Embracing the real work of prioritizing racial equity
Grant Oliphant, Carmen Anderson, John Ellis
President, Director of Equity and Social Justice, & Vice President of Communications
Heinz Endowment
Key Takeaways
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Equity values are, by the nature of current events and public discourse, a communications issue; organizations that claim equity as a value need to use their voices to stand for this value, even when it is inconvenient.
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Discussing an organization’s work on racial equity publicly is a critical communications tool; avoiding it leaves this important tool unused.
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Leadership and board commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion is critical to forward momentum, but not everyone needs to be on the same page at the same time to keep the work moving.
Overview
The Heinz Endowments has made a public commitment to equity that began with the aspirational vision of a “Just Pittsburgh” in which all residents can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. To achieve this vision, the organization has been striving to cultivate a culture and develop practices and policies that reflect a commitment to equity. Part of the effectiveness of this commitment relies on administrative leadership’s awareness that it is a process.
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“Building this culture is a journey, and it’s not reasonable to expect that the entire organization is going to be on the same page because we enter the work with different levels of understanding, and we bring our biases with us,” says Carmen Anderson, the Endowments’ Director of Equity and Social Justice.
“It’s an ongoing process of listening instead of speaking. It’s hearing concerns and respecting different viewpoints that people bring to the process, which lays a foundation for growth and a deeper understanding of the issues and the roles that we play in addressing them.”
While it is important to bring people along in the process, Anderson explains, it is helpful when board and administrative leadership make a commitment to address inequities through strategic solutions.
She and Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant also agree that it is critical for other trusted leaders within the foundation to guide the process and for staff to have meaningful ownership of the work.
Anderson points out that one way this is accomplished is by having an internal committee representing all departments of the organization focus specifically on equity — even though it would have been easier to create an equity program. Oliphant notes that as a result, the Endowments has moved beyond a one-and-done program because the committee is an ongoing effort that is helping push the foundation forward in its racial equity work.
In addition, the Endowments’ racial equity core values inform its communications approach. Anderson emphasizes that it is important to be a learning organization and has worked with John Ellis, Vice President of Communications, to create professional development opportunities and resources that help the Communications Department, grantees and communities be more effective in their communications.
Oliphant and Ellis mention that the organization uses all of its formal communications channels – including blogs, podcasts, social media, and a magazine – to focus on equity and racial justice, feature the work of African American leaders, and bring forth community stories and voices.
Ellis adds that equity is a through-line with all communication. “I don’t think there’s a journalist we deal with that doesn’t know about our work with equity,” he says.
“That said, racism is pervasive and persistent. If we can’t address it directly, we will make little progress. It may be difficult to hear the pain and often anger that is expressed from communities of color and understand what it means unless there is an authentic commitment to confront bias and hate, respect experiences different than your own and understand current and historical data and its implications.”
The foundation is also contributing to the racial equity dialogue in its informal communications. It has documented its own journey to become a race-centered organization, created conversations with grantees about this work, displayed its own progress and barriers, and, importantly, used its voice to weigh in on current issues of racial equity.
This transparency matters, Anderson notes, because organizations have to be willing to expose their vulnerability on an issue, discuss why they’re thinking and working on it, admit there may be challenges, and ask others to be the experts in the process.
“People need to know it’s a journey that doesn’t come without complexity, particularly due to individual and systemic bias and racism,” she says.
Another important step is working with grantees so that they can grow together in developing racial equity skills.
“With race specifically, it’s a topic that many well-meaning people are afraid to talk about for fear of saying or doing the wrong thing, or they don’t believe there is an issue at all,” Anderson contends. “That said, racism is pervasive and persistent. If we can’t address it directly, we will make little progress. It may be difficult to hear the pain and often anger that is expressed from communities of color and understand what it means unless there is an authentic commitment to confront bias and hate, respect experiences different than your own and understand current and historical data and its implications.”
Anderson explains that systems must change because that’s where the deepest inequities lie. This understanding is a challenge in racial equity conversations as people can shut down without hearing or understanding the data and its implications or possible solutions.
“We don’t always know how to engage the white community well in these conversations. It’s challenging to do it in a way that’s meaningful and non-threatening,” she says, adding that it is important to speak uncomfortable truths, however, and it can be done and done effectively.
“When we sponsor training opportunities with grantees, we know that information may be provided that is new or inconsistent with some of the participants beliefs. We know it might not resonate with everyone. But truth and humility in communications are important factors to successfully embedding equity priorities and changing the culture of organizations. It’s also important to consider framing: When we lead with what’s wrong without considering individual or community assets, it’s very easy for our assumptions to contribute to ineffective programs, policies, and practices.”
Oliphant candidly discusses transparency and truthfulness as well.
“In general, it’s hard for anyone of us to admit that we don’t know everything and that we’re not perfect,” he says. “We knew a racial equity focus would come with risks, that some people wouldn’t like it, and communities that we work with would hold us more accountable for the things we say and do. Transparency invites a higher level of scrutiny that needs to be accepted.”
But Oliphant is quick to underscore the ultimate value of this transparency, noting that foundations that fail to be transparent are not utilizing one most important tools they have.
“It’s wonderful to fund the work, but we need to talk about why it’s important and why we do it,” he says. “If we don’t, we deprive communities of using us as learning opportunities and rob the general social conversation of a voice that should be in the mix.”
Oliphant, Anderson, and Ellis agree that the Endowments has a responsibility not just to communicate effectively about their work, but to respond to issues.
Oliphant describes how foundation staff “realized early on that if we were to articulate a value about caring about equity in the community, then we needed to use our voice to stand for that even when it was difficult or inconvenient.”
He believes it is a way of signaling – and modeling – the equity values of the organization. “Even though it’s not directly about communications,” he says, “it turns out to be.”
Q&A: CARMEN ANDERSON – DIRECTOR OF EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, HEINZ ENDOWMENTS
Ask Questions, Get Answers.
What DEI problem did you identify in your communications practices?
Differences and disparities exist across virtually every key indicator of child, family, and community well-being in the Pittsburgh region. Many of our residents are affected by discrimination, social exclusion, and racism. To address these longstanding issues, we determined that we must work differently. This includes how we use our voice, convening power, and resources and our approach to community and public partnerships. We consider communications one of several priorities related to our equity agenda.
Why is it a problem, and how did you identify this?
We didn’t identify a problem as much as identify opportunities to consider our messaging, how we engage and listen and how we work collaboratively with our partners to create opportunities to advance targeted equity knowledge and skills. We use our position in the community as a philanthropic leader to prioritize equity through our organizational practice with a goal of cultivating an internal culture of practices and policies as well as objectives that reflect a commitment to equity. This enables us to apply an equity lens to our grant making, community partnerships, and communications.
How did you come up with a strategy to address it?
With the board and president’s commitment we identified a staff member to lead the work and established an internal committee to develop a strategic focus. This includes building on past equity work such as the media audit and providing tools, research and tactics to our partners that are interested in deepening their understanding of equity at the organizational, community or systems level.
What obstacles did you face in approaching the issue?
The work takes a long-term commitment and there are competing priorities. Bias and racism are major impediments. Acknowledging the limitations of our knowledge and being intentional and committed to professional development and listening/respecting community voice is critical.
What specific things did you do to shift your communications process?
We’ve devoted significant focus on our website to equity; worked with consultants to develop toolkits, webinars and other resources; devoted podcasts, blogs, and H Magazine to issues related to equity; and sponsored conferences, community events, and professional development opportunities.
What did you learn from this?
The process takes more time and resources than anticipated but it is worthwhile.
Where do you want to go from here?
Stay the course. Continue to use our voice to lead, provide learning opportunities, and advocate for practices and policies that advance equity.
What advice can you give other communications teams?
Engage the organization; everyone has a role to play beginning with the board and leadership. Think long term but act.
