Centering DEI in Core Values, Mission, and Vision of Equalizing Education
By Dora Mendez, Director of Talent and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
As I celebrate my one-year anniversary in the inaugural role of Director of Talent and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at SL Network, I write to share and reflect on our DEI efforts in the past year and how we have actively centered DEI in our commitment to our core values, and mission and vision of equalizing education.
As a cisgender Afro-Latina wife and mother of two, I bring my authentic self to our work with the goal of being a good steward of our organization’s mission and values. Moreover, as the Director of Talent and DEI, my focus is on ensuring that SL Network’s culture is practicing internally what we are doing so successfully externally for our students and alumni.
In the past year, I’ve seen our DEI efforts grow tremendously and I’m excited to continue to embed our mission and values into our day-to-day work and culture. Read on to learn more about our efforts in the past year and what I’m hopeful for in 2022 and beyond.
Authentically Mission-Driven
We recognize that DEI work is iterative so in building a truly mission-driven organization, we are constantly reviewing where we can improve, integrate, and sustain our DEI practice to achieve our goal to be the ‘Best in Class’ employer for impact on education equity.
To achieve this goal, we have initiated various strategies. First, it begins with listening to our most valued asset: our staff! We are proactive in requesting feedback from our staff and truly listen to what they have to say.
With staff input, we have implemented a number of initiatives such as specialized workshops addressing racial injustices which help all of us gain a deeper understanding of the systems we are aiming to dismantle in order to advance educational equity. When our staff is given the space to learn and gain insights into the root issues that create inequities in education, they are given the opportunity to reflect and reaffirm why the work we do matters.
Refining our internal operations and communications also plays an important role in the way we move towards being authentically mission-driven. Again, we listened to our staff and in 2021 we adjusted the structure and format of our all-staff meetings to encourage greater engagement and make sure that staff felt these meetings were a good use of their time. Formerly all-staff meetings were half-day meetings held quarterly, and we heard staff who expressed concern that all-staff meetings were often the only time to connect with coworkers they don’t see regularly and to hear news from the entire organization.
Since we’ve made this change in our meeting format and structure, we have received positive feedback. By creating a more sustainable meeting cadence, our staff feels much more connected to each other and our mission.
Building a Culture of Inclusion
At the time of writing this piece, 75% of our staff identify as women and 80% identify as people of color (POC). Just as we strive to build a culture of inclusion for our students and alumni, we also strive to elevate the significance of an organization led by POC and our CEO, a Black woman. We do this by proactively seeking out opportunities for our leadership team and staff to increase their visibility in various ways such as participating in panel discussions, attending networking events, and sharing their expertise and experiences (like me writing this blog post!).
To help ensure we were on the right track in creating an inclusive culture, we created and distributed an inclusion survey, providing all staff with an opportunity to share ideas and input to help us meet this goal.
The outcomes of this survey were two-fold. First, we were able to learn what topics mattered most to our staff and what they were hungry to learn about which has helped us develop a staff-led ‘Lunch and Learn’ calendar for the year. This leads to an important secondary outcome of developing leaders within the organization by inviting staff to facilitate ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions. I’m excited to be able to support the creation of this space for our organization to come together to do a deep dive into topics like Critical Race Theory and anti-racist practices.
Building a culture of inclusion also extends to our internal systems and practices for recruitment and hiring. For example, when we list a new position we always allow our staff the first opportunity to apply and/or refer someone to the position so as to encourage internal promotion and growth. Similarly, when we create internships or entry-level positions, our first priority is to extend these opportunities to our alumni network. In fact, we have hired 125+ alumni for full-time positions in addition to the College Transition Coach (CTC) program in which alumni are hired on a part-time basis and assist our directors of college counseling (DCCs) in supporting students with the college application process. We have heard from former CTCs that this experience inspired them to pursue college and career counseling after they graduate from college.
We celebrate our staff and I look forward to building on the progress we’ve made in creating a work environment where individuals feel they are able to learn, grow, and bring their authentic selves to the job each and every day.
DEI and Goal-Setting
We are a diverse organization but as we know DEI work is never a “one and done” project. We are proud of the fact that our organization reflects the populations we serve but we must continue to be relentless in intending to and leveraging our diversity.
One way we are approaching this is by shifting from SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Reasonable, and Time-bound) goals to SMARTIE goals. The IE stands for Inclusive and Equitable. Why does this shift from SMART to SMARTIE matter? If we are working to make educational equity a reality for ALL, then it is important for us to center equity and inclusion in our goal setting and performance management processes. By each individual employee setting high standards and measurable SMARTIE goals, we are better able to affirm and keep ourselves accountable to our core values.
For example, this past year we set a goal of updating our performance review process. To achieve our desired goal of making the performance review appraisal process inclusive and equitable, we recruited a volunteer focus group consisting of staff representing all levels and departments. The focus group was instrumental in helping us make sweeping revisions to the process. A major outcome was revising competencies to align with our core values as well as eliminating numeric, formulaic ratings to ensure a holistic, unbiased approach to the appraisal process.
Curious and want to read more about SMARTIE goals? Check out this article on Idealist and this worksheet from Shift to help you think through a SMARTIE Aim Statement.
Operationalize DEI practices
During the last two years of the pandemic and the racial reckoning in our country, we continue to speak the truth about the systems we work in. A cornerstone of operationalizing our DEI practices has been the formation of an active and passionate DEI task force. This group is comprehensive and includes a cross-section of employees from all departments and seniority levels. Without a doubt, the task force has been a key thought partner for the impact and changes we are making in DEI at SL Network.
The task force was formed shortly before I joined the organization and I had the opportunity to have a “meet and greet” with the group during the hiring process. I was incredibly impressed with their questions and engagement, and if I am being completely transparent, they played a big part in my decision to join SL Network! It was great knowing that I was joining an organization that already had an established group that was dedicated to the work of advancing DEI practices.
This group has been a key partner and advisor on a number of processes and issues. They have been (and continue to be) instrumental in developing an equitable COVID safety policy as well as acknowledging the importance of observing Juneteenth, which I am proud to say we first observed in 2020 ahead of it becoming a federal holiday in 2021.
In addition to advising on policy, the task force supports culture and morale-building which includes initiatives such as the staff inclusion survey mentioned earlier as well as a new book club centered on race and marginalized communities, and a ‘Courageous Conversation’ series where we create safe spaces for conversations on race, mental health, and wellness to address racial trauma and our students’ vicarious trauma that we all experience.
Looking ahead to 2022 and beyond
DEI work is iterative so we are and will continue to be relentless in our continuous review of where we can sustain and improve our practice to be the Best in Class provider for college access, college persistence, whole girl, and gender-expansive educational services.
While we have successfully implemented meaningful changes in the past year, our work isn’t finished. SL Network will continue to work to ensure our staff is a reflection of the population we serve in a meaningful way. While celebrating our impact on student success, we will also celebrate the space we create to support the professional development and growth of our staff.
While 2021 was filled with challenges and uncertainty for our community, I am also filled with hope. I look forward to continuing this journey, learning, and building on everything we’ve accomplished together.
