As a long-time advocate for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts throughout her career, Rebecca Irby knows the need for – and the power of – transformational change.
That’s why Irby, the Director of Transformational Change at New Detroit, a Racial Justice Organization, was so keen on being at Corp! Magazine’s recent 16th annual Salute to Diversity Awards and Conference. As the event’s keynote speaker, Irby talked about the importance of organizations making that change and incorporating DEI efforts.
“It’s really important for people to know and understand the agency that is inside of us and really encouraging and helping folks know that transformation truly is possible,” said Irby, who was part of the team that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. “I think a lot of folks are scared of this topic and the subject, so bringing a little more of a light-hearted feel to it and making it accessible is really critical and important to me.”
In addition to Irby’s presentation, the event featured an Executive Thought Leadership panel discussion featuring some of the state’s top leaders in diversity efforts, the presentation of the 2023 Salute to Diversity honorees and networking opportunities for the hundreds of people who attended the event at The Henry Autograph Collection in Dearborn.
During her presentation, Irby talked about what she called the formula for change, a six-step process she says is critical to changing the way people and companies think. The steps include:
• Shift Attention to a New Cognitive Frame: Embrace new ways of thinking and understanding the issue at hand.
“When we’re solving a problem, especially a systemic one, we can’t approach it the way we’ve been approaching it, otherwise it wouldn’t be there,” she said. “We would have solved it already. Shifting our cognitive frame is so critical and so important.”
• Support People in Developing Different Relationships: Foster meaningful connections and collaborations among stakeholders.
• Support People in Having a Different Experience: Facilitate experiences that challenge existing assumptions and lead to transformative learning.
• Change Formal and Informal Rules: Modify the rules and norms governing the system to promote positive outcomes.
• Change Relationships Among Existing Resources: Redefine how resources interact and collaborate to achieve common goals.
“Are we creating opportunities for our folks to engage with and speak with people who are different from them, people they wouldn’t normally engage with?” she said. “Engaging with people who are different also creates different opportunities for folks to engage in ways that they normally wouldn’t.”
• Change Reinforcing Feedback Loops: Identify and adjust feedback loops that reinforce the current state of the system.
The change is never easy, she pointed out, particularly with so many individuals and groups trying to tamp down on the need and even eliminate such efforts. That just makes it more important to push forward with the transformation, according to Irby.
“It’s more important now than ever,” she said. “There’s a real opportunity for us to move forward … one side is very loud right now about how they don’t want change and transformation. In these moments it feels very overwhelming and daunting … to me it actually means there’s so much opportunity and we really do have a chance to see true change.”
Panel discussion
That kind of change was seen all over corporate America, where companies have long made an effort to have Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts be part of their corporate structure.
The May 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man who died during a police incident in Minnesota — for which a white police officer was convicted – seemed to spark renewed interest in making sure DE&I was an integral part of company operations and programs.
Interest in DE&I seems to be flagging a little in the latest climate, with some folks – largely politicians – trying to tamp down enthusiasm for the issue. For instance, officials in Florida have cut funding to public schools for their DE&I staffing and programs.
Experts taking part in a panel discussion at Corp! Magazine’s recent 16th annual Salute to Diversity Awards and Conference, however, think those efforts are as important as ever. Just as important, they said, is the idea that companies actually put effort and heart into those programs and aren’t just putting them forth to check a box on some checklist.
In other words, they agreed, the efforts have to be real.
“When we’re thinking about diversity, equity and inclusion we have to get beyond just ‘checking the box,’” said Edgar Vann III, vice president of Diversity and Inclusion for Huntington National Bank. “Putting a minority face on our company website is not good enough. We have to put actions behind our words.
“We have to be more intentional; we have to be more precise,” Vann added. “The window is starting to close, and we have to push through it and open it back up to let our companies and our nonprofits know how important this issue is and keep it at the forefront.”
The Executive Thought Leadership panel discussion was moderated by Gary Abernathy, vice president and DEI Practice Leader at Marsh McLennan Agency. In addition to Vann, the panel featured four other leaders in the DEI discussion from around the state, including:
• Ovell Barbee Jr., HR Strategist, DEI Advocate, Author and Speaker.
• Scott Alan Davis, vice president of Inclusion and Economic Development at SEEL, LLC.
• Judith McNeeley, vice president of Community Engagement for Gleaners Community Food Bank.
• Dr. KimArie Yowell, Chief Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer for Rocket Companies
The panelists talked about a variety of issues surrounding DEI efforts in companies, offering best practices to ensure such efforts are successful, how companies budget for them and other topics.
In order to make DEI efforts work, panelists agreed, the desire to succeed has to be felt throughout a company.
“You have to approach change very holistically, but you also have to have the buy-in from everybody, particularly those who are the influencers and who hold the power, and making sure that not only are they comfortable with the ideas being presented, but they understand what it means to the climate, the culture and the work that is moving forward,” Davis said. “When you are able to have employees who are invested and support the work you’re doing, you make sure your turnover rate is lower, they bring their skills to the work you are doing. It makes for a better climate and culture for everybody involved.”
Some companies, the experts said, are actually starting to cut DE&I programs from their budgets. Companies, Vann said, have to “be honest” about where their hearts lie. For most companies, he said, “their heart is at the bottom line.”
After Floyd’s death, he said, DE&I became “sexy,” but now it’s “getting old.” Its importance needs to be explained, and demonstrated, to company leadership.
“Our DE&I work is very emotional work, but at the top of the house, they don’t understand emotion, all they understand is data and numbers,” he said. “We have to be more proactive in how we tell our story of how we impact the bottom line. There are studies out there that show more diverse companies make more money. We have to somehow disconnect that emotion out of the conversation … and make it a more sustainable conversation about how we add to and impact the bottom line.
“This all really blew up with (Floyd),” he added. “It was an emotional event that hit every ethnicity, every person in some kind of way, and then action happened. Now, everyone has forgotten about it. ‘Oh, we solved the DE&I equation, now we can come back to the budget because we’re going through a recession, so everyone has to cut something. We have to be more of an advocate.”
For Yowell, Chief Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer for Rocket Companies, it’s about connecting everything to the company’s strategy for success.
“We really have to think about how DE&I is integrated into the organization … and connecting it to strategy,” she said. “If we’re talking about programming and training, that’s one thing. If we’re talking about how the system is set up for everyone to be successful, that’s impacting your bottom line.
“When you’re able to connect the dots in that way so (leadership) understands what you’re asking for,” she added, “it’s driving the business.”
McNeely said convincing corporate leadership of the value of DE&I programs is important. It’s just as important to remember, she said, who else has to be convinced. Many companies. She pointed out, have boards of directors as part of the company’s governance. Those board members, she said, need just as much convincing.
“You have to establish the value proposition for leadership … You have to get them to understand it needs to be part of the DNA of the organization,” McNeely said. “It’s not a separate ‘feel-good’ project, it has to be part of the fabric of the organization. You have to be able to show how it connects to the value of the organization in every way that they function.
“We have to make sure our boards show up in support,” she added. “As we all know, if there’s a board that’s part of the governance of an organization, their voices matter. If your board has not stepped up and said, ‘this is a priority’ ,,. It’s going to be hard for your leadership. They can get by with not paying attention.”
Barbee, a longtime expert in this area who recently authored his new book, “The Big House: A Human-Centered and Progressive Approach to DEI and Positive Workplace Engagement,” called DE&I efforts “evolutionary” for their value, utilization of data and, ultimately, better business outcomes.
Still, companies are cutting funding for some of these programs.
“I heard a speaker once say, ‘where else in corporate America would you ask someone to take on 15% to 20% extra duties, ask them to run through a brick wall, climb a mountain and not give them any extra compensation?’” Barbee said. “That’s part of the challenge for us as practitioners and people who are passionate about this work — continuing to gear up and fight the good fight.”
But McNeely said companies have to be cognizant of the fact that different companies and different groups of employees are going to have different needs.
To continue to be successful, she pointed out, it’s incumbent upon company leadership to try to make sure all of those needs are being met.
“One size doesn’t fit all … The dynamic of the people in your organization, even within ethnic groups, their priorities are different,” McNeely said. “They’ll be different based on age, lived experience, education … just their own priorities are going to be different. We have to know who we’re serving. We have to know who the unseen are, and what they need and want. We have to listen. We tend to rush in with programs and projects, but we never take the time to understand what they want and need.”
With financing becoming an issue in some quarters, she added, it’s important to realize that corporate budgets aren’t the only place to find funding. There are plenty of organizations wanting to get involved in this area and to help.
“In terms of funding, for those who are not part of a corporate experience where there might not be that funding, be creative,” McNeely said. “Even if there are institutions who are saying we’re not going to support this any more, there are philanthropic institutions who very much want to support this work.
“You have to have a plan, you have to have the data and you have to show there’s going to be an impact and be able to communicate that impact,” she added. “There are funders who want to support this work, but we have to be creative and thoughtful and comprehensive about the development of a plan. It can’t be based on emotion.”
