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AWAKE TO WOKE TO WORK: BUILDING A RACE EQUITY CULTURE PUBLICATION

This publication is the culmination of the Equity in the Center’s research, which illustrates in detail how organizations can move through the Race Equity Cycle by activating specific organizational levers. Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture provides insights, tactics, and practices social sector organizations can and have used to measurably shift organizational culture, operationalize equity, and move from a dominant organizational culture to a Race Equity Culture.

SPECIAL EPISODE: STARTING THE RACISM CONVERSATION WITH KERRIEN SUAREZ – TONY MARTIGNETTI NONPROFIT RADIO 

The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day, May 25th, has incited 14 days of protests and calls for reform of structural racism. Racism and white privilege, after 401 years of it in the United States, exist not only in law enforcement, but all legal structures, education, healthcare, the economy—and nonprofits. What can we, the nonprofit community, do to be the change we want to see. How do we start the racism conversation in our offices? My guest is Kay Suarez, executive director of Equity in the Center.

STATEMENTS ABOUT GEORGE FLOYD ARE A START, BUT HOW WILL ORGANIZATIONS LIVE THEIR VALUES? 

Suarez spoke to the Chronicle about how philanthropy approached racial diversity, equity, and inclusion — often referred to as DEI — at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic and how that may shift in response to the recent killings of George Floyd and other unarmed black people and the resulting protests against police violence and racism.

BRASS TACKS: TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT EQUITY WITH KERRIEN SUAREZ 

Question: What do we say when we’re asked “What does equity have to do with my mission?” Put differently, how do we respond to the following comment? “Well, I don’t think equity is a part of our organizational mission.”

This month we were fortunate to sit down with Kerrien Suarez, Executive Director of Equity in the Center, to explore how she navigates situations like these.

An answer: Well, it takes practice. You’ve got to be comfortable telling the truth to yourself before you can invite others to make their own discoveries. “The goal is to help people learn and catalyze actions so they can transform their culture to center equity.”

DO BLACK LIVES MATTER IN YOUR ORGANIZATION? LIVING INTO THE VALUES OF YOUR PUBLIC #BLM STATEMENT

Has your organization released a statement in support of Black Lives Matter, or published language explicitly naming that the value of Black lives should be equal to white ones in American society? Have you considered that Black employees of your organization do not feel the institution values them as equal to their white colleagues? Join Equity in the Center for a discussion of the organizational practices and actions that build a Race Equity Culture and enable organizations to live into the values they’ve tweeted about in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

Webinar Hosts:
Kerrien Suarez, Executive Director, Equity in the Center
Andrew Plumley, Director of Inclusion, American Alliance of Museums

ENTERING RACE EQUITY AND THINKING STRATEGICALLY IN A LONG-TERM CRISIS:
A DISCUSSION OF ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSES TO COVID-19

With the emergency of COVID-19, the most vulnerable members of society are more under-resourced and at risk of death than average. At the same time, many organizations just beginning equity work are questioning if it can/should continue, either because they no longer have revenue to pay for it, or because they “don’t have the bandwidth.” Using the framework Nicola Chin shared in a recent Woke@Work guest blog, panelists will discuss examples of how organizations are both centering race equity in immediate responses to COVID-19 and thinking strategically for the longer-term.

Featured Speakers:
Amanda Andere, Chief Executive Officer, Funders Together to End Homelessness
Nicola Chin, Founder, Up With Community
Hanh Le, Executive Director, Weissberg Foundation
Andrew Plumley, Director of Inclusion, American Alliance of Museums

HOW TO CENTER RACE EQUITY IN YOUR ORGANIZATION’S COVID-19 RESPONSE

Vulnerable populations across the U.S. are being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The disparities faced by these communities reflect the ongoing consequences of inequality, structural racism, and unequal access to affordable health care that factor prominently in the pandemic death rate.
During our April 21 webinar, Independent Sector and Equity in the Center partnered for a conversation about how our response efforts can rapidly accelerate equitable outcomes. They also discussed how your organization can proactively apply a race equity lens to your COVID-19 response and help ensure that race equity is a priority in our collective pandemic-focused efforts.

Featured Speakers:
Kerrien Suarez, Executive Director, Equity in the Center
Habib Bako, Director of Community Building, Independent SectorWatch Now

THE ROLE OF SENIOR LEADERS IN BUILDING A RACE EQUITY CULTURE

Utilizing research from Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture, Kerrien Suarez, published an article in Bridgespan on senior leadership’s role in building a race equity culture.

“To build an organizational culture that embraces racial equity, senior leaders need to set the tone and drive progress of the work.” -Kerrien Suarez, Director of Equity in the Center

AWAKE TO WOKE TO WORK– HOW TO GET STARTED

Download the How to Get Started excerpt from Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture to learn more about actionable steps your organization can take to launch its race equity work.

AWAKE TO WOKE TO WORK– WHAT DOES IT COST TO BUILD A RACE EQUITY CULTURE

Ready to start building a Race Equity Culture, but not sure how much time or money it will cost? Download the What Does it Cost excerpt from Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture to learn more from organizations doing the work.

AWAKE TO WOKE TO WORK– GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Download the Glossary of Terms from Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture to learn more about the terms in the publication.

HOW NONPROFITS CAN ADDRESS THEIR OWN BIASES TO BUILD BETTER DIVERSITY

In a feature piece on addressing racial inequity in organizations, Fast Company highlighted research from Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture.

“While people of color make up 40% of nonprofit employees, they account for only 10% of CEOs and board chairs, and just 16% of all board members. Those numbers have stayed steady in recent years, despite that fact that people of color typically express more interest than their white counterparts in achieving executive level roles in the sector.” -Ben Paynter, Fact Company

WOKE IS AN ACTION WORD

Kerrien Suarez, Director of Equity in the Center, was recently featured in both a podcast and a blog hosted by Independent Sector. Equity in the Center is a collaborative initiative to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase equity within the sector.

In the Podcast, Woke Is an Action Word, Kay discusses why diversity, equity, and inclusion are key priorities for social sector leaders and organizations, and how Equity in the Center’s collaborative approach is poised to make a difference.

RECESS, ELECTIONS, AND RACE, OH MY!

On a new Independent Sector podcast, Kerrien Suarez, Director of Equity in the Center, discussed Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture!

“I love the guide. I read it cover to cover, and thought it was so practical and easy to understand.” – Kristina Gawrgy Campbell, Director of Strategic Communications & Public Relations at Independent Sector

“We are all figuring this out, and unless leaders and organizations are willing to be a bit vulnerable by sharing their mistakes and their challenges, we are not going to advance [race equity] as quickly as we otherwise might.” – Kerrien Suarez on encouraging more sharing of stories of race equity work.

INFOGRAPHIC: BUILDING A RACE EQUITY CULTURE

The Race Equity Cycle framework we’ve developed outlines how organizations move from “Awake” (focused on diversity) to “Woke” (focused on building inclusion) to “Work” (focused on driving race equity internally and externally), by manipulating specific organizational levers that build momentum and success through the cycle. These levers include: senior leaders, managers, data, organizational culture, learning environment, board of directors, and communities.

ACTION PLAN FORM

Our Equity in the Center Action Commitment Form can be used by individuals who want to both identify for themselves, where their organization is on the Race Equity Cycle, as well gives space for individuals to think through at least three specific actions they can take within their organizations to center race equity in their work.

DATA WALK SLIDES

Data and statistics on the racial leadership gap in the Social Sector.

HOW TO GET FROM TRANSACTIONAL TO ACCOUNTABLE ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

In this interview with Independent Sector, Kerrien Suarez, Director of Equity in the Center, answers questions about creating a culture focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and how Equity in the Center’s work is trying to help shift efforts in the sector to center race equity.

CAMPAIGN PUTS RACIAL EQUITY IN THE CENTER OF THE SOCIAL SECTOR

Equity in the Center emerged from the Social Sector Talent Pipelines Strategy & Learning Lab, where Foundation grantees learned how to become more results based and data driven while consistently applying a racial equity lens to their work. When the lab ended, four participants representing AmeriCorps Alums, ProInspire and Public Allies set out to create “a sector-level effort that was greater than the sum of their individual parts,” says Ashley B. Stewart, a senior associate at Casey. From here, the Equity in the Center campaign was born.