Why DEI creators must look beyond gender to achieve true equality.

I call it like I see it, and you should too. 

This is not the “Future of Work”––is it?

Maybe it’s my enneagram (I’m a 2) or maybe my sign (a Virgo) but if something seems off, I cannot help but call it out. Even as a kid, I knew I had a duty to make it right. I also knew that women could and should speak up, thanks to my mother. Every time she used a product and it failed, or she experienced something wrong as a customer, she would say “I am going to write them a letter.” And she did, ahead of the trend, from her home office. Every. Single. Time. She never let it go without a written word.

While my mom and I are incredibly different in what warrants “a letter” I am often that person too. The one that says something no one else wants to say. The one who pipes up even if it seems small. People often see omissions or mistakes and think, that’s not worth my time. Not me. I am the one that tracks down a writer when I see there's a typo in their New York Times article. The one who tells another person when they have something green stuck in their teeth. The one in your DMs saying your post may come across as insensitive to certain groups. Feedback is not always (rarely) received well––I get it. It took me a long time to be grateful when someone pointed out one of my DEI misses. But, I am glad my colleagues didn't let it go.

I am the one that tracks down a writer when I see there's a typo in their New York Times article. The one who tells another person when they have something green stuck in their teeth. The one in your DMs saying your post may come across as insensitive to certain groups.

Questioning what we’re supposed to look like or supposed to say has been a hobby since childhood. I literally cannot help myself. I was a raver and a punk and hate “normal” because, well, who says? I question why we have to dress a certain way often. And, I was never good at being quiet or keeping observations to myself. For a girl, that was bad news in school. It didn’t go over so well in ad agencies either. 

My attention to detail got even more honed when I became a designer and producer. Like asking perfect strangers to “fix it” like my mom, calling out misses, especially if it’s visual, I come by it honestly, or so I’ve been told. My mom’s dad, Leonard Obadiah, made tools for the first computers at OK Industries, which evidently–Thanks internet!–still exists. My mom said Grandpa Lenny was able to see 1/100th of an inch with a naked eye. I am fairly certain that I can too. 

My mom’s dad (left) and my dad (corner, blue collared shirt), prior to his escape from corporate culture, 1983.

Any designer who ever worked for me can attest to it, I am that manager too. I can’t help but point out if something is outlined in obsidian when it is supposed to be black. 

It can be hard to see a fold in a sheet or dust on a photo and let it go. What really makes me hot? When people can’t see giant, obvious issues right in front of their faces. Often these issues, even in a photo, scream of a much bigger problem. We have come far from the corporate culture in the 1980s pictured above with my dad and grandpa. You can see it in the clothes, or the woman taking notes in the center. But, we still have far to go before we see equity at work for everyone. 

This brings me to my latest observation: Offices aren’t the only offender of workplace homogeny. Just look at event panels and conference attendees. We need to stop calling everything “diversity.” Including white women is a step, but just one of many. For true DEI we need to stop using “innovative” when an event lineup has men as the majority. 

Offices aren’t the only offender of workplace homogeny. Just look at event panels and conference attendees. We need to stop calling everything “diversity.”

In 2016 a group of women in STEM built a platform to put an end to "Manels" yet they are still being put together and promoted daily. There was even a great Tumblr congratulating those that created all-white-male-panels. When I first stumbled on this Tumblr a few years ago, I thought the pictures were from OK Industries heyday, the 70s, or maybe the 80s. But, when I looked at when the conferences happened? They were dated only the week prior.

In true Emily form, I called this lack of diversity out privately to an event organizer just last year the event was #sowhite, even for Portland, Oregon. Politely I “wrote a letter”––sliding into the DMs of a design event organizer. I had to report (I mean, I would want to know!) that I’d seen at least 3 people in the PDX design community vocally boycotting the day because the speakers were all white. Shockingly (not really) he got very defensive. I received a typical response that can be summed as, “We did the best we could.” Actually, there are no limits to what we can and should do to create DEI in design, especially if the designers are setting trends for others.

Google is falling short with diversity efforts in a big way. On one hand, they pushed out, diminished, and gaslit two respected women, ethical AI researchers who are looking out for bias in algorithms. On the other hand, they used DEI PR efforts to distract from their failures (investing in diversity audits and donating tech training to Black women). Recently, Vivienne Castillo bravely shared a post that included her resignation letter. Calling out their culture of sexism, misogyny, and racism publicly was a gift to future employees. Evidently, DEI efforts in Big Tech are in a freefall.

For this reason, the worst offenders though, in my opinion, are panels in tech that focus on DEI. The issues perfectly mirror what goes on within Big Tech companies. I saw a panel coming soon whose focus is on Diversity and Inclusion in computing. The guide for the conversation around DEI in tech is Black. The heavy lifting to guide the conversation was ascribed to the one Black person. This hardly sets the tone for equity and inclusion. 

Viewing the lineup, this panel appeared, (outside of the moderator), to consist of all white people, a mix of engineers and CEOs, half men and half women, most seemed over 50. I am unfortunately ascribing gender and age based on photos and bios, which is a bad practice. (This is something my kids would readily point out: there’s no precise way of knowing this from a photo.) Nonetheless, the image conveyed homogeny–not various aspects of diversity. Though I don’t know how anyone identifies by mere headshots, what I do know? This issue, more than any other, seems pervasive and persistent.

This has to stop. And it is literally the easiest thing to correct. White men's headshots flooding a flyer about reinventing the future cannot be the norm. If you say you can’t find someone other than white men, try harder. Panels, events, and company bios with mostly white men must consider who is and isn’t in the room when building the “Future of Work.” The same can be said for any organization, institution, civic group, or startup that wants to move us all forward: you have to get this right.

White men's headshots flooding a flyer about reinventing the future cannot be the norm. If you say you can’t find someone other than white men, try harder.

If your panel flyer or Our Team page is all white men, with a couple of white women, in 2021 you aren’t doing much better. In DEI, including white women is just a step for two reasons. First, there are more than two genders. Second, diversity is more than gender. Race, ability, ethnicity, age, and neurodiversity should all be considered, especially when we are “designing” the future. 

We need to be careful about overusing the term DEI. It has become a catch-all and it is much more than “Look, we made a woman a VP” or “We hired a Black woman to run our DEI efforts.” While the look of an About Us page or a panel is a reflection of the company or event, it doesn’t mean leadership has done any DEI work beyond initial recruiting. Note: Hiring managers and organizers should not just throw a woman, especially a Black woman, in to exploit and tokenize her either. Without safe spaces, that woman is set up to fail, which, based on the need for DEI in the first place, is likely. 

Diversity in design, tech, economics, education, and publishing is essential when crafting DEI policies and defining "safer" workplaces, full stop. We all have to consider DEI as part of our job, not just a function of HR for company cultures to improve. And, we all have to call out the obvious, every time. It can’t just be women and women of color speaking up, looking around to make sure we're included (or point out who’s missing). 

Diversity in design, tech, economics, education, and publishing is essential when crafting DEI policies and defining "safer" workplaces, full stop. We all have to consider DEI as part of our job, not just a function of HR for company cultures to improve.

If you are designing or teaching, calculating or planning, coding or directing, make sure you have people that do not look like you in the room. When you see a company page of all white men before an interview, go in prepped to ask why. If you are asked to serve on a panel, and it’s homogeneous, refuse to participate. It’s that simple. 

As we wrap up Black History Month and enter Women’s History Month, consider the future “history” your work contributes to. Who determines the world we live in? Who is speaking about innovation? How will we “build back better” or design a better workplace? How will we create the “Future of Work” without real, (not performative), DEI? Spoiler alert: We won’t.