Supporting the Black Community and Anti-Racism: Commitments and Plan

At NACE, we believe in a world that is inclusive in approach and where equitable opportunities and outcomes exist for all. Unfortunately, the current state of race relations in our country does not provide for this. As a profession, we are in a position to contribute to the breaking down of systemic racism and improve employment outcomes for the Black community. Our objective as an association is to lead significant change with and within our membership. This change requires a deliberate action plan to support the Black community and our Black colleagues. This is not a one-time effort; our process will require ongoing refinement. Specifically, we are committed to:

1. Amplifying the voices of our Black colleagues, particularly through proactive collaboration with our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and Affinity Groups to garner valuable insights and leadership. Additionally, we will ensure each of our committees and task forces is charged with evaluating and enacting equitable and anti-racist practices.
   1. Add charges to each of our committees and task forces across the organization to assess, enact, and report on equitable practices.
   2. Form new organizational structures/systems that will provide our DEI Committee and Affinity Groups voice in offering guidance and leadership on programming, research, and other core services.
2. Advocating on issues of equity and anti-racism in higher education and workforce development, ensuring that we are actively and consistently identifying opportunities for change.
   1. Expand our current roster of advocacy-related issues to include the Black community’s voice at the governmental and member institutional levels on topics such as equal pay, workforce development, and working conditions. 
   2. Provide relevant content to members that has a powerful impact on making the case for change.
3. Partnering with organizations and forming coalitions that align with our commitment to achieve greater impact.
   1. Collaborate with organizations that are advocates for equity and the promotion of the Black community to deliver programming, make connections for our members, and bring voice to issues.
   2. Broaden the types of organizations (as members and/or strategic partners) that are involved with NACE to include those that are focused on workforce development, diversity, and similarly aligned issues.
4. Reviewing NACE’s internal operational practices and policies to ensure they are equitable and inclusive, and committing to increasing racial diversity of staff.
   1. Review and revise hiring and other internal policies to include an anti-racism and equity lens.
   2. Hire a diversity and inclusion director to lead and facilitate the work ahead of us.
   3. Ensure that every staff search conducted will include diverse candidates and a priority placed on racial diversification; in addition, provide appropriate professional development opportunities for all staff that address anti-racism, inclusion, and equity.
5. Committing to expanding engagement and access to opportunities within our membership and leadership by focusing on increasing racial diversity.
   1. Make revisions to member practices/policies to ensure equitable, inclusive outcomes such as how volunteers get involved, how speakers are selected, and how feedback is collected.
   2. Ensure the selection of volunteers and volunteer leaders is equitable, placing a priority on Black representation throughout all opportunities available.
6. Generating research and content that expands the knowledge base of fact and trends related to anti-racism, equity, and inclusion.
   1. Publish research findings and data points to understand if there are insights previously overlooked related to equity and race that can inform the future.
   2. Form a diverse and inclusive advisory group to provide insights about future data collection of interest to the field, and to provide feedback on research direction.
7. Providing professional development programs that address equity and inclusion to advance the body of knowledge amongst our members and beyond to create systemic change.
   1. Develop a comprehensive and ongoing slate of programs in a variety of formats to inform our members’ knowledge related to the Black community, racism, and equity.
   2. Evaluate and revise current and ongoing standard programming, such as the Management Leadership Institute and Recruiting Leadership Institute, to ensure anti-racism, inclusion, and equity are standard modules and discussions.
8. Evaluating our membership model and other systems to ensure equitable access and inclusive participation.
   1. Determine if the current membership model is effective in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion, and make necessary modifications to strengthen it.
   2. Expand our membership and partnership model to include other types of organizations that could benefit from membership with the association and vice versa.
9. Leading the conversation within our profession on diversity and equity, focusing on anti-racism, equitable access, inclusive practices, resources, representation, pipeline development, and our own impact.
   1. Collect, analyze, and assess requisite data to understand our membership, leadership, and pipeline issues.
   2. Elevate our entry- and mid-level Black members through intentional inclusion in programs and services and create new scholarship programs to ensure participation.
10. Measuring, communicating, and reporting our progress to our members and profession.
    1. Develop, in partnership with our DEI Committee, metrics that can be tracked over time.
    2. Report quarterly to the NACE Board of Directors and release to the membership an annual diversity, equity, and inclusion report that illustrates association initiatives and progress on metrics.

August 2020