Equity means transformation within the most “woke” workplaces

By Felicia Davis, President & CEO of Chicago Foundation for Women

Chicago Foundation for Women was founded 35 years ago with the goal of achieving gender equity and supporting women and girls across the Chicago region. All good things, right?

Well, not all good things. We are also an institution born and raised within the context of second-wave feminism and philanthropy — both of which have historically excluded non-White voices. Look no further than the 19th Amendment, ratified a century ago, that gave just White women the right to vote. The fact that we have left women of color, as well as transgender and gender non-binary people out of the conversation for far too long, is not lost in our work today. Or the reality that philanthropy was initially built to preserve wealth — wealth that was accumulated through land theft, and the displacement and enslavement of Indigenous people and people of color. Our intentions may not have been harmful, but they may have perpetuated and enabled inequities to continue unchallenged.

Even with all the good I know we do — we still need to do better, be better.

At this defining moment in the U.S., how exactly should companies and organizations rise up to challenge and tackle racism and inequity in their practices and work environments? As employees and the public begin to hold companies more accountable than ever before (as they should!), businesses need to do more than offer lip service and make real plans for real change.

At Chicago Foundation for Women, it’s by acknowledging that gender equity cannot be achieved without racial equity — an understanding that may not have always been present in our work to date.

In 2018, our entire staff underwent anti-bias and anti-racism training. So did our Board of Directors. And, while the training was very profound, without follow up action and commitment, it would have fallen in the pile of “that thing we did, that one time.” In fact, our staff team feared that the Foundation would consider the matter closed. That somehow, we’d become “woke,” and the work was done. As the new President & CEO, I knew this was just the beginning of a long, emotional, and challenging transformative journey. As such, I championed the formation of an internal Planning and Design Task Force. To date, the CFW Board of Directors and Staff Team have completed Introduction to Systemic Racism training, and the Planning & Design Taskforce (PDTF) conducted an initial audit of CFW’s history and culture.

We know we cannot do this work alone.

To ensure continued accountability and progress toward becoming an anti-racist organization, we are forming a Transformation Team, a body within Chicago Foundation for Women of internal and external stakeholders who will lead the effort to transform CFW into an anti-racist institution. This Team will work with me, our staff, and Board of Directors to engage in continual analysis and essential restructuring of CFW to ensure that the Foundation’s way of being is one that wields a shared power with, and holds itself accountable to, racially oppressed groups to achieve its goal of gender equity.

Consider joining us, we need advocates and voices from our grantee, funding, and donor communities to partner with us in this effort, so we have opened applications for individuals to join us on the Transformation Team.

Doing better means pushing ourselves, asking the tough questions (that yes, may make people uncomfortable), and holding ourselves accountable. We cannot rely on traditional ways of making change; we need a true transformation.

Gender equity cannot be achieved without racial equity — so let’s get to work.