Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | April 4, 2022 | wbjournal.com Continuing the fight for diversity Two years aer the push for greater corporate diversity, the executives in charge of such efforts are burning out. Some companies have found success, through resources, moral support, and committing beyond words. BY KATHERINE HAMILTON WBJ Staff Writer I n the two years since Leigh Woodruff became chair of the City of Worcester's diversity and inclusion advisory committee, which is meant to advise the city manager on equity issues, she has never seen City Manager Edward Augustus attend a meeting. "e city manager … has never attended one of our meetings or communicated directly with me as the chair over the last couple years," Woodruff said. "It's only an advisory committee, and the person it's supposed to be advising has not communicated with the committee or taken the committee's advice." e disconnect between top leadership and those working for diversity in Worcester was laid bare when Stephanie Williams, the city's chief diversity officer, became the third CDO to leave the position since it was created in 2016. In her letter of resignation, Williams' wrote there is a "culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion being an extracurricular activity without embracing all that a properly experienced CDO can do. Chief diversity officers need more than a title to succeed." In response to Woodruff 's claims, city spokesperson Robert Burgess said Augustus was following protocol. "It has never been the practice of city managers to attend the city's board and commission meetings," Burgess said in a statement. "In this case, the CDO is the liaison between the committee and the city administration. e city manager has adhered to that protocol while having many conversations with the CDO about the committee's work." In Central Massachusetts, an increasing number of healthcare, education, and governmental institutions have added the diversity officer title – or some variation of it – to their staffs in the last five years. From 2015 to 2020, the number of people globally with a "head of diversity" title grew 107%, according to a report from social media platform LinkedIn. In the two years since Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd, hiring of new diversity chiefs within Standard & Poor's 500 index nearly tripled, according to global management consulting firm Russell Reynolds Associates. At the same time, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leaders have some of the highest turnover rates among executives, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. e average turnover for a diversity executive is three years, as opposed to more than five years on average for other c-suite positions, such as CEO, chief operating officer, and chief Liz Wambui is the first-ever diversity officer at Worcester contracting firm Fontaine Bros. PHOTOS/MATT WRIGHT Valerie Zolezzi- Wyndham, founder of Promoting Good

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