#201 - Disrupting Racism + Sexism in Hiring with Alfonso Wenker and Trina Olson

Ah, times--they are a-changing. In the last year, the dynamics of leading and being responsive to visibility, equity and social justice have never been higher stakes. We know we want to be equity-centered, anti-racist leaders, but where do we even begin?

Join me and my friend Alfonso and Trina as we discuss what it really takes to lead equity-based practices, how to do culture change (like, for reals) and changing power dynamics within an organization. This was a really thought-provoking conversation that helped to move forward on very big and overwhelming changes.

To connect with Alfonso: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfonsowenker/
To connect with Trina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trina-c-olson-9646303/

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:
Team Dynamics - Team Dynamics
Hiring Revolution - A Guide to Disrupt Racism + Sexism in Hiring - HIRING REVOLUTION
The Harvard Business School + Accenture study: https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/Documents/research/hiddenworkers09032021.pdf

QUOTES

“I was a two-time nonprofit executive director. I spent squarely 20 years in the nonprofit sector. It was a mixture of direct service, public policy, and advocacy… I am white. I am 41. And I'm queer.” - Trina Olson

“When Trina and I first started working together in Team Dynamics, it was sort of a side hustle. It was a dream. When we would get together, we would dream and scheme about how we could just think bigger and be more expansive about all of the different skills and tools that we had.” - Alfonso Wenker

“Sometimes, people say things like our strategic plan says we're committed to ending racism. And that feels out of reach for folks. It feels nearly impossible.” - Alfonso Wenker

“The other thing we're really relentless with is goal setting…” - Alfonso Wenker

“Racism and sexism are huge.”  - Alfonso Wenker

“A couple of the things we talk about is changing organizational culture, changing workplace culture, changing the culture in the US, is forever work.” - Trina Olson

“So we just get in these ruts, and we do things. And we say we want to change while changing nothing about how we behave.” - Alfonso Wenker

“So we have this big, audacious goal around race or gender equity. And we talk a lot about what we'll realize, but we don't get in any new practices.” - Alfonso Wenker

“Organizations and businesses are not being conscious about how people need their workplace to function from a benefits perspective, from a flexibility perspective, from a technology perspective, in order to bring all of their skills and talent.” - Trina Olson

“It's not workers that need to change… its workplaces.” - Alfonso Wenker

“We even have to wrestle with the idea and the notion of what is a workplace and what can it be and what should it be.” - Alfonso Wenker

“Companies need to change our expectations or the relationships that we have with the workers who choose to work with us.” - Alfonso Wenker

“Alfonso and I are really clear about the same kinds of things that need to happen in a hiring process. You need to know who you're looking for, you need to go find them, you need to talk to them, and then you need to decide who you're going to pick.” - Trina Olson