Allyship & Co-conspirator
As awareness around DEI has increased, many are contemplating how they can offer support to underrepresented and marginalized communities to impact meaningful change inside and outside the workplace. Allyship is a term that has become more frequently used over the past few years as people have raised their level of awareness around DEI.
Definitions of Allyship
A strategic mechanism used by individuals to become collaborators, accomplices, and co-conspirators who fight injustice and promote equity in the workplace and society at large through supportive personal relationships and public acts of sponsorship and advocacy. (Harvard Business Review – Be a Better Ally) What’s interesting about this definition is that it defines allyship as the mechanism used to become coconspirators. It suggests a subtle difference between the two terms.
Difference Between Ally and Co-conspirator
A person can offer allyship by simply rejecting beliefs that uphold systems of oppression, misogyny, white supremacy, homophobia, transphobia, etc.
- A person who believes in marriage equality can be an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community.
- A person who believes in equal pay can be an ally to women.
- A person who believes Black lives matter can be an ally to Black people.
A co-conspirator not only rejects those beliefs, but they work with individuals in marginalized and underrepresented communities to drive systemic change.
Simply put, to be a co-conspirator, one is inherently an ally. But being an ally doesn’t necessarily make you a co-conspirator. A co-conspirator transforms allyship into action.
Today we want to center our conversation around how not only to become a better ally, but also how to leverage allyship to drive meaningful change as a co-conspirator.
Allyship
Allyship starts with the internal work of identifying, confronting, and unwinding some harmful self-held beliefs that have allowed oppressive systems in and out of the workplace to perpetuate themselves because of silent acceptance.
- Start with raising your level of awareness.
a. Become aware of your privilege.
b. Learn about unconscious bias and how it may appear in your approach to decision making and relationship building.
c. Get curious (how diverse is my social circle?) For leaders, what is your approach to hiring, promoting, and succession planning. - Get educated about the communities you seek to support.
- You don’t need to be a subject matter expert to be an ally.
- Don’t put the burden of your education on those you seek to support.
- There are a number of resources to provide information.
- Seek out these resources, then ask questions. Demonstrate that you’ve invested time in your own research.
Co-conspirators
Co-conspirators work alongside the communities they support to impact meaningful systemic change.
- Align with groups or organizations that already have a track record of “doing the work.”
a. You don’t need to re-create the wheel. There are several organizations you can contribute your time, money, and effort to that have an established track record. - Let the voice of the community drive your action.
a. Seek to understand, then act.
b. You may have your own ideas of what impact looks like, but consider that co-conspirators act in service to the greater cause. Get clear on the goals of the group or organization and offer up support aligned with those goals. - Leverage your privilege to drive action and positive change.
a. Bring additional coconspirators to the table.
b. Consider access to resources you have that could serve the cause. - See something, say something.
a. Be an advocate, especially in rooms where members of the community you support are not present (i.e., a misogynistic comment made in a room of all males). Along your journey as an ally and co-conspirator, you will have missteps and make mistakes. Learn from those experiences and stay the course.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Toolkit
As awareness around DEI has increased, many are contemplating how they can offer support to underrepresented and marginalized communities to impact meaningful change inside and outside the workplace. Allyship is a term that has become more frequently used over the past few years as people have raised their level of awareness around DEI.