Justice Informed

LinkedIn is about to get far more “political.” The thing many people miss in the story of how we got here is that when Republicans pushed the “a corporation is a person” argument into law, and restructured campaign finance to allow massive business donations from companies instead of maintaining campaign finance rules that limited donations to sizes individuals could afford, it lit a powder keg away from democracy toward oligarchy they now say is overreach: the personal is now publicly political. When American companies refused to be accountable for their social impacts—whether by paying sub-living wages and pushing employees to social media to speak about the injustices they faced, refusing to go beyond EEO compliance goals for diversity and inclusion, or spending billions of dollars on lobbyists and lawyers to keep laws from being made that acknowledge or made them pay for environmental destruction (while telling employees they “stay out of politics” while maintaining massive government affairs departments)—the democratization of voice that social media allowed for accelerated us to this point. The sad truth is that social media platforms are the only place nowadays (other than seasonal protest waves) where everyday people can speak up. Yet in the past few years, most social media platforms have shown their colors as sellers of data and trends more than they are builders of community. Zuckerberg and Co. have an agenda, and you are for sale. Bezos believes himself to know what America needs more than Americans. Big Business CEOs can collectively spend upwards of $150m on Trump’s inauguration to ensure they’re part of his next four years. Meanwhile, they’ll crush unionization attempts, defund DEI, and put more money into #AI knowing you’re hooked on fast shipping and lonely enough to think these platforms are better than real-life friends. This nation was founded such that our representatives should be our voices—but once they sold their agendas to US companies, the people had to find something else. In steps social media. But now, the sociality of social media has been dwarfed by the lucrative business of clickbait and influencer media. When Republicans started drawing hard lines around “liberal media” vs “real news” and “liberal social media” vs “free speech platforms,” the polarization of these platforms began. Now, we are at the apex of financial opportunity and social division. The next frontier awaits. We progressives have been saying it for generations: the personal is political. I say let’s see where this goes. I find it ironic the conservatives are the ones who want to separate anything social from anything financial, yet they are the ones who created the American infrastructure to make it truly happen while constantly saying “Keep politics out of business.” Welcome to the new LinkedIn. The water is warm and the tempers are hot. #media #social #linkedin #freespeech #marketing #facebook #engineering #jobs #hr #dei #politics

A Justice Informed DEI Assessment Report translates a team's complex and specific ambitions, fears, and challenges around organizational equity into an easily digestible and tactical roadmap of recommendations. Is your organization struggling to move the work of equity from the theoretical to the tactical? Learn more about how a Justice Informed DEI Assessment can help by visiting justiceinformed.com or emailing info@justiceinformed.com today. #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #DEI #Momentum #ChangeManagement

Our monthly webinar is tomorrow! Join Justice Informed team members Anna Radoff and Maya Mojica at 9 a.m. CT for a conversation on the most common culture challenges we see in nonprofits. Learn what others have faced and our recommendations to address their concerns. You won't want to miss it. Sign up at the link here: https://lnkd.in/gMBnU-EZ #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #DEI #Nonprofit #Culture #Philanthropy

Reminder that our monthly webinar with Justice Informed team members Anna Radoff and Maya Mojica is happening next week on Wednesday, January 22nd at 9 a.m. CT. We'll be discussing the most common culture challenges we see in nonprofits. Learn what others have faced and our recommendations to address their concerns. You won't want to miss it. You can sign up for the webinar at the link here: https://lnkd.in/gMBnU-EZ #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #DEI #Nonprofit #Culture #Philanthropy

Join Justice Informed team members Anna Radoff and Maya Mojica for our monthly webinar next week on Wednesday, January 22nd at 9 a.m. CT. We'll be discussing the most common culture challenges we see in nonprofits. Learn what others have faced and our recommendations to address their concerns. You won't want to miss it. You can sign up for the webinar at the link here: https://lnkd.in/gMBnU-EZ #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #DEI #Nonprofit #Culture #Philanthropy

Join us on Wednesday, January 22nd, to discuss the most common cultural issues that lead to nonprofit staff turnover and how organizations can address them. Sign Up Here: https://lnkd.in/gMBnU-EZ #dei #nonprofit #philanthropy #orgchange #culture #webinar

We have already seen the proof that unrestricted giving is more equitable. The Center for Effective Philanthropy evaluated MacKenzie Scott’s unrestricted gifts and found that organizations with access to multi-year unrestricted grants used these funds to more effectively advance equity (https://lnkd.in/eUsJzVwt). Nonprofit workers are burnt out. Restricted funds make it difficult for organizations to invest in sufficient staffing, competitive compensation, or quality benefits. The result is high turnover, and nonprofits are handcuffed in their ability to use funding to support their staff. Organizations who are able to use unrestricted funds reported changes in their culture and daily staff experience. 66% of nonprofits used their grant to advance equity inside their organization by engaging in pay equity analyses, creating DEI committees, improving hiring practices, diversifying their board, and promoting people of color to leadership. While many nonprofits are committed to equity and know they want to live their mission internally, there is simply not the capacity to do so with limited budget and time. When organizations are allowed to increase their compensation without shouts of improper use of funds, they can hire people from the communities they serve and pay people a living wage instead of making them bleed for a cause. Being able to incentivize, recruit, and retain employees allows nonprofits to more effectively advance their mission, which is the impact funders want to see. #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #DEI #Nonprofits #Foundations #Culture #Impact #Funding #Philanthropy

Funders claim they want to fund “impact not overhead” without realizing that overhead is impact. Nonprofits, like any organization, need to be financially efficient while having the flexibility to fund innovation and support a strong culture. Long-term unrestricted investments benefit nonprofits with the ability to think creatively about their programs and create more significant external impact. This may result in short-term higher administrative costs as they adjust their practices or technology. Unrestricted funds also allow organizations to be creative and innovative with their programs. When given access to unrestricted funding grants, 88% of organizations described “improved morale, feelings of empowerment, or capacity to think creatively for both staff and leadership—all toward better serving the organization’s mission” (Center for Effective Philanthropy). When organizations were able to expand existing programs or create new ones, they were likely to invest in programs to advance racial equity. 66% of nonprofits used their grant from Mackenzie Scott to advance racial equity, and 49% used it for economic mobility. Organizations are then better able to improve and expand their program to serve communities of color, something funders who put out equity statements should heed. Creating inclusive and equitable programs and cultures is only possible if funders begin to see operational and administrative funding as impact. When nonprofit workers are supported and given better working conditions, they can serve more people and programs. #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #DEI #Nonprofits #Foundations #Culture #Impact

I assume companies who “end” their DEI programs are going to: - End their disability accomodation and accessibility policies and programs - End their Veteran hiring initiatives - End pay equity analysis - End paid parental leave policies - End all cross cultural training and coaching for expat employees who get moved around the globe - End PTO accomodation for active military reservists who require flexibility to fulfill their military duties - End short and long term disability benefits - End PTO for family illness care and disaster accomodation - End mental health programs - End ALL their Employee Resource Groups including Veterans, Disability, Older Workers, and Womens - End childcare benefits Every single one of these policies and programs were advocated and created by DEI or some earlier version of it. If companies “end” DEI by cherry picking programs and benefits, like keeping their veterans initiatives but eliminating their LGBTQ program, then basically they’re setting up grounds for discrimination lawsuits. I wonder how much employees will cheer on the cancellation of DEI when they start to see benefits and programs they like going away.

Foundations and donors should not be the moral authority to determine if nonprofits are “using their money correctly.” This behavior infantilizes the work of nonprofits, the majority of whom are women and people of color. Unrestricted funding allows nonprofits to focus on their long-term operations, reduces the administrative grant burden, and allows for more flexibility. Nonprofits are often responding to urgent issues, and slowing them down while people suffer in the name of “accountability” is not the answer. When the house is burning, we do not stop first responders to dictate how they can use our money for better tires on their firetruck. We need to stop impeding nonprofits' ability to serve and trust they are experts. The heavier the administrative burden in the name of reducing overhead, the less they are able to help those they serve. #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #DEI #Philanthropy #Nonprofits #Funding