An Introduction, And How It's Going So Far

Hi! Welcome to an update from Whiteboard’s Change Committee. We’re an internal team committed to activating on our Anti-Racism Plan. At the end of every quarter, we take a moment to reflect on our progress as a company. We review what we've done well, and what do we need to do better, and we believe in doing this work in the open. So—let’s review!

We’re excited and deeply grateful to have two people of color for our advisory board (Goal 06). The advisory board will meet 2 times a year with the Whiteboard leadership team, and one of the hopes is that this board will help Whiteboard envision a future in the right direction. At the beginning of this year, we also provided pro bono support to a Black-owned organization (Goal 03). In a week-long sprint that led to the final product for Black Talent, the Whiteboard team had a blast working with Angela and her team to strategize, design, and develop the site all in one week.

As we move into Quarter 2, it’s clear there are some goals that won’t be completed in a single quarter (quarterly lunch and learns, team hang outs, achieving racial parity, etc.). We’ve established a monthly cadence of review for progress on each goal, and continue to reflect and revise to keep goals moving forward.

Goal 02, “offer and require staff participation in at least one anti-racist education or training opportunity per year” has been slowly building momentum. We have some operations moving now, so we’re aiming for an all staff event in Q3 or Q4. We started a book club at the end of Q1 as a way to provide more intimate and regular learning. The group meets every other week and is open to all, but not required.

Goal 10, “include an anti-racism pledge in all Whiteboard branding and collateral by the end of 2020,” is still in the works, but it’s making good progress (including this update!). In this cultural moment that can so easily widen the gap between saying the “right thing” and actually doing that thing, we believe being open about this work is important—but we don’t want to do so in order to simply boost our own signal. Walking through this tension thoughtfully means it’s taken longer than anticipated, but we hope to resolve with a strong outcome soon.

Goal 11, “launch virtual coffee listening tour with community leaders to assess needs and opportunities,” needs some work, as well as Goal 04, which is to provide “subsidized support to two Black or Latinx-led organizations per year.” As we’ve moved through these goals and mapped out logistics, it has become increasingly clear that a majority of these goals need a team, rather than a single individual, in order to move forward. We believe that we need to increase engagement with this work beyond the confines of the Change Committee.

No one said it was going to be easy or a quick journey to be an anti-racist organization. As we reflect on Quarter 1 at Whiteboard, we’re thankful for the people that are dedicated to this journey. We’re excited to be continuing to move forward and to build a brighter future as a team!

‍