Giving Compass' Take:

· Regardless of how successful an organization may be, it is crucial to regularly check the "pulse" of it when pursuing equity. Having an outside team assess the work of your organization can reveal valuable information about it's culture. 

· What are some motivations that help to create an equity-centered organization?

· Learn more about equity, diversity, and inclusion.

I lead Frontline Solutions, a black-owned consulting firm that helps organizations working on the front lines of change. Clients engage our enterprise for variety of consulting services from evaluation to capacity building. Our practice and values are to apply an equity lens to each engagement. We believe in working towards intersectional equity, because building just communities demands dismantling the barriers created by both racism and patriarchy.

Frontline is a firm predominately comprised of people of color and we are often hired because of our equity analysis. Over the years, we have engaged outside professionals to take the pulse of equity in our own organization’s culture, policies, and practices. The first time we invited a consultant to assess our internal culture, we were humbled when we heard the results of the consultant’s interview process. Staff had used the terms “hetero-normative” and “male-dominated” to describe our culture. It was a wake-up call.

Since then, we have repeated the process with other trusted partners and consultants. Taking a pulse regularly is a necessary process for any healthy organization pursuing equity. It doesn’t matter how dynamic or progressive you are as a leader, how much your corporation does in the community, how diverse your staff is, or whether everyone wears Black Lives Matter t-shirts on Tuesdays. The practice of assessment facilitated by an outside, objective party is imperative. It will provide you with valuable information about the extent to which equity values, principles, and practices are embedded in your organization’s culture.

Read the full article about equity lessons for organizational leaders by Marcus Littles at medium.com