A significant gap between the race consciousness of white staff and the race consciousness of staff of color contributed to sustaining white supremacy culture, unconscious bias, and microaggressions in the workplace that were oppressive to staff of color but unrecognized and unacknowledged by white staff.

In 2019, senior leadership instituted formal structures of Network Learning comprised of several components, including quarterly half-days dedicated to the completion of special D&I courses create for Jumpstart with external consultants and individual study on D&I topics of staff’s choosing; integration of D&I actions into staff’s annual goal setting and performance review processes; and organization-wide book discussion groups. For the latter, the talent management department purchased each Jumpstart staff member a copy of Robin DiAngelo’s book White Fragility; organized small groups of staff members representing diverse departments, geographies, racial backgrounds, and genders; and scheduled four 90-minute blocks – one per quarter thru the summer of 2020 – to convene the groups and discuss the book. Discussion facilitators were recruited from among staff volunteers and provided training, reference materials, and discussion prompts for the purpose of facilitating these important conversations.

Network Learning has succeeded in increasing race consciousness among staff members and staff’s commitment to anti-racism; in fostering greater acknowledgment of racial differences and tensions within the organization and within the diversity of staff’s lived experiences; and in creating safe, brave spaces for open dialog that have helped to normalize an anti-racism conversation within the organization that continues through new and ongoing Network Learning opportunities. Network Learning continues to be scheduled quarterly. In the summer of 2021, Jumpstart completed its second book discussion, centered on Between the World and Me by Ta’Nehisi Coates. A third book discussion is planned for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, centered on We Can’t Talk About That at Work: How to Talk About Race, Religion, Politics and Other Polarizing Topics by Mary-Francis Winters.

Christopher Benoit