3 steps to building a racially diverse team

July 2, 2020

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Mayor Ella Jones talks about her new leadership of Ferguson, Missouri, tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the CROWN Act, and a WashU professor shares three tips on building a diverse team. The Broadsheet will be off on Friday ahead of the July 4 holiday. Have a wonderful weekend.

– ‘Not an accident.’ The George Floyd protests unleashed a flood of corporate statements about past negligence on the issue of race and vows to right those wrongs; chief among them were commitments to build more diverse workforces. (See: Estée Lauder, Apple, Google, BlackRock, etc.) Pledges are one thing, taking real action is another.

Firms eager to make that next step could learn a lesson or two from a new case study on building a diverse team courtesy of Adia Harvey Wingfield, a professor of sociology and associate dean for faculty development at Washington University in St. Louis.

Her new HBR article outlines how her team, as the title tells it, “built a diverse academic department in five years.”

In that short time, “our department has grown to 13 full-time faculty, nearly half of whom identify as people of color. Not only that, of the eight senior professors in my department, half of us are people of color. Three of these senior faculty are women, and three identify as Black,” she writes. That’s the kind of racial diversity that many in academia say is impossible due to “leaky” pipelines and a dearth of qualified candidates.

Not so, says Wingfield. She outlines three key steps to pulling it off:

Establish support from multiple stakeholders. University leadership, she says, was “emphatic” in supporting the aim of a racially-diverse department, as were Wingfield’s white male colleagues. It wasn’t up to a single person to press the issue, “a phenomenon that often occurs when women or racial minority men are in the minority at work,” she says.

Take intentional action and deploy resources. Wingfield’s team reached beyond social networks and alma maters to find new hires, since such tactics often exclude candidates of color. What’s more, administrators provided financial support to hire and retain top recruits.

Create a culture that welcomes and values all voices. Wingfield’s department includes “the voices and experiences of people of color” in its teaching and research and extends that approach to its own operation and extracurriculars. “[W]e simply refuse to have a ‘colorblind’ organizational culture,” she says.

Her experience is worth reading about in full. It starts with arguably the most important lesson; that what her department achieved “wasn't an accident.”

Claire Zillman
claire.zillman@fortune.com
@clairezillman

Today’s Broadsheet was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Mayor Jones. Ella Jones won her race to become the first Black mayor of Ferguson, Missouri last month. Now, she tells Vogue about the significance of her election and the rise of Black female leaders in local government. "I think we are saying enough is enough," she says. Vogue

One or the other. In this op-ed, Smitten Kitchen blogger and cookbook author Deb Perelman says what so many parents have been thinking: As more workers are expected back in the office—despite schools and childcare remaining in disarray—why is there no "consideration of the working parents who will be ground up in the gears when they collide? Let me say the quiet part loud: In the Covid-19 economy, you're allowed only a kid or a job." New York Times

- Primary results. Colorado's primary election on Tuesday saw conservative Lauren Boebert, a gun rights activist and restaurant owner who was recently in the headlines for keeping her establishment open in violation of state restrictions, come out on top over the Republican incumbent; she'll face Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush in November. Two female GOP candidates in Oklahoma, state Sen. Stephanie Bice and businesswoman Terry Neese, will compete in a runoff to challenge Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn. CNN

- Hair for it. Tomorrow will be the first National CROWN Day, honoring the one-year anniversary of the first signing of the CROWN Act banning discrimination against natural hair. Virginia's version of the legislation goes into effect today, making the state the fourth to ban this type of racial discrimination. Guardian

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Wendi Murdoch and NBA EVP for digital media Melissa Brenner join the board of Match Group as the online dating company finalizes its spin-off from IAC. Summit Partners named former SoulCycle CEO Melanie Whelan as managing director as the venture capital firm raised $2.2 billion across two new funds. Essence appointed Caroline Wanga chief growth officer as the media brand faces criticism over its treatment of Black women who work there; Essence has denied allegations of wrongdoing. Notarize hired eZcater's Kate Brigham as VP of product and Wayfair's Denise Forestier as senior director of operations. Yard NYC hired Kelly Stevens as CMO.

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