Employment equity matters to me now more than ever
From Lena Tom (she/her), Founder & President of Meso Solutions
It’s been just over six months since I launched Meso Solutions. The world under our feet has changed a lot in that time, but my mission to eliminate hiring discrimination and dedication to level the playing field for jobseekers remains steadfast. Congressman John Lewis’ words distill my own feelings and drive my persistent attitude: “Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime.” Growing up as the only mixed-race Asian kid in my majority Black and Latinx schools and neighborhood, racial and social justice were at the core of my worldview, and I knew, early on, I would be engaged in a lifelong fight advocating for causes that support rights and dignity for all.
I’ve had the incredible honor to work and grow in a variety of organizations and campaigns supporting “progressive” causes and candidates. Even in these well-meaning environments, however, I learned that we are holding up the same systemic inequities that exist throughout our society. While “fixing” our hiring practices won’t solve everything — it’s a critical starting point to achieving equity, and that’s why Meso Solutions exists today.
My first step toward establishing Meso was the co-creation of ProgressiveDataJobs.org, a site we still maintain for job seekers or employers (at no cost). The intention was simple: Break down the access barriers and gatekeeping of job postings among the Left in data and analytics fields. The impact of ProgressiveDataJobs.org has been immense. Since launching, dozens of employers and employees have shared success stories of being hired as a result of the website, proving that small actions can promote big changes.
Now, at Meso, we create resources for hirers to improve internal processes, in addition to helping them run successful talent searches. One of the most critical and easily amendable steps for employers in hiring is to expand the audience who sees their job postings. Data has proven that gatekeeping engenders homogeneity in applicant pools and protects existing power structures. Intentionally investing time and resources to ensure opportunities are shared, not only via listservs and private networks, but also to wide corners of the community, becomes paramount to finding exceptional and diverse talent. At Meso, we help our clients navigate this and more.
Our partners and many supporters on our journey thus far have empowered Meso to accomplish so much in these first few months:
We’re now a team of four! I’m thrilled to introduce you to Lara, Paige, and Temi. Without them, Meso could never have achieved all that we have this early in our venture. You’ll be hearing from each of them in the weeks ahead about their backgrounds and passion for this work.
We've enabled more than 35 job seekers to successfully find employment with over a dozen progressive organizations committed to long-term movement development, issue advocacy, research, and political infrastructure.
We've improved organizations’ hiring practices to create healthier and more equitable work environments. Change starts with our own policies, cultures, and structures in progressive organizations.
Currently, we are developing shareable materials on combatting hiring discrimination and ensuring more equitable hiring searches. This knowledge-sharing will arm progressive organizations with the insight to continue talent searches without inadvertently reinforcing existing power structures that keep from finding the best hires for their work.
Thanks to these early successes, we are able to spend more time developing resources to share with the community as a whole. We also want to hear from you on what you need, so that we can continue to learn over the next months, years, and lifetime of work to build employment equity.
If you or someone you know is ready to rethink their hiring practices and build out internal teams with talent dedicated to supporting vital causes, reach out. We want to assist you in this ongoing fight for justice.
