Practical Examples, Personal Discovery and our Leadership Practices
The importance of practical examples to contextualize race equity practices seems to be a running theme in our recent training and workshops. Last week we were invited by LeadersTrust, an organization that invests in people at the heart of change, together with its sister program, the Resilience Initiative, to host a workshop for participants of both programs, including organizational leaders, funding partners, and consultants.
During the session, we introduced our Leading for Race Equity Impact model. We walked through specific examples from leaders and organizations on how they have embodied leadership practices to center race equity at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and systems levels. Our chatbox lit up with questions requesting more examples, tools, and resources to support the necessary shifts that this vibrant mix of professionals seeks to make in their respective roles.
Leveraging collaborative action planning, we took to a padlet to reflect, brainstorm and discuss successful strategies and challenges to operationalizing race equity practices in their day-to-day work while listening to a playlist of melodies curated to inspire and set the tone for reflection and bravery.
The engagement in the room was refreshing and enlightening. Our open discussion hovered around one of ProInspire’s core research insights- you must first start with personal awareness and individual sense of identity to spark and scale impact. Among the many reflections elevated throughout the session, here are two that resonated:
“As consultants, we have considerable individual power… how can I put together an effective communications strategy for an organization if I am unaware…”
– Communications Consultant & Coach
“This is all overwhelming…how do you move on this framework if your organization does not have all the presented pieces in place to push transformation?”
– Foundation Staff Member
These moments of personal awareness and acknowledged realities are the very elements needed to activate leaders. Even in doubt and overwhelm, leaders at all levels can shift their practices to accelerate equity. It also sheds light on three key learnings from our training with leaders and organizations:
- We must continue to create space for people to explore and deepen their personal and professional commitment to race equity.
- We must prioritize providing practical and easy-to-digest information and tools.
- We must leverage the power of the collaboration and community to support one another in collective action planning to reimagine what’s possible.
In our commitment to continue to support social sector leaders, we invite you to register for our upcoming ProInspire Leadership Institute: Managing People & Power. This two-day virtual immersive workshop designed for people and project managers will help you explore and deepen your racial equity lens. Join us to gain practical tools and strategies to accelerate equity within your sphere of influence.
Learn more here and register today!
Rachel Leonidas
Senior Communications Manager
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