A Commitment To Doing Better: How Companies Can Engage in Anti-Racist Work
The murder of George Floyd has caused the world to awaken to the profound inequity and racism that are embedded in our societal structures. As Black Lives Matter sparks movements across the world, calling for massive societal shifts, we’ve seen many well-known companies making charitable donations or releasing statements condemning racism and expressing solidarity with Black communities. Although we regard these actions are generally positive, we at Crescendo believe that they are not enough to make lasting change. To truly create a more equitable environment, in and out of the workplace, anti-racism work must continue beyond this emotionally-heightened state of the world.
While many company leaders have expressed a desire to stand alongside their employees during the protests, they must do more than share nominal well-wishes and solidarity; they must commit to long-term action and be willing to make significant change. To create sustainable, long-term change, leaders must develop a corporate strategy for anti-racism efforts.
As a DE&I company, Crescendo exists to support organizations in implementing strategies that cause real positive change. We believe that all companies can - and should - embrace anti-racism and invite their communities on a journey of unlearning and relearning that will lead to a more equitable world. To support this, we have introduced a series of anti-racism learning tracks, co-created with Black DE&I experts, to be delivered through Crescendo’s microlearning platform.
To achieve this, we’re working with several global tech companies to renew our collective efforts and to solidify our commitment towards anti-racism work. We hope that the work that we are doing while partnering with companies such as Indeed, Clover, and Remitly will help us push past the movements of today to build a longer-lasting change for tomorrow.
More Significant Shifts Call For More Effort
To enact positive changes around anti-racism in the workplace, companies must go beyond one-off donations and instead bring their employees along a significant journey of unlearning, relearning, and confronting the structures of racism that underlie modern business.
As companies, big and small, take this on, D&I learning will play a key role in creating a culture of inclusion and communicating the why behind these new organization-level priorities. This demands a shift in the way we embed D&I into our workplaces: it needs to meet people where they are and be top of mind in day-to-day work.
D&I and anti-racism work require a significant effort from D&I teams that are typically under-resourced and under-supported. In our recent D&I research report, 100% of surveyed D&I leaders said that their team was too small given their responsibilities, with an average of one dedicated D&I employee per 743 employees (for companies below 5,000 employees).
How Companies Can Make a Difference
Companies like Indeed, Clover Health and Remitly, along with a growing group of companies have been leading the way in embedding resources like Crescendo to support employee learning.
So when civil unrest began happening all over the globe due to BLM demonstrations, these companies along with others, were able to facilitate conversations quickly with the content provided by Crescendo.
These companies have worked closely with us to implement new strategies to have meaningful, challenging conversations about different cultures and integrate this work into their companies’ culture. We’re so proud to count them amongst our team, in this push for more impactful change.
Going Beyond Demonstrations, To The Everyday
In tandem our company vision and to further our commitment to supporting Black communities, we’re excited to officially announce that we have released a series of anti-racist learning tracks, co-created with Black DE&I professionals and creators.
The proceeds from these anti-racist materials are going directly to the content partners and non-profit organizations that support Black lives year-round, including Freedom Schools via Black Lives Matter Toronto, The Okra Project, and Black Voters Matter Fund.
We all know that the modern workplace is becoming increasingly multicultural and personal. It is no longer expected that people will leave their cultures at home. To truly connect with others, we need to understand how their experiences and identities shape how they view the world. By inviting D&I and anti-racist work into the workplace and committing to being active participants in change, our partners are taking steps to build more positive, equitable workplaces where all professionals can thrive.
To learn more, please read our Press Release.
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