Read the latest insights and perspectives in the world of social change and diversity & inclusion.
Even in what may seem like “lower-stakes” uses of AI, it’s those most often subjected to unjust treatment by inequitable systems who will suffer most and be most harmed.
If you’re a person of Middle Eastern descent misidentified as a terrorist, it’s not low stakes.
If a machine downgrades your ability to get a kidney transplant because you’re Black, it’s not low stakes.
Read MoreIn case you hadn’t noticed, there’s been a recent spate of criticism—you might even call it verbal dumping—aimed at white women as a group. To be specific, it’s aimed at a subset of “privileged white women” who wield their racial and social status like a weapon against people of color going about their day—as if to insist the person is answerable to them—and in doing so earning themselves the viral “Karen” moniker.
Read MoreRight now, in many organizations, even where the embrace of diversity, equity, and inclusion seems most sincere, advocacy can still be a delicate affair, if it’s not delivered in the kind of sanctioned, milquetoast, feel-good packaging we’ve all come to recognize.
It can strike a nerve, for example, if it calls into question the matter of CEO salaries, or impacts to the bottom line, or money from advertising, or corporate donations to political action committees.
The double-helix of fear—of backlash intertwined with fear of backlash—may make itself felt if advocacy pushes too far, in a way that threatens concentrated power, or asks those with power to cede a portion of their holdings, literally or figuratively.
In fact, I’m starting to think that if you don’t sense a touch of fear lurking in the form of defensiveness when you push for change, there might not be real skin in the game.
Read MoreOur online spaces are designed in ways that prevent so many people - too many people - from connecting, buying and selling, entertaining, informing, innovating. Their accessibility, or lack thereof, determines whether people have an equal opportunity to access all that the digital world has to offer.
Read MoreThere’s no historical ban or persecution of straight hair, or those who have it. That’s the hair that’s “just hair”. Not mine. My hair was never just hair.
Read MoreWe kept looking for supporters, we tapped into social media, we used word of mouth. We started to gain traction. We even approached the boys to join our cause, who initially gave us the push back that, historically, has been so prevalent when feminist initiatives take root —they suggested it was an anti-men movement not a pro-women movement.
Read MoreThe conversation in society (think: #MeToo, etc.) is seeing a lot of organizations rush to plug the leaks in their system. This rush is primarily motivated by compliance and risk mitigation. This means that, in many cases, tech "tools" that promise to advance D&I are being seen as "solutions" when, at the end of the day, the effectiveness of those tools still rests with humans.
Read MoreOrganizations interested in improving their employee engagement need to be aware of the conflict between fathers’ desires for work-family balance and the workplace reality, because employees are not likely to voice concerns themselves.
Read MoreAre you an equality champion responsible for advancing equality in your organization? Have you tried the "gold standard" list of interventions like bias training, leadership training, networking, and resource groups? And are you still finding real progress on key metrics hard to come by?
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