The process of shaping Shift’s culture with CoCreate Work led to the implementation of 10% Teams, which are, according to Shift’s founder Karen Zeribi, “a way for us, as a small organization, to use the pockets of availability and energy we have to lean into the things that people are really interested in.” The 10% Team structure gives all staff the opportunity to work together to create and put into practice policies and structures that support Shift’s culture and mission, enabling us to take ownership of Shift’s values and priorities.
10% Team in Focus: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging (DEIB)
The DEIB Team’s goals are to champion inclusivity, embrace feedback, and keep it real, all core Shift principles. This team’s purpose is to ensure that diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are centered and executed in Shift’s culture and work.
As we begin a new year, the DEIB team reflects on their major accomplishments of 2021:
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- They continued their commitment to the Shift team’s individual and organizational DEIB journeys by participating in the Enneagram of Bias training led by LTHJ Global. In so doing, the DEIB team deepened their collective understanding that to practice antiracism and social justice is also to dismantle a wide spectrum of “-isms”—from ableism, sexism, etc. This shared awareness has underscored the importance of moving forward in Shift’s antiracism work with eyes wide open, and with humility as we strive to work towards a more just world.
- They reorganized and aligned the DEIB 10% team to ideate and implement efforts to integrate antiracism efforts into Shift’s culture and workplace processes, with guidance from La'Kita Williams of CoCreate Work.
- They created an initial draft of Shift’s DEIB theory of change, which they are using to help them reach a shared understanding of what specific actions they can take to advance Shift’s goals.
- They continued their commitment to the Shift team’s individual and organizational DEIB journeys by participating in the Enneagram of Bias training led by LTHJ Global. In so doing, the DEIB team deepened their collective understanding that to practice antiracism and social justice is also to dismantle a wide spectrum of “-isms”—from ableism, sexism, etc. This shared awareness has underscored the importance of moving forward in Shift’s antiracism work with eyes wide open, and with humility as we strive to work towards a more just world.
Goals for 2022 include:
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- In 2022, the DEIB team is focusing on the ways in which Shift’s individual employees’ DEIB journeys can be fostered through internal work, and through activating Shift’s values in our relationships with clients and partners. This two-pronged focus emerged from prioritizing the areas of work they identified as they built the initial draft of Shift’s DEIB theory of change.
- They are aiming to weave DEIB into all aspects of Shift’s work and have a lot of ideas for how to go about doing that. So, as is second nature to folks at Shift, they are starting to test some of those ideas! Examples of some of the ideas they’ll try:
- Starting team meetings with reflection and discussion prompts related to our individual relationships to -isms
- Bringing individualized DEIB goals into our formal quarterly evaluation processes
- Hosting lunch-and-learns based on current events and other topical content
- Researching trainings for the Shift team to do together
- In 2022, the DEIB team is focusing on the ways in which Shift’s individual employees’ DEIB journeys can be fostered through internal work, and through activating Shift’s values in our relationships with clients and partners. This two-pronged focus emerged from prioritizing the areas of work they identified as they built the initial draft of Shift’s DEIB theory of change.
The DEIB Team believes that these actions will strengthen our shared commitment to identifying and dismantling white supremacy culture, present within ourselves and our society. Their goal is to create a more inclusive workplace.