Worcester Business Journal

26 2023 Economic Forecast • Worcester Business Journal • www.wbjournal.com D I V E R S I T Y, E Q U I T Y & I N C L U S I O N Increased diversity Continued DEI efforts by committed companies will yield high-pro- file hires and partnerships in 2023 B usinesses of all sizes and industry pledged to be more inclusive in their workforces and customer bases following the May 2020 police murder of George Floyd. While those diversity, equity, and inclu- sion efforts have been deprioritized at organizations who were only responding to news of the moment, a number of Central Massachusetts companies and nonprofits have been somewhat successful in ingrain- ing DEI into their cultures. More diversity at the top Increasing diversity inside a company's workforce happens much quicker than changes at the top, as positions like CEO, executive director, and president turn over less frequently and the top candidates typically come from the talent pool in the leadership level just below the top spot. As the lower levels of the workforce has become more inclusive at organizations prioritizing DEI, companies will have a more diverse candidate pool to choose from. Already, high-profile organizations like Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the College of the Holy Cross have selected their first-ever leaders of color, and more leadership posi- tions will be filled by people of color in 2023. Continued CDO burnout While organizations who fully committed to DEI BY BRAD KANE WBJ Editor will see more rewards in 2023, those who only gave the matter lip service and perhaps one employee a fancy title will see fur- ther regression next year. Chief diversity officers throughout Central Massa- chusetts and the nation strug- gled with lack of resources and inattentive upper management in 2022, which led to CDOs resigning and moving onto new companies. Without renewed investment, that trend will continue. Business partnerships At the end of April, the Latin American Busi- ness Organization became the latest affiliate of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, the sixth affiliation for the Worcester chamber and its first with a statewide firm and race- or ethnici- ty-based organization. As companies look to make further inroads into diverse communities, expect more partnerships similar to this one with nonprofits and trade associations who already have established relationships with disadvantaged populations. PHOTO/MATT WRIGHT Top diversity, equity & inclusion stories from 2022 NAACP berates Worcester over third chief diversity officer departure e City of Worcester announced late on Friday, March 4, its chief diversity officer, Stephanie Williams, will leave her position, making her the third diversity officer to leave since the role was created in 2016, and prompting an outcry from Worces- ter's NAACP Unit, which has now decided to leave the city's Tercen- tennial Celebration Committee. "We have gone backwards. With a population so diverse we now only have one person of color in the leadership of the administra- tion and no Black women," wrote Fred Taylor, president of Worces- ter's NAACP Unit, in a letter posted on the organiza- tion's social media accounts on March 6. Williams began her role in November 2020 and has managed all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, including an executive order signed in February 2021 to dismantle structural and institutional racism. Worcester's CDO position was created in January 2016. e first CDO, Malika Carter, le aer about 18 months in the role and was replaced by Suja Chacko, who le aer about two years. Chacko preceded Wil- liams. "is departure raises so many questions," wrote Taylor. "Worcester's Black and Brown communities invested in this process and position are now le wondering why these smart, intelligent, and dedicated women hired with glowing qualifications [are] leaving aer such a short time." Taylor said in the letter NAACP will immediate- ly withdraw itself as an institutional member of the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee, which is helping to plan the city's 300th anniversary celebration. "Ms. Williams's departure jeopardizes any and all efforts to dismantle institutional racism in Worcester and loudly raises one unavoidable question, 'Why aren't we making progress?'" Taylor wrote. Before Williams began her role in summer 2020, Worcester-based social service Black Families Together made four demands to City Hall, regarding the CDO's salary, rank, and budget, as well as BFT's voice in select- ing a CDO, in order to address the high turnover rate among diversity officers. In response, the City raised the CDO salary, changed the position to a cabinet-level role, and included BFT as a member of the search com- mittee for hiring a new diversity officer. In a press release, BFT said it is requesting assess- ment and an equity audit before the next CDO is hired. e racial origin of Worcester's population is 13% Black, 22% Hispanic, 7% Asian, and 55% non-Hispanic white, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. "I hope the NAACP, a critical part of the tapestry that makes Worcester a beacon of possibility, will reconsid- er," said City Manager Edward Augustus in a statement, W Kenneth Elmore, the first Black president at Dean College Fred Taylor, presi- dent of Worcester NAACP Liz Wambui is the first-ever director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at con- struction contractor Fontaine Bros, which in April created a corporation foundation to support employees' community causes. Wambui leads the foundation.

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