To lead in DEI: Disrupting inequality requires disrupting culture  

Mission-driven organizations often assume their values naturally translate to an inclusive workplace environment. Integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values into an organization’s culture, however, requires intentional effort and awareness. Not everyone starts with an understanding of the deeply entrenched social and economic inequities that can contribute to exclusion and opportunity gaps. As I shared in an earlier article, I went from being a skeptic to an ardent supporter of DEI after experiencing and witnessing discrimination early in my career. Unconscious biases and systemic inequities can persist, even in well-intentioned spaces. 

At the Ford Foundation, where I serve as vice president and chief people officer, we’re deeply committed to working toward equality. It can be disorienting to employees when an organization committed to disrupting inequality externally overlooks disparities and inequities within its own walls. Our DEI journey began with the realization that we lacked key perspectives that could enhance our work and further align internal practices with our mission. 

A reactive start: How the recession sparked the Ford Foundation’s DEI commitment 

The economic downturn of 2008 forced the foundation to downsize, reducing our global headcount. By 2012, as the economy stabilized, we sought to expand our operations and began hiring more staff, and we saw that moment of growth as the right time to take a look at our DEI efforts with fresh eyes. 

First, we focused on ensuring diverse candidate pools throughout the hiring process. This effort significantly boosted racial diversity among our U.S. staff, from 48% people of color in 2012 to 67% in 2023. 

Next, although we didn’t have a formal plan initially, we started incorporating a DEI lens in all our HR initiatives. We continuously asked ourselves, “How can we disrupt inequality in our work?” This led us to examine our practices and identify areas where we could do better. For example, as part of this review, we found higher turnover rates among colleagues of color. To better understand what caused this, we included DEI-related questions in exit interviews and staff surveys, analyzing the data by identity group to spot trends.  

Then, based on our findings, we implemented new initiatives to respond to the needs of our staff, such as “Career Conversations,” which requires managers to discuss career plans with all direct reports, not just those with whom they already had a mentor-mentee relationship. This and other initiatives resulted in decreased turnover for people of color, now proportionate to their representation in our staff population. 

Expanding the DEI lens: Equitable and inclusive structures 

In 2015, we focused on building a solid HR infrastructure, constantly evaluating our efforts in the context of DEI. Establishing the foundation’s first global compensation structure was an opportunity to embed these values, ensuring a consistent and transparent approach to leveling jobs across all locations—defining roles, including the skills and responsibilities at each level. We set the living wage as the minimum for our U.S. pay structure and created an adaptable approach for our regional offices where reliable living wage data wasn’t available. Recently, after assessing benefits at each regional office, we found international benefits weren’t aligned with those at our headquarters, so we worked to achieve benefit parity. 

An in-depth look at our policies and practices through a DEI lens highlighted opportunities for improvement and confirmed the need for a dedicated DEI program. Although COVID-19 delayed the strategy’s development, these audits laid crucial groundwork. 

Shifting to proactive change: Implementing a dedicated DEI program 

Our journey toward a proactive approach to DEI demanded vulnerability, transparency, and a strong commitment to change. In 2022, we collaborated with consultants to assess our culture and develop a robust DEI strategy. We learned that our staff’s experiences were not always aligned with our mission and external work.  

Working with staff, we created a three-year DEI vision and strategy, refining it with input from the foundation’s leaders. This led to a formal DEI infrastructure, including a new leadership role to implement the strategy and a DEI council strategically formed based on staff members’ organizational roles. We ensured representation on the DEI council from a wide array of staff, including those leading our programs on disability, anti-Blackness, and DEI in grantmaking. We also included staff who were not in traditional leadership roles but demonstrated a strong interest in DEI. 

A key takeaway from our journey is our “three-I’s” approach—individual, interpersonal, and institutional. This approach encourages personal reflection to enable inclusive and collaborative interactions, leading to systemic change and organizational accountability. We believe it’s crucial for supporting cultural change and enhancing our effectiveness by deeply integrating our DEI values. 

Continuing to learn on an ongoing journey 

Key lessons we’ve learned from implementing our DEI strategy include: 

• Start with a thorough assessment. Evaluate existing policies, practices, and culture to establish a baseline and define specific opportunities for improvement. 

• Embrace the growth opportunities that come with increased diversity. A more diverse workforce can highlight areas where you can improve equity and inclusion. 

• Take a phased approach. Set realistic expectations and break down your DEI strategy into manageable phases, similar to our three-year strategic planning approach. This helps you focus on achievable goals within a defined timeframe. 

• Be transparent. Transparency fosters trust among staff and ensures accountability for continuous improvement. 

Our journey at the Ford Foundation underscores the ongoing nature of DEI work. We’ve learned that progress isn’t always linear, but meaningful change is possible. By sharing our experience, we hope to inspire and guide others on their own DEI journeys. 

Photo credit: fitzke via Getty Images