Diversity & Inclusion Alternative Facts 1: Committees & Taskforces

Imagine getting to the hospital to have a tonsillectomy & being informed it won’t be done by a doctor but by a group of well-meaning people with no medical training but rest assured, they’ve had their tonsils taken out so they know what it’s like. Lived experience is meaningful for feedback on pain points, post-surgical care, etc.

Consider: most committee members are from underserved communities & have: 1. No decision-making power; 2. Work in the lower rungs of the org; 3. No expertise in doing equity work.

· Whiteness & White supremacy are 500-year old complex problems & its been punted to a committee to solve?

· As you consider why a 500-year-old problem has been punted to a committee, it should bring up questions about leadership’s commitment. Are they looking for impactful change?

If doing effective equity work requires lived experience, expertise & power, & the last two variables are missing, what does a predominantly homogenous executive team hope to accomplish?

In my estimation: 1. Keeping things as they are, & 2. Holding on to power.

There’s a difference between feeling better and doing better. How are you satisfying your feelings instead of doing better?