An Open Letter to Women’s Professional Networks

It's time to cede space to women of color to accelerate change

My dear colleagues,

Some of my most treasured connections and work have been with you in women’s professional networking groups. I’m so grateful for your passionate work to uplift women, to provide education and professional development, to support communities and scholarships for the future women of our industry. We are building valuable relationships across a wide array of industry sectors. (And by “we,” of course, I am including trans women and non-binary people.)

Women’s networks are a vital part of the corporate ecosystem. Like all networks, they provide access to relationship building, information sharing both technical and strategic, and problem solving. We know when women have our own space, it can provide a morale boost which only a tight knit circle can provide, and the data shows this impacts overall corporate performance. 

In our own space, we can speak up in the secure confidence that our truth will be heard, believed, understood. In a recent article, FastCompany said it this way: “In rooms of mostly women, vulnerability is possible.”

But have we created rooms where that sense of safety and connection is available for all women? As long as our spaces are predominantly white, we can’t claim it to be true.

As corporate conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion are opening up and taking on a new depth and sense of urgency, we have an opportunity to lead the way by tackling the issue of intersectional invisibility head on. 

Women’s networks must show leadership here by ceding space, air time, influence, and authority to women of color. The conversation of how best to accomplish this must be shaped and led by women of color; I’m just here to open up the discussion and to share some suggestions, which I only have learned by following Black women:

1)    Leadership and Board representation 

-       Actively shift power and seats of influence to women of color.  Develop a written commitment and plan on how to achieve this shift;

-       Specifically include outreach, sponsorship and mentorship of young women of color in the goals of leadership.

2)    Centering women of color 

-       Focus on the issues that most impact women of color (eg. The wage gap) with the understanding that equity for women of color means we can achieve equity for all;

-       Create spaces that focus on the well-being of women of color - everything from seating arrangements to who sets the agenda can matter to a person’s sense of safety.

3)    Amplifying voices

-       Ensuring that voices of women of color are heard when selecting speakers, in answering questions in open forums, etc.

-       Deep listening to the experiences of women of color. For example, conversations such as this Harvard Business Review study, or even how we choose our book club readings (here’s a good list).

“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” – Fannie Lou Hamer

Photo credit link: https://unsplash.com/@v_well