See Beautiful Grant Applicant: The Diversity Gap

The feature below is brought to you by The Diversity Gap - A Project of Plywood People, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. 

To learn more about The Diversity Gap, please visit their website page: here.

Plywood Leaders of Color Gathering

Cultivating beautiful across all lines of difference 

We all arrive at our “diversity” work from different places. We carry with us critical moments that open our eyes and invite us to see the world in new ways. When I say “diversity work,” I’m referring to the intentional, ongoing process of celebrating the undeniable presence of difference in us and among us. When I say “diversity work,” I’m thinking of our responses to racial injustice and our efforts to build cultures where all people can thrive.

When I say “diversity work,” I am thinking about what it takes to see the beautiful in every person we meet. I’m imagining what it looks like to commit our energies to the flourishing of others just as much as we are committed to our own.

My arrival at this work began when I was a child growing up in rural Georgia. There were many things I loved about my childhood. I loved my small town; I loved the ten minute walk to the grocery store or to the library. I loved knowing everyone, and I loved feeling so known. However, there was also a cloud of racism that hung over our little slice of heaven. In true Southern fashion, there was a celebration of the confederacy that made me feel like my liberated black body was somehow in the wrong place. There was the fact that our town was divided by the railroad tracks: black people here; white people there. Rich people here; poor people there. There was the fact that our classrooms and football stadiums were also marked by a segregation that confused me.

Those facts, and my confusion about them, journeyed with me as I moved through college and beyond. I eventually entered the working world in the big city and was struck by how these schools, neighborhoods and churches seemed just as segregated as my hometown, despite everyone’s belief in being so progressive.

This challenged me to consider: why can’t we do life better together? What will it take?

Then 2014 came and went, as did 2015 and 2016. The Movement for Black Lives took the nation by storm, and our social feeds were flooded with hurt and heartbreak. It’s as if bandages were ripped off of age-old wounds and we could all feel it. With our souls bare and our fears exacerbated, I watched communities fracture and fumble through it all. It was painful to say the least. But it was also a critical moment for many, inviting more people into the arena of diversity work.

It was around this time various organizations began inviting me to consult or train their communities in the work of anti-racism. Questions about the state of race in America quickly gave way to questions like, “How do we diversify our team?” or “How do we diversify our community?” I would find myself in conversation with the few people of color on a majority white staff, and they would confess, “I love being a part of this organization, but I feel like I can’t be myself here,” or “When I try to speak up about the racism I see, white people push back and can’t understand; it makes me feel powerless.”

Most often, I’ve heard from all sides, “We value diversity and being a multicultural organization, but it’s not happening. What are we doing wrong?”

The value doesn’t match the reality.
There is distance between what we want and what is required to attain it.
Good intentions fall short of good impact.

In my own life and story, these tensions revealed the next level of my diversity work: doing research to discover the cultural habits and practices of truly diverse and inclusive teams. My thinking is, if I can figure out what is working for some, then perhaps I can share findings that will work for many.

This name of this research project is The Diversity Gap.

Over the course of the next couple of years, I will be interviewing over 100 underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities in majority white organizations to learn more about their experiences of inclusion and exclusion. As I find organizations were diversity work is going comparatively well, I will complete deep-dive case studies to understand what is working and why. Alongside this research, I am creating a podcast series to share my findings and to learn from industry experts as it relates to organizational culture, diversity and change management. I also hope to launch a live event and write a book. I have big dreams.

At the end of the day, I’m finding that it’s the work that matters most. It’s the intentional and ongoing choice to show up for the messy and clumsy conversations. It’s the courage it takes to look honestly at our racially broken past and present, and to consider what sacrifices will be required to create a new future. It’s the tenacity to take responsibility for our lives and our families and to decide that racial segregation ends with us. This is the work that matters most.

My dream for this project, for The Diversity Gap, is to support leaders and communities on their journey to not only see more beautiful, but to leverage their influence to cultivate beautiful across all lines of difference.

This is the invitation. I hope you will join me in this work. 

Written by: Bethaney Wilkinson

Director of Programming, The Diversity Gap - A Project of Plywood People