Monthly Newsletter | May

Hey. If it’s heat-wave season in your part of the world, we hope you’re staying hydrated, and helping others do so. In between mopping our foreheads we’ve been learning about T?a?y?l?o?r? S?w?i?f?t? how diversity, equity and inclusion is expanding to embrace the category of belonging. Our colleague Maira has a 101 here; and we wrote about Toshiba Japan officially adding ‘belonging’ to their DEI mission here.? ?

Belonging in this email:?

• We're ready to talk about Malanpur?
• Godrej Properties’ new initiative for women in real estate?
• Recommended reading: our new website!?
• News you can use about DEI, plus a deployable meme?

“The fight for gender equality in manufacturing is far from over, but a seed of change had been sown in the heart of the Malanpur factory. It is a seed nurtured by the collective spirit of women, the unwavering support of their families, and a shared commitment to a more inclusive future.” — Rolie Breja, writing about our new short film.?

MOVIE TIME?

Godrej Ki Shakti: The Malanpur Moment??

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. hit the news earlier this year with the announcement that their upcoming plant in Tamil Nadu will have a workforce that includes 50% women, 5% LGBTQIA+ people, and 2% people with disabilities. The new GCPL employee resource group for women in manufacturing, called ‘Godrej Ki Shakti,’ will strive to ensure that the company’s DEI mission doesn’t stop at representation or meeting hiring targets.??

That’s just the newest part of the story. For the bigger picture, we want to take you to Malanpur, Madhya Pradesh, an hour outside Gwalior. Here, in a landscape vastly different from TN, GCPL founded a plant in 1991. For decades, the shop floor was staffed entirely by male workers. Then things started to change. In the last few years, the number of women at the plant has shot up from 5 to 75. They work on the shop floor in roles that were once fully male-dominated; many are the first of their family to have a career in manufacturing. The idea of women as ‘Godrej ki shakti’ – the strength of Godrej – emerges from the experiences of our amazing colleagues in Malanpur.

Our new short film, ‘The Malanpur Moment,’ is about them. Please watch it here, and let us know what you think.??

QUIZ

Which US State initiated the process to add ‘caste’ as a protected category in its anti-discrimination laws in the year 2023???

A. Iowa

B. California

C. Texas

D. New York

Answer in the last section of the newsletter (stick around and find out!)

STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

News from the Lab + the Godrej Industries Group businesses:?

• We're GIG workers: Thank you for all your DMs asking us if we’re okay, following this headline-making news. We’re great! The Godrej DEI Lab is part of the Godrej Industries Group. Come hang out with us at one of our future events at our lovely Vikhroli HQ? We’re serious: keep an eye out for what we’ll be up to for Pride Month in our June newsletter, and get ready to sign up for some fun.
• Launch sequence initiate: Remember when the internet was amazing because we could look stuff up on websites, instead of hunting through the smoke and mirrors of social media? The Lab’s bringing back the good times. We’ve just launched our new website, where you’ll find all our stories - including a bunch you haven’t read yet - learn a ton about how the Godrej Industries Group and businesses practice DEI, access DEI resources we’re putting together in a new public archive, and more. (We’re still learning our way around the CMS, so if you spot something wonky, let us know.)? Again: that’s www.godrejdeilab.com.
• The C.R.E.W takes off: No, this isn’t about the Kareena Kapoor movie. In early April, to cap Women’s Month celebrations at the group, Godrej Properties Limited held a celebration at which we got to hear Arundhati Bhattacharya, CEO, Salesforce; Sabriye Tenberken, co-founder of Braille Without Borders; Simran Khara, CEO, Koparo; and GPL’s own senior leaders. Among other things, GPL announced the launch of an emergency PoSH support helpline for GPL employees, a pan-India creche policy, and the launch of C.R.E.W.?
• That stands for the Collective of Real Estate Women, which aims to empower women in real estate, construction, and allied sectors. This nation-wide initiative will begin with the implementation of a series of inclusive policies designed on the basis of research with over 500 women who are current employees and alumni of Godrej Properties. If you happen to work or used to work at GPL and identify as a woman: join their crew here!??
• Remember the Women in Agri-Business summit we were talking about back in March? One of our colleagues at GAVL, Swati Agarwal, attended the summit and wrote a guest column for our new website about why gender diversity matters to the agricultural sector and in the business. Read it here.
• Why inclusivity matters: Our colleague at Godrej Capital, Johann Mendez, keeps it real and fires us all up with the story of his workplace journey in this video, which GC’s CEO played at the group’s senior leadership conference in April.??

MORE STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

DEI in the news, around India and the world

• A staffing company claims that the manufacturing sector in India has seen a remarkable five-fold surge in demand for young women to be appointed as apprentices.
• Rounding up Autism Acceptance Month, check what Shelja Sen has to say about neurodiversity and neuronormativity, drawn from her experience of working with neurodiverse youth.?
• In late April, Accenture launched an adoption-assistance programme for employees.?
• India’s Supreme Court upheld a mandate that grants working mothers two years of childcare leave in addition to mandatory maternity leave. Professor Ashwini Deshpande raised some pertinent questions about our parental benefits policy environment.?
• Economic researchers in the USA sent 80,000 fake resumés to 1000 companies and discovered deep-seated racial discrimination in many industries, but also found that some practices – like having a central HR team – helped mitigate bias. Read the research report here.??
• HCL says that DEI was the most common area in which help was requested by its clients in its 2023 survey, we learned from this detailed Financial Times report on the state of DEI in the UK and the US.??

WE FOUND THIS FUNNY

GODREJ ONE BOOK CLUB

Seeing Others By Michèle Lamont

Inequality thinkers often focus purely on economic values, in the belief that social change will follow from economic progress. The Harvard sociologist Michèle Lamont argues that unequal experiences of recognition, or worth, are just as important to address when we work on inclusion. Her research is the basis of her major new work, Seeing Others. Read our review here.?

FOOTER

Quiz answer: B.?Introduced by California Senator Aisha Wahab, SB 403 would have added caste as a protected category to an existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act. The bill was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom.?

To do: If in Mumbai, Book your tickets to Liminal Gaps at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, and immerse yourself in work by fabulous artists including Ayesha Singh, Asim Waqif, and RAQS Media Collective. We particularly loved Afrah Shaqif’s interactive media installation ‘Sultana’s Reality,’ which takes inspiration from Begum Rokeya’s 1905 fundamental feminist sci-fi story Sultana’s Dream.?(Have you read it? It’s a Lab favourite.)?

Stuff we can’t stop thinking about:??

• This brilliant podcast about the feminist approach to work by FemLab. They have already put out episodes on ‘what is work?’ and issues faced in the digital economy gig by informal workers. Their latest (a must hear!) dives into the devaluation of women’s domestic labor.??
• India Development Review’s series on ‘disability, inclusion and access’ which platforms practitioners and nonprofit leaders working in the space of disability. Check it out here.?
• Fabrice Houdart was one of the speakers at our first event ‘Rainbow Reflections’ last year. We love his weekly update on LGBT+ Equality, full to the brim with serious news and commentary, but also drama, hot takes, media recommendations and more.?
• The hit new Chinese drama Will Love In Spring features very relatable family dynamics, a cute male lead, and one of China’s top actors playing an independent, ambitious heroine who lives with a disability. First episode here.??
• What you’re thinking about. Tell us? We’re all ears for tips, recommendations, and all kinds of feedback at our email below.

Our mailing address is: [email protected]

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