Take the Pledge: How to Be an Active Ally

The following is a rough transcript from the welcome portion of the conversation kicking off the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Allies Town Hall for the 2017 LinkedIn Sales Kickoff in Las Vegas, NV.

***Updated with more resources in March 2019.

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My name is Ty Heath, I lead Agency and Partner Education on the Channel Sales team in Marketing Solutions and I'm the Vice President of the Black Inclusion Group (BIG) at LinkedIn. Today, I'm not just representing BIG, I'm standing for all of the employee resource groups. 

This isn't an everyday conversation.

I'm really grateful that we are able to come together to be in the inquiry of allyship and how that helps us create economic opportunity for all.

I do want to expand on the WHY we are here today. I am here because I believe that every individual has the capacity to transform circumstances whether here at LinkedIn or out in the world. Many of you are here for that reason as well. You believe that we are all be better off with more compassion and empathy for one another. Maybe you are here because this is the first time you are in this conversation - you want to help but you aren't sure how to be helpful. Maybe you stumbled in here.

However you are here works. Wherever you are in your journey works. 

I want to get real with you for a moment and level on a few concepts that will be helpful in today's conversation. There are social constructs that impact all of us. I want to cover three of them:

1. Oppression - Systemic inequality that benefits those with privilege and harms those without privilege.
2. Privilege - Privilege is an unearned advantage that benefits some in society but not all. There is intersectionality to privilege. For instance, as an able-bodied, straight black woman I am part of a group that faces oppression AND at the same time I am privileged and can be an ally to the disabled and the LGBTQ communities. 
3. Bias - The stories we tell about people before we know who they are. 

This conversation isn't about making anyone wrong or making anyone a victim. This is about confronting these very real social constructs that rob us of the potential to achieve economic opportunity for all. I am inviting you to get present to where these damaging constructs show up in your life and choose to confront them. 

Allies can play a significant role in advancing social justice because they are in positions of power and privilege and are often not penalized for speaking out on the cause of diversity and inclusion.

Being an ally may not always be comfortable but it is real. Allyship requires you to confront your biases and play a bigger game by getting to know people unlike yourself and with different points of view. Employee Resource Groups are open to all and a great way to get to know others, you don’t need to be in the ‘target group’ to participate.

Being an ally means choosing to speak up. For instance, when "Uncle Joe" starts going off at Thanksgiving dinner saying homophobic, racist and sexist things, don't be silent. There are future generations at the table.

How do you know how best to be an active ally to those you want to support? Ask questions. Engage directly, don’t make assumptions and get involved at the mission level.

Today, I invite you to pledge to take action on something this year. Perhaps you might choose to: 

• Self educate on marginalized groups
• Participate in social justice initiatives
• Join an Employee Resource Group
• Call a Congress member
• Boycott institutions that fund actions you don't agree with 
• Have lunch with someone unlike yourself
• Tell a panel you won't speak on it unless the panel is diverse
• Make sure everyone is heard in meetings
• Refuse to be silent when you see injustice

Now I'm going to turn it over to you. Remember as we kick off the Town Hall get the intention behind what your colleagues are saying. We all mean well and are pursuing solutions together. 

This year, make a pledge to take action as an ally. Choose a cause that speaks to you! Choose action.

Learn more

How to create belonging for your peers:

We're typically not socialized to discuss diversity, inclusion and belonging, particularly in the workplace. But we can commit to taking small steps to start creating a space of belonging:

1. Self-educate: Learn about the history of marginalized groups & the systemic challenges these communities face
2. Start with empathy: It's ok to not have explicit solutions or be able to relate first-hand. Instead, seek to empathize & amplify the voices of your peers.
3. Self-awareness, not guilt: Guilt and defensiveness are counter-productive. Instead, strive for self-awareness of your non-shared experiences in society.
4. Initiate conversation: Invite your peers to talk about issues that impact their communities. Show that you’re there to listen to the good, bad, and ugly.
5. Be patient: It can be hard for impacted communities to talk. Don't insist if someone doesn’t want to talk.

Below are several articles and blogs that provide more insight into Allyship:

• 5 Tips For Being An Ally
• No More “Allies”
• 8 Ways Not To Be An “Ally”: A Non-Comprehensive List
• How to be Better in 2017
• The Simplest and Most Perfect Explanation of Privilege I’ve Ever Seen
• White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
• How to Have Better Political Conversations
• Inclusion Allies Coalition
• How to be an ally for disabled friends
• In 2019, Choose To Be A Better Ally To The Chronically Ill & Disabled

Allies Book List:

• Between the World and Me 
• White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
• Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White
• The New Jim Crow 
• Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More
• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
• So You Want to Talk About Race
• Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America
• How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America
• Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out

Ty is the Global Lead, B2B Institute @ LinkedIn, the former President of LinkedIn's Black Inclusion Group (BIG) and Co-Founder of TransformHER. Ty is passionate about connecting people to information needed to make intelligent decisions, delivering educational content to help marketers stay on top of the latest in digital marketing strategy with a bit of humor. Ty teaches B2B marketing, inbound marketing strategy, account based marketing, social selling, content marketing as well as leadership, diversity and inclusion. Ty is also author of "Marketers of Tomorrow: A Step by Step Toolkit for Inbound Marketing". Connect with Ty on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram.