Member Perspective: Shawnna Williams

What does it mean for a young leader to be a champion of diversity within their social and professional networks?

It is well known that young professionals (aged 21-40) are widely sought-after as employees. As a group, they often possess fresh perspectives, are motivated to make a difference in their communities, and often are the cause of inclusive cultural shifts in their workplaces and in their professional networking groups. Young professionals are largely focused on self-improvement and one can argue that self-improvement in today’s increasingly visible, socially fractured world also includes checking one’s biases, self-evaluating one’s impact, and leading with curiosity and inclusivity when someone else’s experience doesn’t match theirs.

While desired by employers, most young professionals face inflexibility when they bring new ideas to the table and are often underpaid and overworked due to their lack of experience. In addition, young professionals who are diverse [1] are often put in the position to push for inclusivity from the bottom up on behalf of their underrepresented and marginalized group(s). (Many diverse professionals do not reach management level, and not for lack of effort or skill – but that is for a separate post.) Most commonly, they endure daily microaggressions [2], the ugly consequences of cultural incompetence, and similarity bias [3] of leadership – ultimately driving them to change employment and hope for greener, more inclusive, pastures.

When diverse individuals and/or allies make the commitment to explore their implicit biases [4] and evaluate the homogeneity of their personal and professional networks, the collective can successfully push for equity and inclusion for all, in and outside of their workplaces – which benefits everyone and takes rewards and opportunities from no one. While diversity and inclusion has traditionally moved slowly (as the work is simultaneously repairing, undoing, and shedding light on centuries-old systems of racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, etc.), a champion of diversity within a young professional group can make an immediate impact by asking the following questions during board, committee, or work meetings:

• Diversity: Who is in the room? What perspectives are we missing?
• Equity: Who is trying to get into the room, but can’t? Does everyone have what they need to stay in the room?
• Inclusion: Have everyone’s ideas been heard? Who are we impacting?

Employers and business leaders have begun to listen to young professionals on remote working (before COVID-19), volunteering and community engagement, and other work perks and cultural improvements. Imagine what we can accomplish if we genuinely did the work and championed diversity, equity, and inclusion for all?

[1] “Diverse” in this context is described to include women, Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+ individuals, persons with disabilities, and veterans, as well as any combination of the aforementioned identities.

[2] “Microaggressions” are brief and commonplace; daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental insults, whether intentional or unintentional that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights toward a particular race, culture, gender, or sexual orientation. Ex. “You are so articulate” is a microaggression that assumes a sense of surprise that the speaker is capable of sounding intelligent.

[3] “Similarity bias” is the tendency people have to connect with others who share similar interests, experiences and backgrounds.

[4] “Implicit biases” refer to attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious way, making them difficult to control. Implicit biases are formed by one’s experiences, cultural conditioning, media portrayals, and upbringing. With intentional effort, and exposure to different people and experiences, one can control and mitigate damage caused by implicit bias.