One Anti-Racist Action You Can Take Today: Follow the Work of Chief Diversity Officers
By Guimel DeCarvalho
Vice President of People & Culture and Chief Diversity Officer
After the murder of George Floyd companies issued statements of outrage and committed themselves to improving their corporate culture. They also raced to hire a Chief Diversity Officers (CDO) to guide them in just how to do it without making costly mistakes. As the title implies, CDO’s are responsible for developing and implementing the diversity, equity, & inclusion strategy of an organization. They oversee initiatives, employee relations and tie business outcomes to the diversity, equity and inclusion work of the organization. They can create real organizational culture change with the proper budget, reporting structure and support. As CDO’s value has risen across industries, it’s important to pay attention to more than just their titles. Follow the work they are doing in cities like Boston which hired Dr. Kathryn Crockett, a published author and MIT lecturer of Public Policy and Urban Planning as its Chief of Equity. Boston Mayor Walsh established a cabinet-level position “to embed equity and racial justice into all City planning, operations, and work moving forward.”
Under Dr. Crockett’s leadership, the Office of Equity will be charged with leading the Administration’s efforts across departments to embed equity into all city work, and actively work to dismantle racism by putting an intentional focus on supporting communities of color and marginalized groups across all departments, and building equitable governmental structures to sustain this work.
Read about what strategies CDO’s have tried and tested. Below are links explaining the importance of CDO’s and a few to watch for.
Harvard Business Review: Do you know why your company needs a Chief Diversity Officer?
Medium: What is a Chief Diversity Officer and Why Does Your Company Need One?
City of Boston: Dr. Karilyn Crockett
CNBC: NBA appoints Oris Stuart as chief people and inclusion officer
