Will city workforce change with the BLM movement?
Protest conversation goes beyond policing to systemic change, economic justice
Milwaukee’s business community has long discussed its shortcomings when it comes to racial equity.
As Black Lives Matter protests have taken place almost daily, many companies have weighed in, condemning police brutality and racism, sometimes in high-profile ways. Others have said little or nothing.
But just how will the region’s business community respond to the movement as far as changes in hiring or promotions to leadership positions? Will the make-up of Milwaukee’s workforce change with the movement or will it be another round of discussions, task forces and initiatives?
Overall, people of color are not wellrepresented at Milwaukee-area corporations, especially in management positions. A recent study ranked Wisconsin last in racial equity among all 50 U.S. states with large wealth and employment gaps between Black and white residents. The county has committed to achieving racial equity after declaring racism a public health crisis.
Some businesses have stepped to the
forefront when it comes to the protests.
The Milwaukee Bucks hosted a protest that led thousands in a march from the team’s downtown arena to the shore of Lake Michigan.
Rexnord President and CEO Todd Adams wrote “Black Lives Matter and our words will be backed up by action.” The Rexnord Foundation pledged $1 million to support racial justice and equity. The industrial equipment maker established a diversity and inclusion office.
“We can be the power behind change,” Johnson Controls CEO George Oliver said in a video posted to the company’s social media channels that echoed George Floyd’s dying words, “I can’t breathe.”
Dozens of other companies in Milwaukee and beyond have issued such statements of support for the movement.
The immediate focus of Black Lives Matter protests is on reforming police departments since the death of Floyd in Minneapolis May 25. Floyd stopped breathing while an officer knelt on his neck.
But the conversation goes well beyond policing, and many protesters are seeking systemic change, racial and economic justice for Black people.
“They’re not making this about one incident of police brutality,” said Corry Joe Biddle, the executive director of FUEL Milwaukee. “People are really calling out systemic racism. I’m excited about the potential of businesses taking a step back and look at how they’re run, how they’re structured, how they promote or not and how they hire or not.”
Since the death of Floyd brought racial inequalities to the forefront of national conversations, Biddle has led a handful of webinars about race attracting a live audience of hundreds.
More inquiries to recruiting agency
Inquiries increased to Colorful Connections, LLC, a Milwaukee-based full-service agency helping employers recruit and retain diverse teams. The conversations with new clients are started with urgency, said Morgan Phelps, who founded the company in 2017.
“There’s a different tone, intentionality, seriousness,” Phelps said. “Again, we’re still in the early phases of the movement. But I’m seeing more intent and willingness to commit.”
The cultural awareness brought about by the protesters with chants like “silence equals violence” is associating a lack of action with contributing to the problem.
“If you just have these conversations right now but nothing else beyond that then, yes, it will be a fleeting moment,” Phelps said.
Change will not happen overnight, but Phelps is hopeful.
Nadiyah Johnson is trying to grasp onto this moment of heightened awareness of race.
Johnson, the founder of Jet Constellations and the Milky Way Tech Hub, aims to raise $50 million to create a fund for scalable tech companies with a commitment to invest in founders who are Black or from other demographic groups underrepresented in technology.
“In order to make real change, it takes real capital,” Johnson said.
Johnson wants to work fast to close the fund around the end of the year. She has a “firm handshake” on around $5 million so far.
“This is not just something trendy,” she said. “This is not a bandwagon to hop up on. This is the result of 400 years of suffering and systemic oppression. Black people have just reached a boiling point. This is not something to slap a Band Aid solution. It is going to take a lifetime of ally-ship and breaking down barriers. Breaking down systems that uphold white supremacy and racism.”
A familiar refrain from decades ago
For many, it feels like the community has been here before.
Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce’s President Tim Sheehy found the statement his organization made during the fair housing marches more than 50 years ago. The 1968 statement called out racial inequity, racism and the debilitating effect it was having on Milwaukee.
“We have certainly made strides but I don’t think anybody in 1968 would look at 2020 and say that we have come far enough,” Sheehy said.
MMAC launched its “Region of Choice” initiative in September last year. The MMAC set two goals for the region by 2025 — increase African American and Hispanic management by 25% and total employment by 15%. It’s asking Milwaukee companies join the commitment.
Many other initiatives and programs launched in recent years to address longstanding issues.
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation made a generational commitment to racial equity and inclusion in 2016.
The African American Leadership Alliance Milwaukee launched in November 2019 with the goal to redefine Milwaukee as a top-ranking city for African Americans by 2025.
The nonprofit Greater Together launched its Greater Equity 2030 initiative last year with the aim of increasing the number of people of color in the creative industry to match the makeup of Milwaukee’s overall workforce.
Women’s organization Professional Dimensions and YWCA Southeast Wisconsin partnered for a two-year project focusing on the intersection of racial and gender inequity.
“The racial disparity is longstanding,” Sheehy said. “It’s persistent and it has a clear debilitating impact on our ability to be prosperous as a community.”
The MMAC will take the first step of releasing the 2020 baseline data later this year for the 2025 goals. Around 100 companies have signed the pledge. So far, the companies have designated a representative to participate in a group to share best practices on creating inclusive work environments.
“This is our time,” Sheehy said. “We’re responsible for what happens now.”
But goals and initiatives are just one part of what is needed.
“You’re not going to policy change your way to racial equity,” said incoming CEO of Professional Dimensions Lauren Feaster. “We have a lot to do as people and leaders.”
In a survey of 1,200 managers of color by the MMAC, around 60% said their company’s diversity and inclusion efforts were focused on compliance, not culture. Nearly half said they were subject to racial bias in their company.
There won’t be one decision that changes the course, Feaster said. Learning about the systems that have upheld racism so that they can be changed is a step.
Professional Dimensions is planning an ideation summit for this fall that will focus on racial justice. The goal is to get people thinking, on an individual level, about biases and how they could contribute to a more equitable community. Other groups have started new programming like mental health organization Just A Girl’s five-week privilege awakening class.
“As we begin to move forward it isn’t something else that fades away,” she said. “There’s a real divide that exists and it’s up to us individually to change that.”