RACE CONSCIOUS LEADERSHIP
A new way to think about organizational change
What is Race Conscious Leadership?
Developed by Bethaney Wilkinson, Race Conscious Leadership is the practice of cultivating an ongoing, nuanced awareness of racial history, racial identity, and racial justice in one’s organizational life. It is about interrogating the racial narratives of our formative years, deepening into the complexities of our modern racial landscape, and slowing down enough to discern our highest and best contributions to addressing the racial injustices of our time.
Through education and embodiment, Race Conscious Leadership is an invitation to turn down the volume on media hot takes. It’s an invitation to root yourself more deeply into the truth of your own story and racial identity formation. It’s an invitation to create a race conscious organizational culture from a place of authenticity.
Why is this internal journey important?
Because if you go on this journey in an authentic way, not only are you able to create change from a place of integrity, but your racial justice work will be more effective and more sustainable for you and the people you lead.
Race Conscious Leadership is for everyone. Whether you are leading a Fortune 500 company, a church, a nonprofit organization, a team of a hundred, or a family of a few—Race Conscious Leadership is for you.
Think of your Race Conscious Leadership journey like an old growth forest. The tallest trees and the deepest roots grow over time.
How is Race Conscious Leadership different from traditional diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training and resources?
Race Conscious Leadership is a way of being. It is about learning how to ask the right questions. It is about understanding one’s own racial identity journey within the context of a larger social history. It is about your values and the behaviors you adopt in your leadership practice.
It’s about you. Your unique story, imprint, and specific opportunities to live towards a more racially just and equitable future.
Most DEI trainings and resources are about increasing representation, i.e. “How do I diversify my team?” or they are about mitigating risk, i.e. “How do we address issues of racism and exclusion in our context?” While these are important topics, we believe that Race Conscious Leadership is an essential foundation for leaders who want to eventually integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion practices into their organizational life.
Effective and sustainable racial justice efforts flow from people who know where they come from (history), know who they are (identity) and know where they’re going (justice).
What else sets Race Conscious Leadership apart?
It is thoughtful and complex instead of overly simplistic.
It is nuanced instead of locked into impossible binaries.
It is rooted in history instead of in reactivity of the present moment.
It is slow and methodical instead of hurried and anxious.