Seven practical ways for unlocking diverse talent and creating a truly inclusive organization
Impact investing offers the potential to create more equitable communities as well as a more inclusive financial ecosystem. However, change is not happening fast enough. Black and Brown communities remain disproportionately underinvested, fund managers of color remain vastly underrepresented, and entrepreneurs of color continue to face an uphill battle when raising capital to seed their visions.
To increase the flow of capital to marginalized communities, increase representation of fund managers of color, and level the playing field for diverse entrepreneurs, we must embed greater diversity in capital-allocation decisions. In theory, this entails prioritizing diverse perspectives in decision-making. In practice, this means building more diverse teams, boards, and committees that more accurately represent the communities we serve.
In a recent panel, hosted by Confluence Philanthropy, I had a chance to explore these issues with Hadiyah Mujhid, Founder and CEO of HBCUvc (an organization committed to creating career opportunities in finance for underrepresented students); Lem White, Co-CEO at Possibility Labs (a platform supporting social change and power building for community-led organizations); and Shawn Escoffery, CEO at Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation (a foundation working at the intersection of social and racial justice). Our conversation centered on (i) what it means to cultivate a new generation of impact- investing leaders, (ii) how to ensure we are creating a work culture that works for everyone, particularly for early career professionals, and (iii) what we can all do to ensure the longevity of such diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-focused strategies. Below are seven “best practices” that emerged from our discussion.
1. Focus on hiring diverse talent. Creating a diverse workforce is critical to ensuring that the make-up of our organizations reflects the communities we seek to serve. This includes hiring diverse, young professionals who can bring fresh, new perspectives. Establishing a base of young diverse professionals paves the way for a more diverse organization in the future.
2. Diversify organizational leadership. Add diversity to the C-suite, investment committees, boards, and other decision-making bodies with the power to influence where and how capital flows. This must be done in a way that is meaningful to the organization and consistent with its values. Young professionals must see themselves in their leadership and know that there is a path ahead for themselves from day one.
3. Don’t stop at hiring. Work to create a work culture centered around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. A truly inclusive workplace requires diversity to be embedded in the organization’s DNA. This entails centering diversity as a key core value and north star, helping guide how an organization operates, distributes power, access, and opportunity, and shows up to community partners. This will help to retain young, diverse talent and create an environment where they can thrive.
4. De-center whiteness. Building a diverse, inclusive culture also requires an intentional commitment to de-center whiteness in the workplace. This entails creating spaces for meaningful and honest conversations about social and racial justice, even if it makes uncomfortable those who have not been historically victimized by racism. For young, diverse professionals this also means their feelings and experiences will be at the center.
5. Don’t overlook the details. Developing an inclusive culture requires paying attention to the details. Young professionals from marginalized communities just entering the workforce may be unfamiliar with many of the elements of the workplace others take for granted (e.g., credit card reimbursements, 401k contributions, etc.). Take the time to create a culture that embraces individuals with different lived experiences.
6. Embrace diversity as a choice, not a checkbox. A common pitfall for many organizations is to frame diversity as an initiative or program. Creating an environment that invites young professionals to build lifelong careers requires an equally important lifelong commitment to diversity from all levels of the organization, especially from C-suite and board members. Anything short of that runs the risk of losing steam as the excitement around the initiative wears off or if leadership priorities change.
7. Develop young professionals. Provide opportunities for early career professionals to experience and participate in projects in ways that are substantive, empowering, and foster a sense of agency. This may range from bringing young employees to important events and meetings with more senior team members and giving them a co-lead role on an assignment, to creating opportunities for them to represent the organization externally (e.g., a presentation). When feasible, pair young professionals with on-the-job mentorship opportunities, or support young employees to seek external mentors by facilitating introductions.
Fostering a more diverse generation of impact investing professionals requires a genuine commitment to creating and sustaining opportunities for underrepresented groups. We must all ask ourselves:
1. What is my organization doing to make strides toward building a truly inclusive workplace, particularly for young professionals of underrepresented backgrounds?
2. What else can we all do to move beyond organization-centric strategies and towards field-wise approaches?
Javier Hernandez, Director, Impact Investments, Avivar Capital
Disclaimer: Confluence blogs may contain external links to other resources and comments or statements by individuals who do not represent Confluence Philanthropy, Inc. Confluence Philanthropy, Inc. makes no representation whatsoever regarding the content that you may access as a result of our blog, nor the statements of any third parties whose comments may be expressed therein.
