Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Our employees come from a variety of countries and cultures, and we are better for it. Part of delivering excellence requires championing diversity, which is why diversity is one of our core values .
Diversity refers to the presence of a wide range of human differences including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, and other ideologies.
Championing diversity is just the beginning. The Allen Group strives to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment where everyone feels they belong.
Creating an environment of diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and belonging requires humility to see bias, from unconscious to overt; courage to do something about it; and an honest assessment of effectiveness when measuring results.
– Schatzie Allen Jefferson
Equity:
The workplace provides access and opportunities for success according to the individual – each person has different needs and abilities.
Inclusion:
Everyone is welcome and encouraged to contribute to the success of the organization.
Belonging:
Something employees feel – that the environment is a safe place where they can be themselves and freely express their opinions.
DEI and Belonging Resources
The Allen Group is an African-American owned firm and eager to support DEI and Belonging discussions. We have compiled a starting list of resources to help you in your exploration of the topic:
- Book: Between the Word and Me | Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015)
- Book: I Am Debra Lee: A Memoir, Debra Lee
- A riveting memoir by the former CEO of Black Entertainment Television (BET) about the glamorous and ugly moments of being a high-powered Black woman executive in the entertainment industry
- Book: Reflections on the Color of My Skin | Neil deGrasse Tyson (2020)
- Article: Walking While Black | Garnette Cadogan, Literary Hub (2016)
- Article: 106 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice | Corinne Shutack, Medium (2017)
- Article: Allyship (& Accomplice): The What, Why, and How | Michelle MiJung Kim (2019)
- Compilation/List: Anti-Racism Resource Guide | Tasha K
- Compilation/List: Anti-Racist Starter Pack | Tatum Dorrell, Matt Herndon, Jourdan Dorrell
- Podcast: How to Be an Antiracist – Unlocking Us, Brené Brown + Ibram X. Kendi (2020 – )
- Compilation/List: Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources | Anna Stamborski, Nikki Zimmermann, Bailie Gregory
- Article : How W. Kamau Bell Talks About Race with His Kids | The Tell Show (2016)
- Audio Clip: Talking Race with Young Children | Lifekit, NPR (2019)
- Compilation/List: Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup | Katrina Michie (2019)
- Podcast: 1619 | The New York Times (2019)
- Compilation/List: A History of Race and Racism in America, in 24 Chapters | Ibram X. Kendi, New York Times (2017)
- Article: A Timeline of Events That Led to the 2020 ‘Fed Up’-rising | Michael Harriot, The Root (2020)
- Podcast: Code Switch | NPR (2023)
- Book: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America | Ibram X. Kendi (2017)
- Book: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America | Richard Rothstein (2018)
- Book: The Fire Next Time | James Baldwin (1963)
- A national bestseller when it first appeared, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation, gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement—and still lights the way to understanding race in America today.
- Book: The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race | Jesmyn Ward (2017) (New York Times bestseller, groundbreaking essays and poems about race collected by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward)
- Book: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness | Alexander Michelle (2020)
- Book: The Revolt of the Black Athlete: 50th Anniversary Edition | Harry Edwards
- This Fiftieth Anniversary edition of Harry Edwards’s classic of activist scholarship arrives even as a new generation engages with the issues he explored. Edwards’s new introduction and afterword revisit the revolts by athletes like Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos.
- Article/Video: The Hidden Health Risks of Highways | Myles Bess, KQED
- Highways are a huge part of our everyday lives in the United States, but could the traffic pollution they cause be shortening our lives? Myles Bess explores the health impacts of freeways and looks at removing them as a potential solution to the harms caused by environmental racism
- Online Assessment: Implicit Association Test (IAT) – learn about implicit bias | Harvard University (2011)
- Nonprofit: 100% College Prep
- Nonprofit: Introducing Youth to American Infrastructure
- Museum: MoAd (The Museum of the African Diaspora is a contemporary art museum in San Francisco, California. MoAD holds exhibitions and presents artists exclusively of the African diaspora, one of only a few museums of its kind in the United States)
- Nonprofit: National Society of Black Engineers The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is one of the largest student-governed organizations based in the United States. NSBE, founded in 1975, supports and promotes the aspirations of collegiate and pre-collegiate students and technical professionals in engineering and technology. With more than 600 chapters and more than 24,000 active members in the U.S. and abroad, NSBE’s mission is “to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.“
- Nonprofit: Next Gene Girls
- Government Service: San Francisco Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)
- Business: The Sistah Shop (The Sistah Shop is the latest initiative of the Sistahs in Business Expo brand. This 5000+ sq ft retail store, located at the Mills at Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, NJ, solely features and highlights brands created by Entrepreneurial Women of Color, the nation’s largest and fastest growing demographic of entrepreneurs)
- Movie: The Big Payback January 16, 2023, | Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow (2023). (The passage of the first-ever tax-funded reparations bill for Black Americans stirs up a debate.)
- Report: CA AB 3121: Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans
- California Assembly Bill 3121 establishes the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, with a Special Consideration for African Americans Who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States (Task Force or Reparations Task Force). The purpose of the Task Force is:
- To study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans
- To recommend appropriate ways to educate the California public of the task force’s findings; and
- To recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the Task Force’s
findings.
- California Assembly Bill 3121 establishes the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, with a Special Consideration for African Americans Who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States (Task Force or Reparations Task Force). The purpose of the Task Force is: