Get Ready To Get Brave

Get ready to get brave. 

Clearly folks are coming for DEI. 

As Maya Angelou taught Oprah Winfrey, "When people tell you who they are, believe them the first time." 

Conservatives like Christopher Rufo and Bill Ackman aren’t even trying to hide their intentions. To quote Rufo, “My primary objective is to eliminate the DEI bureaucracy in every institution in America.”

Last week, Rufo, Ackman, and others met their goal of ousting Harvard’s first Black president when she resigned under pressure over plagiarism accusations. They and other critics implied that she was unqualified for the position—in over her head. That somehow her “failure” proved that using “diversity” as a hiring criteria would result in disaster.

The connection to anti-DEI arguments wasn’t coincidental. Taking down Professor Gay was part of the same campaign that Rufo organized against “CRT” last year. 

So those of us who are dedicated to what DEI actually means—a level playing field, so that everyone has an opportunity to fulfill their potential—should be ready for that battle.

If you’ve started your DEI efforts, don’t stop. 

As intimidating as the efforts of the anti-DEI crusaders can be, this is not the time to be timid or hold back. 

If you are a leader in an organization, you want the best that every employee has to give. DEI is a set of strategies to make that possible.

Here are a few things to remember as you get ready to face challenges to DEI in 2024:

• Ground yourself in your values. You believe that everyone has something to offer, and everyone deserves respect and dignity. You believe in fairness and honesty. These are the foundations of DEI, and they needn’t be controversial. Speak from the heart about why these matter to you.

• Data is on your side. Critics cherry-pick research about mandatory diversity training and try to discredit the field. But there is much more evidence of the value of diversity in organizations, the importance of engaged employees who feel like they belong, and the damaging impact of unconscious biases on opportunities and culture in organizations. Pursuing DEI is pursuing organizational success.

• It’s popular. Employees want to work for organizations with purpose. They want to bring their full selves and know that their ideas and backgrounds will be valued. And they’re prepared to leave organizations that don’t walk the walk. 

So set your DEI goals for 2024, create a plan—and be ready to lead in the face of opposition. 

Because your leadership is crucial. The public narrative around DEI may have changed since 2020, but the need remains. And your role as a leader is more important now than ever. 

The bottom line: People are the greatest asset to any organization, and DEI is all about people. 

Stand up for your people. Stand up for DEI.

DEI-Colored Glasses

As you set your professional and organizational goals for 2024, take a second look. 

Where do diversity, equity, and inclusion fit in with them?

Is DEI its own bullet point? 

Or do you see it embedded? 

When you put a DEI lens on all your goals, it’s harder to overlook or delay it.

Put that lens on now, as the year begins, and see all of your work with a new perspective.

Happy New Year from all of us at Fletcher Consulting.

After the DEI Bubble, Gratitude

Compared to the DEI inundation of 2020 and 2021, this was a slow year. We saw fewer inquiries about DEI consulting in 2023.

But to be honest, I was happier with the work.

As a result of the Black Lives Matter awakening, the volume of RFPs in ‘20/’21 was incredible—in both senses of the word. It was an amazing display of interest. And so many of them weren’t credible. 

“We want to end systemic racism! What can you do in 60 minutes?” 

Yes, that wave of interest—or perhaps “bubble” is the more accurate word—has burst. 

But, the organizations that are still engaging with DEI are doing so because they know it matters. They aren’t just responding to peer pressure or public relations anxiety. They’re responding to an internal demand, with support from leadership and from across the organization. With clients in that mindset, you can make real progress. 

So I want to say a special thank you to the clients we worked with in 2023: the ones who have continued to do the work in spite of “DEI fatigue,” budget cuts, and Supreme Court decisions. Thank you for trusting Fletcher Consulting to partner with you in your DEI work.

DEI workshops sometimes get a bad rap for not being “effective,” and that is probably true if they’re one-offs. Impact doesn’t come from workshops alone, but from the work the organizations do in the months between sessions. So we’re particularly grateful for clients who took us up on our offers of learning series, such as Housing Partnership Network, Social Finance, Analysis Group, and the Mayor’s Office of Housing Stability.

We were also pleased to support several clients as they broadened their DEI work to include different groups like operations staff, boards, and cohorts moving into supervisory roles for the first time: clients like WilmerHale and the New Bedford Whaling Museum come to mind.

And the clients who focused on affinity group programs, such as AltmanSolon, or bias-proofing systems such as interviewing or professional development, like Mintz and Columbia Law School Administration.

We were fortunate to work again this year with many clients who have engaged with us over multiple years, such as Addison Gallery; Allen & Overy; Arrowstreet; Berkeley School of Law; Bernstein, Litowitz, Berger & Grossman; Boston Bar Association; Columbia Law School JD & LLM Programs; Fordham Law; Harvard Global Support Services; Institute of Contemporary Art; Mount Auburn Cemetery; Museum of Fine Arts; Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren; St. John’s Law; UVA Law; and Yale Law.

And to welcome new clients this year: CFAR, Curriculum Associates, Disability Rights Advocates, Form, Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, Morse, and Trailstone Management Corp.

As we enter the new year, we look forward to continuing the work with our existing clients and to engaging with new clients who are early in their journey. 

Best wishes to all as we close out 2023 and get ready to ring in the New Year.