August 30, 2020
By Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes
We seem to have reached an apex—a moment that will surely be written into history. Within the last few months, there has been a spike in diversity and inclusion roles within organizations, following the killing of George Floyd while in police custody. No company wants to be left behind and everyone seems to be clamoring to get a consultant or speaker in-house to help navigate sudden inclusion and equity concerns. Following Covid-19, many companies were contemplating whether to move forward with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, given the financial constraints that organizations found themselves in amidst the global pandemic. In the summer of 2020, it became glaringly evident that not enough was being done to ensure companies were tackling systemic inequities and racism. Corporations were called out for the lack of congruence between actions and words, following statements in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Whether company actions are authentic, or performative is left to be determined, but one of the clearest indications of a lack of commitment to DEI is the absence of funding designated for DEI efforts. For some odd reason, companies put DEI at the very bottom of their priority list, and it shows. The social unrest that lingers is exacerbated by company’s infinitesimal budgets that are allocated for DEI. Below are three reasons why it’s important to allocate an adequate budget for your corporate DEI efforts: