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V O L . X X V I I N O. V § 2 D I V E R S I T Y / E Q U I T Y / I N C L U S I O N F O C U S WEX Inc.,a Portland-based payment processing company, says it accelerated a few programs planned for 2021 and brought them into 2020, such as training the board and employees about unconscious bias and tweaking aspects of its hiring and interviewing processes. "We wanted to add our voice to galvanize the forces," says Gimbala Sankare, director of diversity and inclusion and talent acquisition. "We hope it's not the last time com- panies and the chamber talk about these issues. We hope it's a continu- ing conversation." "e murder of George Floyd was a pivotal moment. It didn't wake us up to diversity. ose things have caused us to take a step back and say we can do better," says Giovani Twigge, IDEXX Laboratories Inc.'s corporate vice president and chief human resources officer. "e deaths that happened last year cannot become a historical Kodak moment in time. We need to do something. Time has a nasty habit of putting new things on top, but I'm committed to keeping this alive and keeping the dust off," Twigge says. IDEXX also created a task force focused on women in the workforce and the future of work for all employees after the COVID pandemic. IDEXX also has been analyzing its hiring practices, making sure it promotes the right people and examining when people leave the company and why. IDEXX also looked at programs big and small at the company and found that its tuition reimburse- ment program was lacking and had some inherent problems. Not every employee might have the outlay of cash to pay for tuition and then get reimbursed for it later. So, it's changing that to help employee populations who may not have those initial funds, Twigge said. e pandemic also highlighted the "scary number of women dis- placed from work," Twigge said. "We tooks a close look to improve our flexible arrangements for people dealing with homeschooling or elder care. We don't want them to choose between work and their loved ones." A 'great first step,' but what's next? Of course, the solidarity statement from the chambers could easily fade without a lot of work or ring hollow in a state that is 95% white, some acknowledged. "ere was some criticism that the statement alone is not going to end racism in our community," says Shana Cook Mueller, a shareholder and law- yer with law firm Bernstein Shur. Bernstein Shur has expanded some pro bono work and broad- ened its work with first-year law students to recruit a more diverse pool of talent, Mueller says. e chamber's statement is a "great first step. But it's the least you can do. What's next?" says Rose Barboza, founder of online business directory Black Owned Maine. "With Maine being so white, people assume there's no reason to think about it. I don't have to do this work." "You know how issues become trendy? e killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor require more than just statements like that. Coming together and signing a state- ment — requires you to do more, otherwise it's the same chatter," says Mufalo Chitam, executive director of the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition. "e chambers should be check- ing - what are you doing? What are your actionable items? It's hard to hold anyone responsible," Chitam said. "Trainings are good. But if they are using the same script as before George Floyd, no one has learned anything. e script is different now." "Diversity, race — it's very hard. If it wasn't hard, you would have what you're seeing in our country now. e state itself is the whitest place ever to work for. And they're patting them- selves on the back. We have a very long way to go," Chitam said. Saïd Eastman, CEO of JobsIn- eUS, which operates JobsInME, echoed those thoughts. "How do you bring the whitest state in the country to this moment?" Eastman said. "ere is some prog- ress because of the Portland Chamber and the state Chamber. e desire is there. e desire to be a more diverse society and reflect the diversity of the country. How much work do you want to put into it?" Hentzel says there is more work and efforts coming from the Portland Chamber — a Phase Two coming in the spring. She declined to release details early. "We want to make sure this was just the beginning and not a 'check the box and be done' thing. It's very easy to say you want to improve. But how do you actually improve and put it into action?" Hentzel said. J e s s i c a H a l l , a w r i t e r b a s e d i n N o b l e b o r o, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t e d i t o r i a l @ m a i n e b i z . b i z » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E F I L E P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R The murder of George Floyd was a pivotal moment. It didn't wake us up to diversity. Those things have caused us to take a step back and say we can do better. — Giovani Twigge IDEXX Laboratories Inc. Giovani Twigge P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F I D E X X IDEXX employee Rubi Hernandez, left, a training and adoption specialist, works with Sarah Stillings, an IT trainer. M A R C H 8 , 2 0 2 1 14

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