Microaggressions--everyday slight, insult, negtives verbal and nonverbal messages--whether intentional or not- that impede your ability to do your work well.
There is no magic wand that corrects diversity and inclusion. Change happens one person at a time, one act at a time, one word at a time.
We make a mistake when we see diversity and inclusion at that side project over there the diversity people are working on rather than this work inside all of us that we need to do together.
When we work together to develop more diverse and inclusive teams, data shows we will be more innovative, more productive and more profitable.
Who is Ally?----All of us !
What can you do as an ally?
1. Start by doing no harm.
It's our job as allies to know what microaggressions are and not to do them.
It's our job as allies to listen, to learn, to unlearn and to relearn, and to make mistakes and to keep learning.
2. Advocate for underrepresented people in small ways.
You can change the power dynamics in the room. Help normalize allyship.
3. Change someone's life significantly.
Mentor or sponsor them, give them opportunities as they grow. Hold yourself and your team accountable for creating change.
4. Help advocate for change across your company.
When companies teach their people to be allies, diversity and inclusion programs are stronger.
Allyship is about understanding that imbalance in opportunity and working to correct it. Allyship is really seeing the person next to us, and the person missing, who should be standing next to us.
When we're there for each other, when we support one another, we thrive together, when we thrive, we build better teams, better products and better companies.
Allyship is powerful !
