Kellogg Alumni Club of Chicago Hosts Panel on DE&I (2024)

As both a business consultant specializing in supplier diversity, and a cultural historian, I have become a passionate observer of the growing trend among many organizations to merge supplier diversity into DE&I. I am fortunate to collaborate on several projects with Ralph Moore, founder of RGMA, Inc., a firm specializing in the development of world-class supplier diversity efforts in both the private and public sectors. Moore believes supplier diversity, a procurement-based business initiative, is distinct and separate from DE&I, which concentrates on matters pertaining to human resources and conditions of belonging. I agree with Moore’s assessment and welcome opportunities to highlight the distinction as well as to report on developments related to both supplier diversity and DE&I.

On May 9, 2023, the Kellogg Alumni Club of Chicago hosted an event, titled "Annual Reflection of the Progress of DE&I Social & Policy-Related Programs. The moderator for the event was Shontelle Mixon, Chief Audit Executive, Health Care Service Corporation, and Secretary of the Kellogg Alumni Club of Chicago Board. Three subject matter experts comprised the panel for the evening. They included EJ (Ethel J.) Dickerson, Strategy & Operations Leader; CEO Action for Racial Equity, PwC; Wendy Lewis, Founding Partner of Wendy Lewis, LLC, a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion practice firm, and Founder and Creator of AllySHIFT; and Robert Matthews, VP, Talent and Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at Exelon.

Mixon began the session with a brief overview of DE&I and how it has evolved into a strategic imperative for many marquee organizations, including Exelon. Each panelist provided perspectives on this phenomenon as well as their own experiences in the field. As the panelists touched on various topics, three resonated most strongly with me.

The first compelling topic centered on DEFINITIONS AND KPIs. There were interesting exchanges among the panelists regarding the lingering debate over what diversity, equity and inclusion actually means. Mixon invited panelists to be candid in their remarks and this led to an interesting post-session exchange among several attendees who wondered when Corporate America would stop “discussing” diversity and bring equity to communities that have long been disadvantaged by racism and exclusion.

In a private conversation, one attendee said he had been attending diversity sessions since the 1990s and had not seen much progress in all that time. The attendee went on to state that inclusion and equity seems to fall short when it comes to Blacks, particularly Black men, in Corporate America. Two of the panelists seemed to have had similar thoughts, noting that while there have been many promises “to do more and to do better,” in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, here we are, three years later, wondering where is “more” and when will we see “better.”

I was intrigued to hear EJ Dickerson describe the explosion of corporate CEOs who are now participating in an executive organization focused on DE&I topics. Dickerson’s account of this unprecedented level of engagement by senior leaders touched on the second topic I found compelling: ACCOUNTABILITY. During the Q&A portion of the session, an attendee asked what the outcomes were of all those CEOs engaging in conversations related to equity. Unfortunately, Dickerson was unable to stay for the Q&A session, but it would have been fascinating to have heard her response.

Robert Matthews touched on the third topic I found compelling: DEMONSTRATED COMMITMENT. Responding to a question posed by the moderator, Matthews provided a compelling account of Exelon’s efforts to embed DE&I into its culture, beginning with the engagement of senior leaders and extending down through the organization to employees on the front lines of servicing customers.

Matthews shared a story of how he gained greater awareness of and sensitivity to issues of inclusion over the course of his career with Exelon. He told the audience that many years ago, he attended a ceremony marking the beginning of a renovation projection involving a long-neglected building in a community serviced by Exelon. He said a young woman came up to him twice to inquire what was happening at the site. Matthews informed her that he and others were there to help start a project that would yield a new resource center in the community.Matthews laughed as he told the audience that he was annoyed by the young woman’s repeated questioning, but he confessed that he was humbled when she approached him a third time and asked if she would be welcomed in the new facility.It was in that moment that Matthews said he began to fully appreciate what is at stake when people talk about DE&I.

An equally powerful moment came when Wendy Lewis was asked how DE&I practitioners should approach leadership regarding competing DE&I strategies. Lewis responded by sharing a Biblical parable involving the scattering and sowing of seeds. Lewis said that those who are engaged in DE&I would do well to consider whether their organization is pursuing a scattered approach, that is, checking the boxes on tasks designed to “reflect” a commitment to DE&I, or whether they are “sowing” sustainable transformations in areas plagued by inequalities.Lewis told the audience that progress is achievable and sustainable when organizations commit to making the investments and to doing the work required to dismantle systems that disenfranchise individuals and communities.

As is often the case with important and timely conversations, the session on DE&I exceeded its allotted time and attendees were left wanting more. Kudos to the Kellogg Alumni Club of Chicago for establishing an annual forum on such an important topic; and thanks to the three panelists for speaking forthrightly about an initiative that is frequently mired in confounding double-talk.