- March 13, 2023
The least effective approach to DEI? Treating it as an add-on or afterthought. In this Q&A, LaDavia Drane, global head of inclusion, diversity and equity, Amazon Web Services, discusses best practices for making DEI part of your organization’s DNA, from building effective trainings to walking the fine line between engaging employees in your DEI efforts without overburdening them. If you’re a business leader, Drane’s message: Own the work if you want the work … to work. And if you’re a DEI lead, she offers strategies to mitigate burnout. Rest, she says, is resistance.
This Q&A has been edited (and expanded on!) from Built In’s recent DEI webinar, which centered on our 2023 report, The State of DEI in Tech. Download the unedited webinar with two other panelists and moderator Catalina Coleman, senior director, DEI, Built In, as an on-demand recording.
Catalina Coleman: There are so many ways to define DEI. How do you define it?
LaDavia Drane: We have our literal definitions for the acronym — the D, the E and the I. But for me, DEI is a body of work that ensures that every employee belongs, no matter who you are, where you’re from or how you look. It’s a body of work that ensures you feel seen, and that you don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not. It fosters a sense of belonging. Moreover, DEI is not an add-on or an afterthought. The kind of work that realizes the full potential of DEI is built into your company’s DNA.
CC: What advice can you share for building company DEI conversations or trainings?
LD: There are a few best practices to keep in mind. I’ll start with training. First, it’s important to understand that trainings don’t solve every problem. Trainings are part of the answer, but they aren’t the answer. An organization cannot train its way out of systemic issues. You must dive deep, search for the root causes and put corrections and constant inspection mechanisms in place. Training can only take an organization so far — only on the surface of the real issues.
“An organization cannot train its way out of systemic issues. You must dive deep, search for the root causes and put corrections and constant inspection mechanisms in place.”
-LaDavia Drane, AWS
LD: As far as company wide conversations, I’ll share one really important best practice. If your company decides to have a conversation where you invite people in, you may decide to center the session on a specific community. But you then need to be very careful about asking people who are part of that community to lead the conversation, do the teaching or sit on the panel. It’s very difficult for people to do that — especially when the conversations become difficult — and also simultaneously lean in and benefit from the session.
It’s important to strike the right balance between engaging people and not overburdening them. It’s not the individual’s responsibility to educate an entire workforce — or speak for their entire race, gender or whatever dimension of diversity is at the center of the conversation.
“It’s not the individual’s responsibility to educate an entire workforce — or speak for their entire race, gender or whatever dimension of diversity is at the center of the conversation.”
-LaDavia Drane, AWS
CC: Are you seeing burnout among DEI practitioners? What can we do to support them so they can continue to do their work?
LD: The latest statistic is that people in DEI leadership roles, generally, make it for about three years, on average. We need to start by just acknowledging that fact. And we have to ask why. Why is it that we can only do these jobs for two or three years?
It’s so important for DEI leaders to practice self care, to practice empathy, to understand that, if we’re burned out, there’s a very good chance our teams will burn out as well. If we as leaders of these teams don’t take care of ourselves, and we don’t take care of each other, it is very difficult to continue in these roles.
“It’s so important for DEI leaders to practice self care, to practice empathy, to understand that, if we’re burned out, there’s a very good chance our teams will burn out as well.”
-LaDavia Drane, AWS
And the burden is not just a professional burden — because a lot of us are working from home and we have hybrid situations, so we bring it all into our homes and it becomes a part of who we are, day in and day out.
I put the onus on myself for my team. If I know I’m burning out, I consider: What can I adjust? Maybe we won’t take meetings on Fridays. Maybe we take off the last two weeks of the year so everyone can recharge. These are intentional things that we have to take on. I want to see Chief Diversity Officers in these roles for five, 10, 15 years. Rest is resistance.
CC: What is your top advice for moving the needle on DEI?
LD: Number one, start with your people. Start with your builders — that’s what we call our people at Amazon Web Services. Really understand what they need. Ask them for their feedback. We run worldwide surveys, asking our builders what they need to thrive, and that helps direct the work.
LD: Second, invest in your DEI practitioners. Make sure they not only have budget and freedom around that budget, but also the proper headcount, so you’re not churning and burning the people you need. I’ve been really fortunate to have a large team, but most Chief Diversity Officers have four or five people — and that’s often at a really large company. That’s not enough. You cannot dig into these opportunities if you don’t have the headcount or the resources.
“You cannot dig into these opportunities if you don’t have the headcount or the resources.”
-LaDavia Drane, AWS
LD: Lastly, I’d say business leaders have got to own this work. Yes, I’m the strategist. I’ll be here, working side-by-side with you. I’ll come to you with data, making sure you have your weekly, monthly and quarterly reviews. But at the end of the day, as the business leaders, you need to own these goals. You need to hold your teams accountable to ensure we reach these goals.
“At the end of the day, as the business leaders, you need to own these goals. You need to hold your teams accountable to ensure we reach these goals.”
-LaDavia Drane, AWS
So when you put those three things together, I think that there’s so much opportunity to go after. These are the basic building blocks that will provide what’s necessary in order to go after the opportunity.
