At the 5th-annual Women of Color and Their Allies event held on Sept 21 by DiversityInc in conjunction with Humana, officials from Hilton, Abbott, Toyota and the U.S. Air Force proposed strategies on how women of color can be supported in the workplace through the lens of intersectionality. One of the suggestions was leveraging the power of employee networks.
“Employee resource groups that are geared towards women, African Americans, Asians, Latinos and other affinity groups as well – we leverage those routes to help educate, increase awareness and share a personal story as it relates to people’s careers and experiences at the company,” said Paige Barton, Lead Multicultural Business Strategy & Operations at Toyota Motor North America.
Sean Palacio, Divisional Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion at Abbott, said intersectionality can also encourage allies to step forward to support different groups.
“If you’re only going with your affinity group, you’re only going to reach ‘like’ people,” he said. “Now you have allies in rooms that your group may not be in. It’s key to be welcoming for allies that don’t necessarily look like you and don’t necessarily register like you, because that broadens the opportunity for positive impact for your group.”
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