Racial Equity Inside IISC: Doing What We Say We Do

September 12, 2019 3 Comments

I often think the biggest quest for IISC is to mirror our mission internally. We work to build collaborative capacity for social justice and racial equity with our clients and partners in the field, but how do we practice that inside of our organization with intention and action?

Unconsciously or consciously what leaders show, allow, and choose to grow are the things that people either imitate or support inside their organization. IISC is a leader in the field of racial equity and social justice so it follows that we should mirror transformational practices for racial equity and justice at home. It’s not about being perfect but it is about taking deep ownership of our own racism and other forms of oppression. It’s about bringing to an end comments, behaviors, and practices that call into question even subtly the worth, intelligence, experience, and dignity of people of color or other targeted groups. It’s about making sure that all of our policies are informed by a racial equity lens by asking ourselves how a decision, policy, or practice negatively impact people of color or other groups at the margins.

This graphic builds from materials that were adapted by George Friday
from the Dismantling Racism workshop.

At different points in IISC’s history we have paid deep attention to our own culture and practices to align them more closely with the just world we want to create. In recent times that has meant examining the personal, interpersonal, and institutional interactions that may perpetuate racial inequity in our relationships and inside our culture and system.

We have examined and adjusted our pay scales to bring them more in line with our values and to ensure there is parity based on race and gender. We have restarted the practices of caucuses, in which white staff gather separately to learn about white privilege and fragility in our workplace so that they can support one another and take accountability for their beliefs and actions. In the people of color caucus, staff support each other around instances of racism by staff and clients and challenge each other to show up more fully at IISC so that we can challenge the status quo. Both caucuses then come together in staff meetings to explore our learnings, give each other feedback, and discuss our aspirations and challenges. We are constantly in dialogue and discovery.

As the leader of IISC, I have made it known that it’s not enough to do your functional job at IISC – the tasks of a particular role for example – but that it is equally as important if not more so to walk the talk of collaboration, racial belonging, equity, and justice.

In the future, we will be offering individual equity coaching to staff so that they can have a resource to impact and grow as leaders. We will also be deeply infusing equity expectations into our performance management process.

Some of the questions I think we need to explore going forward are:

  • How do we disrupt and interrupt unconscious and conscious racism in our organization? In our thoughts, behaviors, and interactions, and in those of others? And how do we still reach for each other to collaborate when we are in the middle of tough conflicts across difference?
  • How do we move this internal work into our relationships and practice with the board of directors and with our affiliate consultants? What is the most authentic and powerful way to do that?
  • In what ways we do expect our clients to treat people of color staff and affiliates with deep respect and on the same level as their white peers? There are many stories of white consultants working in client systems receiving better or different treatment than people of color.

Clients pay IISC to design and facilitate processes for racial equity change in their organizations. If we do that which we say we do, IISC will always be in an equity change process itself. There may be fits and starts, victories and back slides, but we will be in it.  Embracing discomfort like our clients, making changes despite setbacks, and taking on tough battles and decisions to uproot the influence of racism and oppression that surrounds and penetrates the IISC living system.

We will be undone as I shared in a recent blog, but we will be practicing what we preach and that alignment and clarity will give us the strength and resilience to keep transforming IISC and of course transforming ourselves.

3 Comments

  • Viviana says:

    Hi,
    I’m an advocate for the Office of Race Relations. We provide trainings to the congregations of the denomination, so I’m always looking for ideas and thoughts that others already went through.

    May use those three questions you have in this article? We write our workshop’s materials and also train facilitators. The main goal of our office is to provide awareness and resources for congregations to learn and live as racial reconcilers.

  • Hasnie says:

    This is great!

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