Salting the Oats: Increasing the Likelihood of Organizational Change for Equity

The following capstone outlines the work I completed during a 10-month residency at Education First, a virtual for-profit education consulting firm with a mission to help agencies of education ensure that all students—particularly low-income students and students of color—are prepared for post-secondary endeavors. During my residency I led the RIDE (race, inclusion, diversity, and equity) agenda which was designed to help build the organizational and staff capacity to operate in a diverse, inclusive, and equitable way. My strategic project involved leading the firm’s systemic changes in operation while simultaneously building the capacity of staff on engaging in issues of race, inclusion, diversity, and equity. This involved analyzing the systemic operations of project teams and infusing practices of inclusion and creating moments of learning and vulnerability where staff confronted their own biases and limited understanding on issues of RIDE in America. My strategic project involved (1) shifting the discourse among staff from one that is hegemonic to one that is more critical and encourages people to understand the complexities involved with issues of race and equity; (2) employing Adaptive Leadership strategies that can help create the conditions that allow for behavioral change; and (3) utilizing organizational development practices that helped shift the firm’s culture so that the systemic and behavioral shifts that were made, permanently became the new culture. The results of this strategic project demonstrate how the intersection of organizational development, strategies for facilitating conversations on sensitive topics such as race, and leading for behavioral change can work in concert to achieve a positive result—a result that can help Education First realize its vision and mission of preparing all students in American preK-12 public schools to receive the education that this country has promised them. Equity; Adaptive Leadership, Organizational Development, Race, Inclusion, Diversity