DEI Conference
Elephant in the Room
Session Description:
Race is the elephant in the room that many organizations are still not equipped to face despite the symbolic gestures that suggest we live in a post-racialized society. The murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbury, and so many others has forced the United States to reckon with its original and most persistent sin, racism.
Advancing racial equity must be the bedrock of organizational EDI strategy. By starting with race, organizations build the capacity, tenacity, empathy, and wisdom to address all other forms of inequity.
Conversations about race, racism, and racial equity are still difficult to have in our workplaces. What’s more difficult is for these conversations, when had, to lead to impactful change. The “Elephant in the Room” workshop session is designed to create an understanding of why leaders need to start with race when leading equity-centered change in their organizations.
This session will be led by Philip “Sharp Skills” Jacobs, racial equity consultant and author.
Participants will leave this session with more tools in their arsenal for addressing racial inequity that leads to systemic, institutional, and interpersonal transformation.
Objectives and Key Takeaways:
Participants will leave this session with more tools in their arsenal for addressing racial inequity that leads to systemic, institutional, and interpersonal transformation.
Audience:
Audience Knowledge and Experience:
Additional Materials
Guest Speakers
Philip Jacobs
Philip Jacobs (he/him) has been called a modern-day renaissance man. He is an entrepreneur, award-winning hip-hop artist, speaker, author, senior consultant, and inventor. He was the first Executive Director of Washington Employers for Racial Equity (WERE), a coalition of 80+ companies in Washington state committed to making the region equitable for Black Washingtonians and all people of color. In his time before WERE, he was lead for a solution called Racially Savvy Leadership where he equipped executives and leaders of Fortune 500 companies to have difficult conversations about race before the topic was mainstream in corporate culture. Philip also works as a change agent in the public sector helping governments, counties, and institutions transform into equitable places where historically marginalized groups can thrive. Philip is a distinguished alum of Seattle Pacific University, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and was awarded the institution’s prestigious Medallion Award in 2019. He holds the PMP credential in project management, is the author of several books, and numerous albums. His proudest accomplishment is being the dad of Philip Jr. and Jonathan. Philip is an Inglewood, CA native, who now calls Washington state home.
