Thursday, June 18, 2020
By: Roy Wells
On June 3, Triad Strategies posted the following statement on our social media accounts:
We recognize that making a statement and sharing on it on social media does not suffice as our contribution to end racism and injustice and we must continue to actively take steps to educate ourselves to be effective allies.
As a firm, we identified Diversity and Inclusion as one of the core fundamentals that define our culture. A month ago, that fundamental was our focus and the conversations our team had on the topic focused on the fact that those two words do not mean the same thing.
Within the context of the workplace, diversity equals representation. But, without inclusion, we will not be able to make the important connections that will attract diverse talent, that encourages all of us to participate, that will lead us to innovate, and ultimately allow us to grow our firm. Vernā Myers, Vice President for Inclusion Strategy at Netflix, says it best:
“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.”
We can invite as many people, with the most diverse backgrounds as possible to Triad, but if our culture does not promote the participation of everyone, we will be talking the talk, but not walking the walk.
So much happened in the world in that month since we had the initial conversation. It has forced us, individually and as a team, to reflect on our actions or inaction. As a result, we decided as a team during our Monday staff meeting that our first action step is to observe Juneteenth as a company holiday. We will be taking that time to truly understand the meaning of Juneteenth, educating ourselves on how to be effective allies and having honest conversations about what we can do to contribute to a more inclusive society.
By fostering a climate where everyone feels psychologically safe, where we trust one another, and where we can express our opinions without fear of retribution or ridicule, we can create an environment that invites inclusion. But that is not enough. We must continue to engage in those conversations – even if they are uncomfortable – to facilitate change. We need to include more diverse ideas and perspectives.
We know that this is only the start to our journey, but we are committed to taking it.