Photo credit: DeclanTM (Flickr)

Because we did: the recent issue of Women of Color magazine focused on technology and business.  You can read the issue online here.

We also found a recently launched magazine, Diversity Executive, for diversity practitioners. It includes a neat online community that’s worth checking out.

The Green Party has nominated the first all women of color ticket in United States history: Cynthia McKinney, a former Democratic congresswoman and the first African-American elected to Congress from Georgia is the Presidential nominee. Her running-mate is Rosa Clemente, a long-time community organizer and journalist. You may have missed the Green Party National Convention, held in Chicago on July 10-13 of this year, but be on the lookout for the McKinney-Clemente ticket this fall (their website: http://votetruth08.com/). It is also worth checking out the ten key values of the Green Party, for those of you unfamiliar with the party’s politics.

Okay, enough political stuff for now.

We are in the midst of Black History Month, and Women’s History Month is coming up in March, so there is a lot to discuss.

I’ll be updating this blog more regularly going forward, so check back in soon.

2007 Theme: Hispanic Americans: Making a Positive Impact on American Society. Read the proclamation by President George W. Bush here. The U.S. Census Bureau has a really interesting fact page and the Smithsonian has numerous cultural resources on its site

Curious about other heritage months? Here’s a brief list:
Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month (May)
Black History Month (February)
National American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month (November)
Women’s History Month (March)

While white males exemplify the indicia of power in corporate America, it does not necessarily follow that having one of them as CDO will increase the reception of diversity in organizations. Frankly, a company that has to put a white male in charge of a division to legitimize it is showing why it needs diversity initiatives to begin with.

Diversity studies show that it is not the race or gender of the person in charge of diversity that determines how well the initiatives are received, rather it is the level of commitment from the CEO. The vast majority of research views CEO commitment as integral to the success of organizational diversity. In contrast, the article suggests that these companies are relying on the informal networks of a white male CDO to generate organizational commitment to diversity–this does not bode well for diversity in those organizations. The CEO, after all, wields considerably more influence than any CDO, no matter what their race, ethnicity, or gender.

The article neglects to note that most companies are not adopting this strategy, precisely because it lessens the importance of the CEO’s commitment–which diversity research shows to be the most important factor in achieving organizational diversity. It also leaves some important questions unanswered, such as whether it is necessary to put a white male in charge of diversity to get other white males involved, or if getting them involved with diversity councils (e.g., PwC) is equally effective.

Another question the article neglects is how men and women of color might perceive a company that has a white male CDO. The article only focuses on diversity’s reception among white males, and neglects its impact on the groups these companies are trying to recruit. (Of course, ethnic minorities are not the only stakeholders in diversity, but the article focused on racial diversity.)

If companies are trying to find out how to get diversity to permeate their cultures, research shows that the best way to effect this is with a committed CEO, and a multicultural diversity council, which can and should include white males. But the CDOs don’t have to be white males, although they certainly can be.

I am making an exception today, however. The ABA has released a really important study about women of color at law firms. While law firms are an entirely different animal than corporate america, I find that many of the lawyers in corporate america come from these firms.

So I’d like to be sure corporate america has a sense of what these women are experiencing.

The ABA Commission for Women in the Profession issued the report.

Visible Invisibility: Women of Color in Law Firms (executive summary)

Chubb has developed the Collegiate Women of Color Leadership Development Institute, a program which selects 50 young women of color from various colleges to assist them as they prepare for leadership roles in the future. Part of this year-long intensive program takes place at Chubb’s Mt. Washington Conference Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and includes a variety of speakers that will address leadership topics with the program participants.

Each participant receives a mentor from Chubb, and receives a generous stipend to assist the students in undertaking a leadership project during their senior year of college.

As companies invest in young women of color, they are increasing the pipeline of viable professional women of color down the road.

Read Chubb’s press release here.

I attended the National Conference in 2005, and found it insightful, well-executed, and (as a bonus!) made some lasting professional connections.

The WMM website has information about their upcoming Town Halls–if they are coming to your city, it would be very worthwhile to attend:

Redmond Multicultural Women’s Town Hall – Dec 6, 2006
Washington DC Multicultural Women’s Town Hall – Dec 12, 2006

To find out more about Working Mother Media’s Multicultural Women’s Town Halls, click here.

One of the facets of the article that drew my attention was the demographic makeup of the interviewees–the vast majority were women of color. This is one of the first instances in which women of color have taken precedence in a business study about “minorities”, excepting, of course, the Catalyst research which was focused specifically on women of color.

You can read a reprint of this article here.