Moving Forward. The following message was shared with… | by Kerri Hoffman | PRX Official | Aug, 2020 | Medium

The following message was shared with all PRX staff via email this morning. We are posting it here as well for transparency.

Dear all,

I hear you. I apologize and take full responsibility. I am sorry my leadership has not matched your expectations of me. I pledge to do better.

I have spent many days reflecting deeply on everything that happened last week, the moment we are now in, and how we move forward. I take very seriously the criticisms and accusations of racism and inequity laid out in a former employee’s letter. More broadly, I have thought about how our ambition to be equitable measures up with the reality of all I see and hear.

My conclusion — and my commitment — is that we take a hard look at ourselves and acknowledge the patterns contributing to several women of color leaving PRX. I recognize and share the disappointment and sadness when talented people of color leave the organization. We have to address structural racism in our culture, policies, and practices. We have deep work to do — it is hard and uncomfortable, but essential.

Doing the work and setting an example starts with me. I am committed to learning more and becoming anti-racist, and believe this is critical for us individually and collectively.

At my core, your success and wellbeing as individuals and as employees of PRX is what matters most to me. I do not get things right plenty of times, and I have a lot to learn, but I am fully embracing the work ahead. I have said before, we are stewards of PRX and have a commitment to the folks we haven’t hired yet, and those who will carry the work forward after us.

This week will likely be very difficult in the aftermath of last, but I hope we can stay focused and hold on to the underlying fabric of relationships and shared mission. I ask you to commit to the work ahead fully — we need conversation, assessments, honesty, and the help of trained professionals.

Our mission to expand public media and open otherwise closed systems is more critical than ever. When we challenge ourselves to think of “open” as a practice and not a state of being — it is to create the needed space for voices and stories this moment needs. Calibrating this is constant and requires a work environment that taps into a wide range of expertise, nurtures the welfare of all employees, and supports healthy conflict. We also need to take a stronger stand, and we will be a better organization for it.

We have been in constant change since our merger. As challenging as this year has been, I hope we have increased our resilience to push ourselves to meet the promise of our values.

We have talked and planned for PRX’s DEI work for a while, but without enough focus, specificity, or urgency. We need to change this. Creating an inclusive, equitable organization is the most important work for PRX because so many have faith in us and depend on us to do good work in the world.

Steps we have taken

• Throughout the last two years, we have prioritized diversity and representation across staff, including adding new management and leadership roles and increasing the diversity of our seven-person leadership team.
• We have added diversity to our board with outstanding new members whose viewpoints and experience will shape the PRX we aspire to be.
• In June, we amended our policies around participation in Black Lives Matter protests, rallies, and on social media. At a critical moment in our history as a nation, we found ourselves with outdated and misguided policies and rightly felt your outrage.
• Last month, we expanded our workplace bullying and harassment policy to be more comprehensive and clear.
• We have actively reshaped our content portfolio, choosing shows that serve diverse audiences; this work will continue with intent.
• This fall, our senior management team will be required to complete training in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and must be certified in DEI for leaders.

Where we are now

• We have engaged a third-party investigator who will look into the concerns that have been raised. In order to ensure the integrity of the process, I asked that this investigative work be conducted and managed by the board. At this moment, the process, scope, and timeline are being defined.
• We have brought in Project Inkblot to assess our culture and advise us on changes. We believe their Design for Diversity methodology will help us illuminate cultural defaults and provide guideposts and best practices to design against the dominant culture. They have a track record of helping companies identify and resolve blind spots around cultural and racial biases. The process employs targeted universalism and the process of recognize, repair, and rebuild. We are all frustrated that our core work and engagement was postponed at the start of COVID-19. As the discovery phase with staff of color continues over the next four weeks, we have authorized them to conduct any interviews or request any materials they might want and need to ensure a thorough process. They have told us they expect to deliver their assessment and recommendations in September, and we look forward to sharing these details.
• Based on Project Inkblot’s recommendations, coordinated listening sessions with staff, and other input, we will create a DEI work plan with clear goals and a timeline that we will review with all staff. It is critical that all staff and board understand what progress at PRX looks and feels like. We promise to move carefully but are committed to taking actionable and accountable steps in the coming weeks.
• While we have begun to outline a training program for managers, this has not been fortified with enough commitment, urgency, or feedback mechanisms. We are making this a top priority over the next three months.
• Starting in September, we are developing and launching internal educational programs designed to provide us with the tools and resources to be a more inclusive organization, including how to be a better ally in the workplace. The first of these will be a workshop facilitated by a firm that specializes in ally training. They will teach us the skills, language, and approach needed to be anti-racists, ensuring that we have a shared perspective and goals and avoiding unproductive adversarial approaches that are not helpful to underrepresented segments of our team, including people of color. This work will be coordinated by marketing in partnership with HR.
• We will create a Director of Diversity and Inclusion role before the end of the year to ensure sustained long term impact of our efforts.
• We will provide formal training for managers so they have the tools to lead diverse teams and ensure that they are effective, empathetic leaders who support the professional development of all staff.
• To address questions raised about pay equity, we will complete a compensation analysis and then act to address existing inequalities, and prevent future issues with improved, data-informed policies and practices for clear pay ranges, job descriptions, hiring, compensation adjustments, and promotion practices.

I acknowledge the work ahead. I hold myself accountable to staff, board, and partners, and it will take all of us working together to change the dominant culture. We have made and, despite our best intentions, will make more mistakes. But my commitment is resolute and sincere. We are committed to bringing in needed experts and facilitators to help us turn our energy and commitment into meaningful, lasting change. There are no shortcuts or quick fixes to achieving a truly anti-racist workplace. Please stay engaged as we learn, grow, and change together.