Allyship in Action by LifeLabs Learning

Right now there’s will and momentum to make some long overdue changes to create working environments where all teammates are fairly compensated, respected, and given equal access to opportunities.

What can teams do to start making change today? Our friends at LifeLabs Learning put together a comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Playbook that’s totally free and chock-full of useful resources including sample communications, worksheets, and easy-to-execute exercises.

An impactful place to start is intentionally fostering allyship within companies, and connecting colleagues for important conversations that educate and inspire real change. On the Donut team, we’ve been meeting 1x per week in various breakout sessions to discuss issues of racial injustice and explore what allyship means. In short, allyship entails acknowledging privilege, and leveraging those privileges through specific actions to create opportunities and end oppression for marginalized groups of people. If you’re curious about allyship, take a look at this toolkit from The Anti Oppression Network, and read more about its impact on tech specifically from Sheree Atcheson, an award-winning diversity and inclusion leader.

If you’re interested in exploring allyship for your team, here’s how LifeLabs recommends getting the conversation started:

Meetings

Meet 1x per month in groups of 4 for 30 minutes.

Agenda

Introduce yourselves and share why allyship matters to you (1 min each). Take turns sharing an allyship action you’ve been practicing in the past month and insights you’ve had. Next, share what allyship steps you’ll take this coming month and why.

Ground Rules

Speak from your personal experience. Stay curious. Choose courage over comfort. As Michelle Kim of Awaken says, “What’s said in here stays in here. What’s learned in here, leaves here.”

If you’d like to run this allyship program through Donut, you can launch it in one click right here.