and I apologize in advance for any offense or harm I may have unintentionally created. I'm still learning and am committed to doing better.

Introduction: A Book of Problems, Possibilities, and Practices

Mindsets are powerful. When you hear of a “growth mindset,” thoughts of building upon one's skills and continuous learning are likely to emerge. The listener pushes their mind, and subsequently their actions, to align with a more enhanced version of themselves—all because of a belief. One with a “fixed mindset” is assumed to be inflexible and set in their ways, confident in their knowledge of the world and their abilities, and thus not easily persuaded about emerging theories, skill sets, or ideas—especially if what they already know produces a desirable outcome.

An equity mindset has slightly different characteristics from a growth or fixed mindset. For one thing, equity doesn't start with thinking “What can I improve today?” An equity mindset begins with questioning one's environment: “How did this all start, how did we get here, and what does that mean for me and my space?” Another difference is that while an equity mindset calls for personal journeying, reflection, and awareness, it is not a “self‐help” approach. It is intended to support creative solutions‐making to address inequities stemming from the consequences of a white‐dominant culture. Learning under an equity mindset is not selfish; it's a choice to see one's actions as interconnected, interdependent, and on a continuum with other people and the spaces we exist in. It welcomes those who desire to be accomplices with those who are most proximate to unsafe conditions, generational discrimination, and normalized aggressions. And perhaps most importantly, an equity mindset does not center on the acquiring of knowledge or application of checklists to achieve a business outcome (this is where I may lose some folks, but if you're still here, hear me out).

The practice of an equity mindset is a commitment to:

Resisting the practice of normalizing inequity in our spaces;

Deepening our understanding of how we got here via data, history, and lived experiences of those with intersectionalities;

Leveraging existing tools and frameworks created by those who are oppressed to decenter harmful dominant practices and design through a justice‐informed, reparatory lens.

Chapter 1 digs deeper into some of the characteristics of an equity mindset. But to truly understand an equity mindset, we must understand what equity is.

A Working Definition of Equity

The Oxford Dictionary defines equity as “the quality of being fair and impartial.” Other versions of this definition include the word “just.” An amplified version on Dictionary.com defines equity as “the policy or practice of accounting for the differences in each individual's starting point when pursuing a goal or achievement, and working to remove barriers to equal opportunity.” The somewhat problematic part about doing this equity work is that there isn't a solid, shared baseline definition of what equity is. As a result, equity work has largely been watered down, delayed, or minimized to a comfortable, “feel good” or occasional priority. And this matters, especially since at its core, it means that those who need it the most must continue to wait until the masses get it and understand it before they can truly experience dignity, freedom, and safety in every space their bodies occupy.

I'm going to give my working conversation on equity because I think it's important not to assume that everyone has one. When I think of equity, I don't think the definition “the quality of being fair and impartial” is enough. I actually think it can be problematic if one sees the work as being about how to treat others in a “fair and impartial” way without considering the factors which made the current conditions possible. And while I believe that an important quality of equity is an acknowledgment that everyone has a different starting point, that, too, feels incomplete because it doesn't tell you completely convey that not only do people start differently but live differently. If you only believe that where I started was messed up, you may actually believe that I can do enough work to make up for that start. The mess, though, continues beyond the start, and lasts a lifetime.

My starting point is always this: Equity is needed because inequity exists. Equity is a process to address the gaps in care, support, and resources created by human beings whose intention was to be in power, create systems that benefited from those gaps, and reduce the likelihood that those without power would achieve an equivalent quality of life. That intent has spiraled into multiple mass disparities throughout every system and shows up in virtually every space we exist in. Attempts to eradicate this intent have never fully succeeded, and at times have caused a doubling down of inequitable practices—evidence of how successful the original transplant of divisive beliefs and practices really were, and continue to be.

When equity is described as an outcome (i.e., our goal is to achieve equity through a health‐justice lens), it is the state in which no physical, social, or political characteristic of a human being interrupts one's enjoyment, participation, inclusion, or connection to care, support, and resources. By “care, support, and resources,” I am usually referring to the first two foundational levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid: physiological (water, food, shelter, sex, sleep, clothing, air) and safety (employment, health, property, resources, personal security). Achieving equity would mean that justice (the accountability and repair for harm for the generational impact of inequity, the dismantling of systemically racist systems and practices, and the co‐creation of the spaces we exist in) would be present.

The Equity Mindset: Designing Human Spaces Through Journeys, Reflections, and Practices is a guide that refuses to let the opportunity to build better cultures pass us by. Central to this book is that we have enough and we are able to disrupt enough—that is our collective purpose during this time we are here. It's a supplement to the works of those who dedicated much of their lives to telling the ugly truths, like James Baldwin in No Name in the Streets; and deepening social frameworks, like what bell hooks in Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center did with her call for a deeper intersectionality within the feminist movement; and connecting us to the power of vulnerability, joy, and fighting for our collective happiness, like adrienne maree brown's Pleasure Activism. Make no mistake, I don't write as well as these geniuses, but I am connected to the same pulse they and others are, which is the pulse of sharpening how we see each other, how we see our problems, and how we do the most we can with what we got. There are four parts of an equity mindset explored in this book:

CENTERING those most impacted by inequity, their histories, and their solutions;

CLARITY on how systemic racism is embedded within society, our work, and our interpersonal relationships;

CONNECTION to one's personal relationship with power, privilege, and access;

COMMITMENT to not just equitable outcomes, but to evolving practices and processes that help us deepen equity, justice, and transformation within our space.

A Creative, Nonlinear, Approach to Delivering This Book

This is not a book you need to read all the way through or in any particular order. I'm hoping that this will be the book you grab when you feel like you need a supporter, a guide, a thought, or an idea. I do not have all the answers. As a person of African descent, I am inclined to bridge truth and practice with storytelling and use narratives, poems, essays, case studies, streams of consciousness, quotes, theories, my ponderings (which I call ifyisms), and social commentary as a way to connect and relate truth and honesty—first within myself, then with others. As we are all different learners with different abilities, it was important for me to tap into different methods. This guide is full of diverse frameworks, struggles, and ideas from practitioners and friends who do the work of weaving equity strategies into their space. These #equitymindset insights, chats, and conversations are a way of expanding how we use curiosity as a tool toward systems and culture change. I was inspired by this quote on the power of dialogues, and hope you invest in the richness of the love, the randomness, the ideas that shoot like stars, and the alignment in spirit to create spaces that hold all of our wholeness.

Dialogue is an act of creation.

Dialogue cannot exist in the absence of a profound love for the world and for people.

The naming of the world, which is an act of creation and re‐creation,

Is not possible if it is not infused with love …

No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is commitment to their cause—

The cause of liberation.

And this commitment, because it is loving,

Is dialogical.

—Paulo Freire, from The Pedagogy of the Oppressed

How to Get the Most from This Journey

Keep a journal handy!

This book is intended to speak with you and support how you connect deeper with your equity practice. I am intentional about using accessible language, tone, and voices. When a question is posed, or if questions emerge for you—write it down!

Melt into the dialogues with equity practitioners.

I love my tribe; I could listen to them all day. This book is not intended to be solely about some of the ways I approach equity. It is also intended to connect others with the flow of those who are connected to liberation and to identify practical ways for that to be real. Whether it's a full conversation or excerpts, dive into the very human exchanges about how we view labor, culture, and liberation.

Connect with Your Team.

I believe in equity moments, which are opportunities to pause from the regular pace and make intentional moments with your team. As your culture is envisioning how to deepen equity, connect on a case study, or a dialogue, or a conversation.

Supplement What Works (and What Didn't).

This book is not intended to be a takeover of existing strategies. It's intended to deepen strategy with some concepts that can support more sustainable solutions. It's also here to support how you reflect on past strategies that fell short of reaching their maximum impact. Failing to learn is the true failure.

Do Your Own Personal Work.

Healthy cultures consist of healthy individuals who have done their own personal unpacking. That journey is rewarding, even if at times it reveals scary things about us and our society. If while reading this, you need to pause, do it. And when you come back, reflect on what resonated and why.

If You're Looking For …

Topics

Chapters

Ways to use your leadership within an organization to deepen cultural shifts

14

Space to figure out why Black women bother you

8

,

9

Explore why safety is at the heart of equity—and how to create more of it

6

,

10

Cheat sheet on consideration when building sustainable pipelines

13

Laws and practices designed to deny persons with disabilities autonomy

7

See what Archie Bunker reveals to us about white supremacism

2

Connect with the equity moments in your personal narrative

11

Unlearn dominant work culture behaviors by asking questions

4

,

5

Affirmation that this is hard by design, but you are enough

3

The Lens of the Author: Black, Femme, and Serious about Equity

If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.

—Excerpt from the Combahee River Collective

There are those who may conclude that my passion for equity comes off angry and aggressive. Even though I would characterize my passion differently, I don't fight that definition for two reasons. The first reason is simply that in my life's journey, whether I'm expressing my opinion, in a debate, or I'm simply an observer (and a couple times when I haven't even been in the room), I have been labeled “angry” and “aggressive,” which historically serve as dog whistles intended to evoke manufactured tropes about Black women and thus give the green light to those who fear Black women (the underlying emotion of hate) to exert their animus. It's that energy, called misogynoir, that adds a unique layer to my work as a problem solver—as do my other intersectionalities—whether they are seen, assumed, or unseen. If your conclusion is that I'm angry and aggressive, my response to you is simply, why aren't you?

The second reason why I don't fight the “angry and aggressive” characterization is because it matches the energy of how inequity was designed in the first place. I used to teach a course that focused on the ways the laws impacted persons of African descent in America. One of the things that frustrated me when I was first preparing to teach the course was how undereducated we are about the fullness of femme labor—both in the Americas and globally. We miss the harsh fact that the starting point of labor injustice for Black women was not that they were prohibited from working. The starting point of labor for Black women was that we were doubly denied: first, our humanity because we were Black; second, any form of protection because we were intentionally denied any protection femininity affords. This is a unique cruelty that is invisibilized, even though what makes us a target is the hypervisibility of our non‐European features. My work digs with an urgency to respond to that original sin, and to help others understand why we must do this work, as bell hooks would say, from “the margin to the center.”

As the field of equity within work culture and organizations evolves, I unapologetically stand on the premise that if an equity solution does not take into the consideration the experiences, knowledge, and perspectives of Black women and all the diverse intersections under that umbrella, it will not be sustainable. And while dominant culture would have us believe that centering Black lives excludes all others, that is not the reality of the impact of Black activism or policies intended to respond to the unique harms Black people have endured. While my intersections make it likely that I will not be able to escape racism, who I am is an asset to the work that I do and to the many communities outside of my own who have co‐labored and benefited as a result of my intersections.

I don't come into this work because it is the right thing to do—although it is. I come into this work with a combined experience of growing up a Black girl in a poor neighborhood, conditioned to believe that education and work would get me out of oppression. It hasn't. I come into this work as a witness to state violence on peaceful protesters. I come into this work as one who continues to use every position I'm in to stretch how power is accessible to those who were intentionally denied it. And I come into this work fighting on behalf of those whose daily lives need people to fight, but their schedules and position in society don't afford them the freedom to fight for themselves. I also am optimistic that equity is bigger than the standard diversity and inclusion (D&I) program, but is a call for dignity in the one activity we all must engage in to even have a shot at a quality of life.

1Forty Thoughts on Designing with an Equity Mindset

A mindset is a set of beliefs and attitudes informed by theories, experiences, and one's environment. Failing to inquire why you believe what you believe, behave how you behave, act or fail to act, is evidence of a fixed mindset, which is a threat to how we advance a more humane, just, and equal society.

As mentioned at the top of the Introduction, an equity mindset is about seeing the story behind the unjust social conditions we see today, embracing the opportunity to solve problems, and centering the histories and experiences of multi‐marginalized communities. If we're going to build spaces designed for all of us, we cannot just build on top of what we have without accounting for how the systems, practices, and beliefs we currently have are part of the problem. As a result, an equity mindset provides agility and flexibility to the user seeking to design a new reality. Here is a running stream of characteristics of what an equity mindset is:

Traits and Characteristics

An equity mindset is a solutions‐based orientation that views the identification of the problem and its causes as a necessary ingredient toward sustainable change.

An equity mindset sees the history of oppressors as a tool for reflection, a data source, and a measuring stick by which progress should be evaluated.

An equity mindset invests in the history of the oppressed as evidence of solutions that are centered in love, liberation, and inclusion—despite continued marginalization and being punished for just being.

An equity mindset confronts the relationship between anti‐Blackness, sexism, misogynoir, ableism, and homophobia.

With equity, we must resist picking and choosing data that makes us feel comfortable. Practicing with an equity lens involves looking at the data, asking “what story is being told,” and also inquiring what stories are being hidden.

An equity mindset doesn't avoid looking at how sophisticated white dominant culture is especially when it comes to watering down both the harm of systemic racism and the impacts of capitalism to Black, Brown, immigrant, and poor communities—or the attempts to prevent sustainable remedies.

To do this work is to experience conflict and the many forms of resistance to radical change.

An equity mindset is laser focused on designing strategies to reduce disparities and inequities.

An equity mindset is not just anti‐racist; it is pro‐Black and all the intersectionalities Black beings exist in. (And being pro‐Black does not exclude being pro‐ anything else.)

An equity mindset is agile, adaptable, and aware.

An equity mindset is technology that always seeks to disrupt, on purpose, in order to create a new normal: one where we each are seen as deserving of full humanity—not just incremental half‐steps toward it.

An Equity Mindset Challenges Us To …

Accept that inequity is not an accident; it is designed and sustained. Which also means it can be undesigned. But it's going to require a movement.

Believe the experiences, knowledge, and expertise of those most impacted and proximate to marginalization.

Reconfigure our environments in ways, big and small, where we cannot avoid equity conversations—both the ones related to our work and the ones related to society at large.

Commit to ongoing disruption, recognizing that a disruption looks like many beautiful interruptions: a series of mental wellness check‐ins, community care, or a protest.

Articulate and acknowledge when injustice is happening.

Stop blaming oppressed communities for the designs of those in power.

Adopt circular ways of learning, engaging in each equity opportunity with the belief that more exposure to equity principles supports better problem‐solving strategies.

Follow the leadership. Those on the margins. Often. With resources. Without harm.

Stop using the limitations of the status quo, including our roles, titles, salaries, reputations as a reason to not act, and instead use those very same assets as tools to bring about change.

Abandon what is unhealthy and unlearn how we interact with each other.

Believe that each of us is enough to do this work, and that doing the work includes exploring one's own racial identity, history, and journey.

Environments That Foster an Equity Mindset …

Examine who is in the room, who is not, and explore why the environment is the way it is.

Engage lived experiences as data, expertise, and valuable.

Consider “What is the most important thing we can do at this moment to reduce the most disparity, increase fairness, and advance justice?”

Are open to fight for those who are being attacked, however subtle the injustice may seem.

Aren't afraid to say or prioritize “Black.” And don't use BIPOC as a way to avoid saying “Black.”

Block off time to design equity‐centered solutions and make such space a part of the norm.

Bridge wellness with labor and treat wellness as a priority.

Push themselves to be more inclusive than the day before, with acute attention to how those with disabilities are able to maneuver all parts of the organization.

Just and Equitable Work Spaces Feel Like …

CEOs and key decision makers who are disabled, queer, and femme.

Evolved relationships with traditional office culture, even for those whose jobs are connected to a facility.

Treating workers as adults, professionals, and contributors—not children or “subordinates.”

Transformative processes to address harm, with a commitment to ongoing care and constant inspection of power dynamics.

Redesigning pipelines and entry points to the workforce and prioritizing dignity, regardless of occupation, salary, or education level.

Being worthy of breaks and livable compensation.

Free of discrimination, body shaming, or being ignored.

Being able to fail and getting the support to succeed.

A slower pace.

Centering joy whenever possible.

#CultureChat

What are some of the characteristics that resonated with you? Why?

Which ones feel challenging to you?

In your practice, are there other characteristics of an equity mindset that you've observed?

#EquityMindset with Christopher Dennis

Christopher Dennis (he/him) is an equity and inclusion strategist, advisor to senior leadership teams and boards, and founder of the Campus Culture Group.