Idea in Brief

The Problem

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, many companies announced commitments to racial equity and diversity. Unfortunately, since then organizational change has not occurred at the level and frequency that initial public responses suggested.

The Cause

Commitments alone will not dismantle systemic inequities. Organizations must help facilitate lasting change.

The Solution

The Shared Sisterhood framework, which is based on the practices of Dig, Bridge, and Collectively Act, is designed to help achieve equity across genders and racioethnicities.

When Margaret Mitchell, a white woman, asked Timnit Gebru, a Black woman, to join the ethical AI team at Google, Gebru didn’t know what to say. Though she was flattered and intrigued, she was aware of Google’s lack of racial and gender diversity. Friends had warned her that the environment might prove hostile to a woman of color. In 2018, the year she was hired, Black employees represented only 2.6% of Google’s U.S. workforce. But Mitchell convinced Gebru that if they stuck together, they could bring about real change in the organization. Soon after, however, the women say, they both witnessed racist and sexist patterns at the company. In response they reached out individually to people within the firm to push them to think more ethically and equitably. They tried to dig into why these problems existed at Google and to build bridges with colleagues to enact positive change. They claim that their efforts were met with strong opposition by Google executives.
A version of this article appeared in the September–October 2022 issue of Harvard Business Review.
Read more on Diversity and inclusion or related topics Marginalized groups, Business and society, Workplace discrimination, Gender, Race, Work environments and Organizational change