Revisiting: How to hire equitably
As racial violence escalated in 2020 and many in our society were called to pay attention to the way people of color are treated, Meso Solutions thought critically about our role as a team of folks of color committed to addressing societal inequities, including systemic racism.
Organizations had various reactions to these events - we saw lots of organizations putting out solidarity statements. Some folks put out toolkits on supporting staff of color. Most importantly, we witnessed a lot of people out on the streets protesting systemic racism.
Our team came together and decided that the best role for Meso Solutions to continue in this movement is to help organizations understand and implement equitable hiring processes. By improving hiring we can achieve better representation and true leadership from folks of color in the progressive movement, which will lead to communities and policies that are safe for people of color.
Racial violence has not decreased in 2021. With increased violence and hate towards Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities, more attention towards police brutality against Black and Brown bodies, and a pandemic that has intensified social inequities across the board, we are highlighting these resources for individuals and employers looking for tools to address issues of inequities in their work.
Combatting Inequities in Hiring Processes, facilitated by Racial justice attorney Tahir Duckett and Meso Solutions founder Lena Tom discussed foundational approaches to equitable hiring practices. They addressed some of the following questions:
What is hiring discrimination, and what does it look like in a modern workplace?
What are the legal minimums for screening and hiring candidates versus equity-based hiring models organizations can implement?
How do organizations of all sizes combat racism to create a more equitable hiring process?
How to Hire Right (On the Left), presented by Deepa Kunapuli, Lara Haddadin, and Lena Tom discussed practices for nonprofit, progressive, and social good organizations to ensure equity in their hiring processes. This is your “201” level class in starting to move towards better practices, answering these questions:
How does racism work in organizations? We discuss how racism plays out at institutional, interpersonal, structural levels.
What structures and policies can we implement that will attract people of color to work for our organizations?
What are common practices that act as barriers for marginalized groups? What are the alternatives?
Check out these webinars and stay tuned for more articles and resources with tools to help your organization center equity and inclusion.