[Julie Helwege]

Welcome Folks, Julie here! We’re excited to introduce the Business Professionals table at Lace on Race Café. I’m one of your moderators for this group and volunteered to welcome everyone today.

As we break bread and engage in getting to know each other more deeply over these next several weeks and months, I hope a few of you will want to help with group moderation.

The Business Professionals table was incorporated to break-out a community of walkers whose lives include part-time or full-time contributions to a place of business. This “place” includes consulting, private and public sector, non-governmental organizations, non-profit, corporate, small business, digital marketing, and the like. If you have a daily or nightly tent-making job and want to spend time in community with other tent-makers, this is a space for you!

I’m excited to make introductions and get to know more about each of you. Note: This is a safe-ish dining experience, and with that in mind, I encourage you to share as much as is comfortable.

I’d love to kick this off by hearing about your personal journey and how that journey has come to intersect with our walking toward lessening and mitigating the harm to Black and Brown people perpetuated by white people like me, and white supremacy. I’d also like to understand specifically how your tent-making work coincides with the walking we do here.

In addition: Where do you live? What type of work do you do? How long have you been a member of Lace on Race? What do you hope to accomplish as we dine together at this specific table? And anything else that’s helpful to share.

Finally, do you have any questions for me, for Lace, and/or for your fellow walkers at this table?

Discussion

[Laura Berwick]

I work for a small startup in Seattle that focuses on providing technology to facilitate legal services like patent drafting and prosecution, trademark and brand protection, stuff like that. As a patent engineer, I’ve helped test out the patent drafting and prosecuting tools, and now I’m moving into a product support role more closely aligned with our software team.

It’s a mostly white company. We’ve begun discussing diversity and inclusion in a more significant way, but so far it’s mostly just discussing. I do have coworkers that participate in volunteer opportunities, and there are areas where we make our software available to speed up the patenting process and hopefully make it more affordable. There’s more opportunity in those efforts than we’re pursuing, I’m sure. And I’m hoping once we’re in a position to hire again, we can make concrete progress within the company, as well as without. I guess I’m here to keep me on track with that, keep me in the right mindset to participate in and further our diversity and inclusion efforts.

[Sarah Froning Nodarse]

Sounds like you are starting from scratch with the D&I efforts, which at least provides the opportunity to be creative and bold! Hopefully leadership is on board. If so, there are probably things you can do even before you start hiring again, to work on the existing culture.

[Clare Steward]

Hi Julie and fellow group members. I’m excited to be here and partake in discussions around how to keep the NS front and center in our work lives.

I’ve been on LoR for 6 months and have built some incredible relationships here. I’ve been focused on the internal work and identifying my harmful behaviors, which is foundational. So…. I’ve leaned in to the work and I want to continue that constant weeding as I begin growing my orange tree more. I feel like this group/ community specifically is going to be very helpful in strengthening my external praxis.

I have been in a call center environment now for well over 20 years and part of the training department for approximately 18 years. I currently work for a satellite internet company that is dominated by white males. A few months ago, my company released demographic information for transparency along with a declaration that diversity and inclusion is important to them…. and then they chose a white woman to head the initiative…sigh. There is a lot of work to be done and I keep hearing Lace in my head over and over about how dangerous it is for wp like me to do racial justice work on our own without Black and Brown leaders and that doing the work poorly is worse than doing the work at all.

The patterns we examine here in LoR are absolutely playing out at my company (of course) and I need to make sure my praxis is firmly grounded and focused on the NS as I navigate that environment. *edited for typos

• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by  Clare Steward.

[Clare Steward]

Oh…I live in Aurora (Denver) Colorado.

[Sarah Froning Nodarse]

YES – doing the work poorly is worse than not doing the work at all. This is a daily mantra!

[Sarah Froning Nodarse]

…Maybe I could have NOT used “mantra” here as it’s cultural appropriation to use this term out of context like that…a daily invocation, a daily reminder…

[Julie Helwege]

I work as the director of recruiting for a Fortune 500 oil and gas company here in Tulsa, OK. 80% of our company is both white and male. I am responsible for creating, executing and supporting an aggressive diversity hiring strategy in 2021+.

I recognize that I have direct influence and impact on creating a more equal and inclusive work environment, and I have Lace and this community to thank for the way I’m walking at work right now.

What I hope for this group is to walk in solidarity with other business professionals – to ensure our offline and online is congruent as we put our brains together to show up in work spaces globally more reliably, less harmfully and much safer to BIPOC.

I also hope that we can challenge and hold each other, that we can love each other durably as we tackle racism and supremacy in the workplace. And that we are relentlessly reliable in this effort, North Star front and center.

Other fun facts about me: I’ve lived in Tulsa, Denver, San Antonio and Indianapolis as an adult. I’m married and a “pet-rent” to Henry (10) and Harper (1). I started my career in recruiting at 25 and am still recruiting at 42 – hey-O am I passionate about hiring!!! I do not like mayo and cream sauces/dressings. I played soccer in college (Baylor University and the University of Denver). And I am a LEGO maniac. ♥️

[Julie Helwege]

One more thing… I just eclipsed six months as a member at LOR. Cheers!

[Julie Helwege]

Welcome to our newest seated diners: Michele, Sarah, Rhonda, Konstanze and Andrea!

[Michele Russo]

Hello All! My professional work is being the head of a small ($2.5M) non profit org that focuses on arts education for students in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Our programs reach literally every kind of school and every student you can imagine so there is a lot at stake in terms of how my work directly impacts children. Over the last 3 years we’ve undertaken a comprehensive approach to building equitable and anti-bias practices into our organization both in internal systems and in programmatic decisions. Prior to this work, we hadn’t done anything significant in this and we. had. some. problems. I am on the path personally and profesionally because I am responsible for what children experience in our programs. I know there is more I can do as a leader, and more I need to do personally so that I have the skills to keep the NS central in my work, with courage, kindness and action.

Personally, I am a dog mom, and auntie, and recently stepped into the role of part time caretaker for my Dad. I miss having people over for game nights and homecooked meals….really looking forward to brighter days in 2021.

[Julie Helwege]

Hi Michele, it’s great learning more about you (hey-O fellow dog mom) and this art program and the direct influence you have on these children – I can’t wait to hear more about it. Art has become such an important part of my life as is supporting the Arts.

[Konstanze Weltersbach]

I miss game nights as well! I can play with the kids, but it’s not the same

We want to start game afternoons for seniors at my library once the pandemic is under control, and I’ll definitely volunteer to participate.

[Rhonda Freeman]

I am already appreciating this space and knowing who is here. I am the Senior Vice President of Engineering for a medium sized DoD contractor outside of DC. Yep, white male dominated. I shared in my other groups that this has been an exponential growth year for me in addressing my own racism and beginning to name it in my workspace. I have a husband and 21 year old transgendered daughter. Julie: I am especially curious to walk beside you. I am consistently sorely disappointed in our ability to attract talent that is not white and male.

[Julie Helwege]

Me too! It’s exciting to see this specific group come together. And we will definitely walk together on diversity hiring and recruiting strategies.

[Julie Helwege]

Welcome to our newest seated diner, Karina!

[Konstanze Weltersbach]

Hi everybody!

I recently became part of the extended management board of my city’s public library system. As such I head the branch with the highest number of loans, and supervise three smaller branches in the area. (Just remember that the entire country of Switzerland has as many citizens as NYC, so it’s all relative :-p ). As I get settled in I will also take over the supervision of the „task groups“ responsible for the library system‘s school outreach program and the one for the events program.

In the last weeks I’ve gotten an idea on the areas we need to step up our game. Now there’s a mini-lockdown coming up, but work won’t run out any time soon.

I’ve been at LoR for about 6 months. Before the new job I‘ve been the head of a secondary school library for 10 Years, even though originally I studied to become a biologist and I’m a PhD-Dropout. Generally I’m not one for sitting still – at home I do a lot of crafts like cross stich, and just started my first diy miniature house kit (a library of course). If there’s something new to try I’m your woman.

[Konstanze Weltersbach]

I wonder if the educators group would be more suitable for my line of work, but well, here I am ?

[Julie Helwege]

I’m really glad you’re here, Konstanze! DIY mini-library… so cool! I think your work at the library, leadership and expansion of responsibilities will be great to discuss in this group as we look through our North Star lens.

FYI, you can also join the educators group. There is no limit on the amount of groups you can join.

[Andrea Kramer]

Hi everyone! I am a conservation scientist at an NGO in the suburbs of Chicago, where the majority of full time permanent staff is white, and everyone in a leadership role is white. I’m also an adjunct professor who works with and directly mentors a handful of undergraduate and graduate students in plant science-related research every year (some BIPOC, mostly white) with applications to plant conservation and the ecological restoration and management of natural areas. Folks I work with at partner conservation and environmental organizations are also primarily white. And I am director of a small team of folks, all white.

My institution specifically, and the scientific and environmental/conservation fields overall, are grappling with and slowly doing the work to make meaningful progress in inclusion, equity, and diversity. Recruiting, hiring, and retaining are all areas that need a lot of work. Also training for existing staff, students, and volunteers. We have a long way to go.

I am dedicated to engaging with and supporting this work, both at my institution and in my field, including seeking out, listening to, and following the lead of BIPOC. I’m also dedicated to doing the work to make sure white folks like me (myself included) do not cause harm along the way. What I have learned here in the LoR community over the last six months had been a critical part of this, and I am looking forward to engaging with this group to keep walking forward.

I also have two small kids and am looking forward to engaging with the parenting group here.

[Sarah Froning Nodarse]

Hey Chicagoland neighbor! I’m in the city, Lincoln Park/Old Town.

[Julie Helwege]

Hi Andrea, thank you for sharing! I am looking forward to learning more about your scientific work and brainstorming together on ways to recruit, hire, train, etc. in a less harmful and much safer way to BIPOC.

[Sarah Froning Nodarse]

Hi everyone! Nice to meet you. Thanks for getting this discussion started. A little bit about me: I’ve been with LoR since the beginning, but my participation has been sporadic. My big clench is “I don’t have time,” so in 2021 I am weaving LoR participation in with my morning self-care routine (although this self-care isn’t about me, it’s about our North Star). I am a consultant by trade, a cultural anthropologist by training, I am married with 3 kids aged 25, 21, and 12 and live in Chicago. My academic work focused on Native American objects stored in French museums, so I have read lots and lots about the global colonial project that created the system of white supremacy we are trying to dismantle today. I was (am) firmly in the category of “well-read racist,” I had spent a lot of time learning about the system, but before 2016 I had not put myself in the equation, so to speak. I was one of those nice white ladies who had been raised by liberal, progressive parents and put myself in the “not ME!” bucket. But of course, yes, me. My consulting work is focused on cross-cultural competence – I work for a small “boutique” firm and a lot of our work is in the diversity, equity, and inclusion (or “DEI”) space. My clients are Fortune 500 companies. The walking we do here is not just relevant it’s crucial to the work I do professionally. The firm I work for is run by 2 white people, although we do have Black and LatinX leaders and consultants (out of 14 people, 5 are Black, 2 are LatinX). In short, I cannot credibly do my job without consistently walking here, period.

[Julie Helwege]

Hey Sarah, thank you for sharing! I’m loving the diversity of work within this group. So much to learn from each other as we walk together, NS front and center.

[Julie Helwege]

Welcome to our newest seated diner, Therese Hymer!

[Julie Helwege]

Welcome to our newest seated diner, Lisa Doll!

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