Dr. Sam Rae - Preparing Your DEI Strategy - powered by Happy Scribe

Sacha Thompson is a respected and certified DEI coach. For the next 30 minutes, we'll get an exclusive look at some of her conversations with others in the field. Welcome to DEI After 5.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to DEI After Five. This episode is going to be very special because this is someone I'm sure you have been following on social media because I've been following her for a while as well. I just truly appreciate her work and how she approaches this work and just wanted to have a conversation because I think a lot of what she's doing right now touches at the heart and soul of what's important to DEI practitioners. So today I am welcoming my guest, Dr. Sam. Hi, Dr. Sam.

Hi there. Thank you for having me. I'm excited.

Good. That's what we want. So one of the things that I think just to start off the top, you've been doing this DEI Blueprint, right? And I want to know not necessarily what the blueprint is about, but what led you to come up with this blueprint?

Yes. So for those who don't know, DEI Blueprint is an online, self paced program designed to teach people, I say DEI practitioners, but it could be anyone who is actively trying to develop a DEI strategy for a company organization, nonprofit startup. So that's what the blueprint is. And how I came up with it was because I needed something like that. Years ago when I first started this work, I was tasked to develop a DEI strategy. And I had no clue where to start, what that even meant. I knew what the outcome was supposed to be and the purpose for creating a strategy, but I didn't know what the format was, how to even get started, what components were important for a strategy. Eventually I figured it out through my own research, my own educational experience. So I have different types of degrees that allowed me to understand strategic planning. And then I realized, oh, it's just strategic planning. But with the DEI lens. So I just put all my knowledge together and I made the strategy and it was a great strategy. Even looking back now, I still think that it was a solid strategy. And so with Googling, what DEI strategy looks like and what I should put in it, what type of data to assess, I couldn't really find anything. The global diversity benchmark, that group, they have a very solid like a guidebook for developing DEI strategies. But it was only very I don't want to say theoretical, but at a higher level, it didn't explain how to actually do those things in real time, like implement inside of an organization and what that would look like. And I found that that was the gap. And not a lot of people even know about that group until you, like, Google for hours and hours. And so I thought there's also another component that was missing in the space as it relates to developing DEI strategy, which was the community aspect. I know that I had to reach out to other DEI practitioners constantly. Everyone's busy, everyone's booked up. You kind of don't even know what to ask. Like asking, how do you make a DEI strategy? That's a very big question, and it's not a simple answer that you can get in like 30 minutes. So all of those things, my own personal experience is what led me to develop this. And even now I see that there is an immense need because more companies are starting to be aware that they do need DEI strategies. And in the DEI space, we don't even have any type of standardization or like, educational or anything to help us learn some of these skill sets. So, yeah, I was like, well, I'll build it now.

And I think you hit it right on the head because there's so many folks that watch this show that are either starting their career or have been in it in an organization where it's just been and I call it stuff, right? Like, it's just activities, it's initiatives, but it hasn't had a strategy. It hasn't had a plan. And so I'm noticing, too, a lot of organizations are starting to come to me and say, hey, we've been doing this DEI thing for about a year and a half. I had a consultant come in and we did some workshops. But we want more. Like, we need more. We need to have a 3, 5, 10 year strategy about where we want to go and what we want to do in this space. And so I've noticed you do this work. There are several other practitioners and consultants that do this work, too. But the strategy piece, I think, is going to be a huge theme for 2022.

Yeah.

And so when you're talking to folks, what are some of the biggest AHA's that they have when they're going through the blueprint?

That's a good question. So even before people enroll in the program, they noticed because I asked specific type of questions on the application. Do you have, like, leadership buy in? Where are you in the process? And on my website, it outlined all of the modules, and it gives, like, a summary of what each lesson in the module is about. And I've had people say, so I need like an implementation plan or marketing and communication needs to be a part of this, or do all employees need to be some way participating in this process and things like that? They'll say that before they even start. So far, I think people are aware of the individual components of what a strategy entails, but they don't realize that they're supposed to all come together. Like, people know we need buy in from leadership, but they don't know that that should be like the first thing you have to set the foundation, basically. And you can't just develop a strategy if you're not even sure of what leadership envisions. You can't just make it up based on what you think the company needs or else you're going to do all this work and then they're not going to sign off on it. It's going to be a waste of time.

Yeah. And I think the other piece that you just touched on hinted to, but of course, is where my mind always goes is this has to be company wide. This is not something and I had a conversation with someone yesterday. This is something that does not sit in HR. This is something that is across the organization. And every Department needs to think about it. Not just from a recruitment standpoint. Right. Like not just from butts and seats or how we're going to get more talent into the organization, but how is it impacting your customers? How is it impacting the community? How is it impacting the industry? And what is your organization's role as they're doing that? So it's much more of a strategic organizational plan. Right. I call it an overlay versus oh.

We just thought about this on the side and was working for now because most companies aren't built with DEI infused in their operations. It starts off with being something separate. However, the way my program is designed is to intertwine what's already happening, like the mission and the operations into that strategy so that once it's created, you just merge it with the business's strategic plan. Because all companies should have a strategic plan anyways. It's just that they never use the DEI lens when they were making it. Now they're having to retroactively do that so that's the purpose of the program is to design it in a way so that it's easily intertwined into the company's operations already. And it's just tied to everything the company stands for, their mission, their branding, how they show up, and it's aligned with what their constituents want. So like, internal constituents, like their employees and then out external constituents, so their customers and their clients and people on the board, those types of things.

It's long term because I sit back and I think and they're so - especially after the murder of George Floyd, so many of these companies wanted like quick solutions. Right. All right. What do we need to do right now? And no, it's not going to be anything you do right now. Right. There may be one or two activities that you can do right now, but long term strategy is not going to be a checkbox.

Yes.

And I think there was some frustration with. Well, what do you mean it's not a checkbox? What do you mean? We have to put resources towards this. What do you mean? We need to have company buy in all the things that you're saying. And we're now at a point where the conversation isn't going away. Like this is something that's going to have to be. That's why I really think this year is going to be the year of strategy.

Yeah.

I called last year the year of awakening. This is the year strategy because folks got woke. Now it's like, okay. And now what do we do? One of the other things that I wanted to talk to you, but kind of outside of the blueprint, but still related because you and I have talked about just practitioners in general and how to help serve them and the importance of community. As we're kind of continuing to do this work and support practitioners, what are some of the strategies we talked about strategy with some of the strategies that they can take personally. Right. As they continue to grow in this space?

Yeah, that's a good question. The first thing that comes to mind and I know you will agree with me on this, is about selfcare and prioritizing, like your inner peace, taking time for yourself, taking a break from this work. And it's hard. Right. Because DEI, it's just who you are. It's a way of life. It's how you look at all types of interactions, all types of things you see on social media. When you're in this space, you just naturally think, is this Equitable? Does this make sense? Does this offend anybody? So it's kind of hard to turn it off, but you kind of have to force yourself to do that and take a break and distance yourself from being so entrenched in this work. That's the first thing. And the second thing I would say is never stop learning. I'm still learning stuff myself. And before I say that, I will say there is no possible way for one individual to know all the things to know about DEI is too vast. There are too many components. I am not an accessibility expert and I don't even like to use the word expert because things are just changing. It's kind of like with mental health and emotional intelligence. As you can see, our generation knows way more than our parents. And we're like setting boundaries and communicating our needs and wants, and they think we're being sensitive. It's the same thing with DEI. The more time progresses, the more stuff we learn and we change our behavior and we change. Even now, like language. Some people are like, it shouldn't be diversity. It shouldn't be inclusion because that's still centering whiteness. And it's like you're including people into a white centered environment or framework. So I'm like, well, what word should we use? So now I'm like, should I just only say equity? So things are just constantly changing. And so I say that to say, continue to learn, build your network in conversations with people across different sectors of the EI so that you can learn what's going on as things change. And you're not like stuck in how you do things and in kind of like an echo chamber sort of. So, yeah, continue learning. Have different perspectives and don't force yourself or put pressure on yourself to know every single thing because you can't it's not possible.

You said something at the start of that of it's hard to disconnect from the work. Right. Because it becomes a part of who you are. And I think that that is so different than so many other aspects of, I'm going to say business. Right. So I did a bunch of my career was in marketing, and I could turn that off at 05:00. Right. Some of it, but still kind of because just how my brain works. But oftentimes I'm like, I don't have to think about this when I get home.

Right.

But to your point, like, I'm sitting here and there were some situations that have happened over the last few weeks where I'm just like, that's just hypocritical how can you do this and say this. Right. How are you going to quote MLK, but then all of these things. And my mind is constantly going in that space. But to your point, it's important that we do know how to disconnect when necessary for that self care. It is important to take time off, right? Yeah, we've talked about that. I took the month of December off, and it's something that I try to do almost every year, take extended periods of time away because a week at the end of that week, you're starting back up. So it doesn't really do much. And I find that a month, three to four weeks is I'm rested. Like, now I've done things that have nothing to do with work. Now I'm at peace. Now. I have the mindset to get back into it. I have the energy to get back into it. So I think that part is so important. And we have some other episodes where we're talking about emotional intelligence and wellness and all of those things and community, the importance of community. Because I think the first time you and I spoke, it was really like, hey, let's just talk. Let's just talk and get to know each other because there's so much that we can learn, as you were saying, from each other in this space. And it's not about competition.

Right. I was going to say, like, there's so many of us in this space and we're doing similar work. And because there's no centralization or standardization, it's kind of like a waste of energy if we're all doing the same thing instead of just coming together and figuring out what our individual strengths are. That's why I do strategy. I'm not an educator. I can educate. I mean, I have my doctorate and I've done research. I can educate. But that's just not my thing. And I'm not going to try to do all the things. I referred a few people to you, actually, because I know they need coaching. And though I can also provide those services, I'm not going to do all of that stuff strategy. And I'm like, I know all these wonderful people who already do this, they thrive in this space. That's what they do. I send them over your way. So that's another thing. I think it's important in our space. There's just so much going on. And I want us to figure out how to come together and play on our strengths instead of expounding unnecessary energy because the work is already so tiring.

Yes. Like a million times. Yes. It's so interesting to me because I've had people say, oh, well, I'm working with this consultant, but I don't know if what they do or work with what you're doing. And I'm like, well, who's the consultant? Because I might know them, and it may be something that we can collaborate with. And it's how do we model the behavior of inclusion? If we're talking about inclusion and we're talking about belonging, this is the one industry where I think we can model so much of the behavior that we're trying to get others to do. Right. It doesn't always have to be one at the top, right? Why? No, there's room at the table for all of us. And so how do we tap into that? How do we work together? I have several folks on speed dial. I've actually sent folks to you around strategy because I can talk it. I can give you a framework. But that's not my sweet spot. I'm just like, no, but like you said, I love facilitation, I love education. I love community. I do the coaching piece. Right. And so it's like, how do we tap into how we support each other in this space? And that also helps with the self care piece, because I have found so many people that try to fit into something that is not their niche and that stresses them out. It's counterproductive.

Yeah, it is. I agree. And I also think that also brings harm to the space as a whole, because if you don't know what you're talking about, it's no knack. It's no shame. We don't have a degree for this type of work. So you have to do self learning. You have to learn from others. You have to do your research and read research. That kind of isn't in the Di space, but psychological research to understand how racism impacts people mentally. You have to read that type of research. And how are you going to figure that out if you don't follow other people, talk to other people, and that's okay. It's nothing wrong. But still do the work, though. Like, you can't go out here and just start offering services and you don't really understand what you're talking about just because people want to put that on you and say, like, I think you'll be good at this. So let's just do this and you're a part of a marginalized group and you already do some sort of DEI work. So let's just do this. I would encourage people not to do that one. Like you said, you'll get stressed out, you'll get burnt out. And then two, you're bringing more harm, not in this space, but to companies, which then it's a reflection of the DEI space and the work that we do. And it also causes confusion. So we want to make sure we're giving great advice and solid advice and not like kind of making stuff up as we go.

Yeah. And it just reminded me I was have, again, a conversation with someone the other day where we were talking about prior to the murder of George Floyd and Brianna Taylor and Amad Aubrey, like that time period, so many companies were hiring DEI folks, one, because they were defining diversity as gender. And two, they didn't think that it was something that was important. So you didn't have to have any skills in the space. Right. If you had passion, that was important. Right. And I'm just like, you don't hire an accountant because they actually have some type of education in the space. Right. Just because they're passionate for numbers. I love home design and decorating, but I'm not going out there as an expert or someone that would do the services because I don't have the foundational expertise in that space. And so I've noticed that many of the folks that kind of came in during that time, pre pandemic and racial unrest are no longer in those roles or have kind of doubled down to do the education. And I think that piece is so critical in what you said. And it's interdisciplinary. Interdisciplinary. I was deemed for a while in my career because I was in marketing, but I'm like but I was a sociology major that focused on cultural diversity and ethnicity. I have an education degree. I have a master's degree in business and figured out how to merge those things together in order to do this work. Right. I didn't come from HR. And so because I didn't come from HR, I was seeing as I didn't know anything. Yeah, right. And I remember having a conversation with Janet Stovall last year when I was doing another project and we talked about just as understanding as you said, psychology, sociology, history, anthropology. There's all of these things, the soft Sciences that people don't necessarily like. Oh, that's fluff. But that is the foundation of this work.

Yes.

That is the ultimate foundation of this work. And so as we're moving forward and as I talk to other practitioners, I echo what you said. Right. Do that research. Educate yourself.

Yes. As much as we tell others, like mainly white people or people with privilege, that they need to do self education before they try to hire on consultants or instead of asking us to educate them.

Right.

I think we also need to do the same. Like, we're not above educating our like, if we belong to marginalized groups. Yes. We have real life experience, and that is very valid and needed and useful and important in this work, but to build a strategy. For example, because that's for me. That alone is not going to cut it. There are other types of skills that you need, like technical skills to develop a strategy. And it's hard because no one is telling you this. No one is saying, like here because you could go to school to be an accountant or a business major, and they tell you all the different components that you need to know to be a great person in your space. We don't have that. So I get it. It's difficult. But start somewhere, reach out to people and say, what did you look up or learn about? How did you figure this out? What did you learn? Ask questions. And that can start your journey.

Yeah. It's so important. I think one of the first certifications that I got when I left corporate was psychological safety, because I knew I didn't have it. Just understanding that and the importance of that has helped me so much as I'm having conversations with people. Right. I can now point out, okay, you're in a situation that's not ready for this. Right. Or organization hire folks and they immediately want them to contribute, but they haven't done the work to make them feel they include it or it's safe to even learn in that environment. Right. So it's all of those things that I think are critical as practitioners to kind of take it all in from different industries, different experiences. As you even said, talk to people within the organization.

Yeah.

Because one of the other pieces that I've learned is and I did this with another organization, they're hiring you new. Right. Or you're fairly new into an organization a year or two. But the folks that really know how things operate are the lower level folks that have been there for 2030 years. Yeah. They can tell you the culture. They can tell you the dirt that's in the corner. They can tell you all the things that helps feed your strategy. Right. Because oftentimes what happens is you're only given, like, here's all the beautiful, wonderful things that we've done. Right. And that's not going to help when you're trying to ensure that those that have been marginalized are being seen, heard and valued.

Yep. So the number one question I get all the time is like, how do you start this? And I always say you ask questions not just to leadership, not just to middle managers, everyone. You have to get a well rounded understanding of culture and how people feel, and not just from the viewpoint of leadership, because leaders, they have a completely different idea of how things are going. I've been in spaces where I have been the director of DEI, and leadership is like, we're doing great before. And I'm like, no, everyone else doesn't feel that way. You're the only one that thinks that. So, yeah. Asking questions, it seems very simple. But that is how that's the psychological piece of doing this work. That's how we get to the root of what the issues are and what's going wrong and what's working, what needs to be improved. It's literally by asking questions.

And that's how you also build trust. Right. As you're doing this work because you're hearing, you're listening. Okay. How can I take that into consideration as I'm building this strategy or as I'm working on this plan? So, Dr. Sam, the last question, because you just reminded me when you picked up your cup, I always ask people, there's so much of this work that we are filling everybody else's cup. Right. So what do you do to fill your cup?

This is going to be funny, but I'm serious because I feel that's how I can truly shut my brain off. I always also say that I watch The Office or something funny because it makes me just laugh. But even sometimes some of the stuff Michael says in the office, I'm like ... how did somebody approve this show. And then it makes me start going down this rabbit hole. And I'm like, okay, just focus on what they're saying. Don't take it too like literal.

Yeah.

Napping watching something funny. I like to spend time with my fiance. And he recently just hooked up our Xbox so that I can play this game that I used to play when I was in middle school.

I love it.

Yeah. It has nothing to do with DEI

I love it. And I think that's important. Right. I, too love funny TV shows. So I watch Psych. It's the silliest show ever. But there's something about it. And I like mystery. I like murder- mystery type thing. And I'm like it's something about trying to figure out the who done it, but also laughing hysterically at some of the foolishness and the antics. And those are the things that just kind of lighten the mood and lighten me up. Sam, thank you so much. Dr. Sam, thank you so much. If folks wanted to get in touch with you, if they were interested in finding out more about the DEI blueprint, what can they do?

Yes, my website, Dsrdconsulting.com, it has everything. We actually have two programs, a smaller one that's like an introductory accelerator to the blueprint. When you click on that website, it pops up DEI Blueprint. It has all the information of all things that we offer. And my email address. You can send an email to info@dsrdconsulting.com. And my response rate is pretty quick. So if you have questions, you want to reach out. And also on LinkedIn, I'm pretty active on there and I respond to my messages. So my name, Dr. Samray, should pop up if you search it. Yeah. Those are the three ways.

Thank you for having this conversation with me today. I think there's so much that you shared that people need to start thinking about. Right. Because I think many people go into this space with one mindset not necessarily understanding the bigger picture. And so hopefully this gave them a sense of okay what this work entails and how they can get some support about that. So thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Yes, this is fun. I'm glad that I got to be a part of DEI After 5. I love this so much. I wish it out when I was starting in the DEI space. So thank you for even having the space for us in the community. The DEI community.

Thank you. Yes, it's exactly that right. These are the conversations that I wish I would have known about right before. So thank you so much. Thank you all for watching this episode of DEI. After five, please feel free to subscribe and like and share because there's so many Nuggets of information that Dr. Sam just shared with us. And so as we were talking about the community, it's about sharing with others. So do that and then you could always find out more information on my website, the equityequationllc.com until next time, have a good one.