Representation - Whose Voice Matters?

Hello friends,

About a year or so ago, I wrote about being in an all-Black Zoom call and how my mind was blown by being in such a space. Since I’ve changed the work I do, I’ve been in many such spaces since. For example, one of my favourites was the DEI Experts of Colour Circle, created by Ellen Wagner. Though it’s been on hiatus for a while, it’s a space where we come together as equals, make joint decisions about discussion priorities and offer mutual help and support. It’s a space where I’m talkative, which for anyone who knows me is quite something. I’m also pretty partial to Kimberley John-Morgan’s Lunch Counter, which has a similar vibe but even more salt!

But that’s not the space that made me reflect on this today. As you know, I’m a Co-Founder of Mission Equality, a company focused on equality through leadership development and education. More importantly, the company focuses on modeling what equality looks like by embedding it into our own practices.

One foundational idea was having majority Black and Brown leadership, advisors and staff. We’re just moving past the sweat equity startup stage, but people have been flocking to the company to see what this looks like in action. And one thing it looks like is our team meetings: 6 people in the room, 4 of them from the Global Majority. Everyone in the room trusted to look after their area, but getting support from wherever and whoever they needed within the company. For many of us, the optics made a powerful statement - both Global Majority and white colleagues noticed it.

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