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HR Toolkit for Racial Equity

May 22, 2023

HR Toolkit for Racial EquityThe W.K. Kellogg Foundation's (WKKF) organizational commitment to advancing racial equity, diversity and inclusion has been a multi-decade journey. One area of significant progress is in our human resources (HR) policies and practices. Over the years, leaders and organizations have sought out our HR team to ask about our internal strategies – what we've tried, what we've learned and what actions we are taking as a result of our commitments. WKKF created this toolkit to share our experiences, lessons and recommended tools and resources for implementing racial equity strategies as part of a human resources function. The toolkit complements the foundation's "ONE Journey" publication, which shares the foundation's larger racial equity, diversity and inclusion (REDI) efforts more fully.

Sustaining DEI momentum after the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action

October 6, 2023

After the recent SCOTUS decision on affirmative action in higher education, leaders and organizations are grappling with the potential ripple effects on corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the near and long term. In navigating this moment, leaders can do two things: (1) reground themselves on why their organization is investing in DEI strategies in the first place, and (2) take a look at existing DEI initiatives to understand where they may evolve and continue to create equal opportunities for all. Assessing risk will no doubt be part of the conversation. Yet, with the strong business case for DEI efforts, how can organizations ensure the risks of discontinuing certain DEI efforts are given the same weight as the risks of continuing them? This how-to guide, created through the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Expanding Equity program, provides a framework for what to consider while charting a path forward as you review and adapt your DEI strategies — all while remaining true to your aspirations for creating more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces.

Racial Equity and Healing

Making it stick: A guide for establishing effective DEI infrastructure

October 6, 2023

This how-to guide, created through the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Expanding Equity program, has helpful tips for choosing and refining a DEI governance structure for your organization and offers supporting tools and processes (e.g., metrics, rewards and recognition) that can help make it stick. It uses a sample company called EE Corp — created based on the experiences of Expanding Equity network members — as it establishes its DEI infrastructure. Building this infrastructure is a multi-step process that includes:Part 1:Choosing a governance structureSetting up the structureGetting people involvedAssessing internal challengesRefining the structurePart 2:Defining metricsEstablishing rewardsContinuously improving

Embracing the pilot mindset: A guide to use pilots to improve DEI initiative success

June 28, 2023

Many diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives require a careful orchestration of long-term strategy planning, leadership and employee buy-in, and behavioral and mindset shifts. Thinkabout a time you had to stop or modify an initiative midway because it was not working. What went wrong? What could you have done to prevent it? DEI initiatives that use a pilot approach are two-to-three times more likely to succeed than those that try to implement all at once without testing and learning. An initiative pilot helps you test out an idea to gain the necessary feedback and buy-in from your organization before implementation. This guide, created through the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Expanding Equity program, will take you through the process of developing pilots for initiatives. It include examples and advice from companies that used a piloting mindset when planning, implementing and assessing initiatives.

Employment Equity

Industry Actions for Racial Equity –Investment Management

April 25, 2023

This workplace transformation guide considers the state of racial equity, diversity and inclusion (REDI) for the investment management industry and shares insights, actions, common pitfalls and examples from leading organizations that are part of the Expanding Equity (EE) program network. The guide recommends actions companies can take, organized by the four pillars – or areas of opportunity – of the EE program, where the investment management industry can advance REDI, including a mini-case study from a peer company:Attract – Attracting and hiring professionals of color into the company to increase representation at all levels of the organizationCase study from Värde Partners on creating entry-level pathwaysBelong – Ensuring that all professionals, regardless of racial/ethnic group identity, feel respected and can be successfulCase study from KKR on launching an inclusion network and expanding an Inclusion & Diversity CouncilPromote - Ensuring that professionals of color feel supported and have the same advancement opportunities as White professionalsCase study from BlackRock on implementing a sponsorship program for Black and Latinx managing directors and directorsInfluence – Advancing racial equity through an organization's products, services or relationships in the industries and communities in which it operatesCase study from Vista Equity Partners on launching an external board program to source diverse board candidates for its portfolio companies

Employment Equity; Racial Equity and Healing

A Practical Resource Guide for Direct Care Workforce State Advocacy

February 21, 2023

PHI's state advocacy toolkit, reframed as a "practical resource guide," was drafted and designed in fall 2022 and released for national dissemination in February 2023. The guide includes 20 concrete strategies, based on lessons learned from the "Essential Jobs, Essential Care" initiative and organized across five dimensions of advocacy: strategizing, designing, persuading, advocating, and evaluating. Each strategy includes specific steps and key resources. Advocates can read the guide a whole, or sample individual strategies based on their needs and interests.

Employment Equity

Job Quality and Community Well-Being in Mississippi and Alabama’s Manufacturing Facilities

February 15, 2023

This report shares the results and analysis of this project's survey of manufacturing workers in Mississippi and Alabama. It also breaks down the findings into two broad categories (a) region-wide analysis combining all responses across the two-state region and (b) deep dive into eight case sites where we have sufficient survey results to share findings. Four of the case sites are in Mississippi and four are in Alabama.

Employment Equity

Eyeing the Exit: Teacher Turnover and What We Can Do About It

January 11, 2023

In March 2022, the Mississippi State Legislature passed the largest single-year pay raise for public school teachers in our state's history, raising teacher pay by an average of $5,151. Just months later, districts reported the highest levels of teacher attrition in years: one in five Mississippi teachers opted to not return to their classroom for the 2022-2023 school year, including one-third of all teachers in districts with an "F" accountability rating. These levels of attrition constitute a sharp uptick from previous years and beg the question: why are Mississippi teachers continuing to leave the classroom in droves?Mississippi First has been studying this question for the last few years. In the months leading up to the historic 2022 teacher pay raise, we surveyed 6,496 teachers—one in five teachers statewide—about their pathway into the profession, financial well-being, career plans, and policy preferences. In this report, we present the results from the survey to provide a nuanced answer about which teachers are leaving the classroom and why. We also examine the connection between attrition risk and standard of living to make the case that financial insecurity is rampant among educators and a major driver of early exits from the classroom. Finally, we offer a series of recommendations for policymakers to address teacher turnover and strengthen every facet of Mississippi's educator pipeline

Early Childhood Education

Health, Work, and Care in Rural America: Distances to Hospital-Based and Skilled Nursing Care Make Paid Leave Critical for Rural Communities

November 17, 2022

People in rural America live an average of three to four times further from types of important hospital-based health care and skilled nursing facilities than people in urban communities. These long distances—combined demographic factors related to age, income, employment, and less access to paid and unpaid leave than people in metropolitan areas—create unique challenges for people in America's rural communities. Without access to paid sick time and paid leave for serious family and medical needs, workers are often forced to manage taking care of themselves or loved ones without pay while struggling to make ends meet, potentially jeopardizing their health, job, or economic security.Drawing on original research, this report offers a clear case for why guaranteed public paid leave policies should be considered a social determinant of health for rural people just as access to health care facilities and other economic stability indicators are. Paid leave could improve the health, wellbeing, and economic security of rural workers and families, and increase the economic competitiveness of America's rural communities.

Using a Skills-Based Hiring Approach as Part of a DEI Strategy - Steelcase Case Study

November 1, 2022

This case study is part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Expanding Equity program, which helps workplaces become more racially equitable places of opportunity. The program supports and inspires companies to take action using four pillars: Attract, Belong, Promote and Influence. Each pillar offers unique opportunities for advancing racial equity, diversity and inclusion in companies. This case study lifts up actions from the Attract pillar, which focuses on attracting and hiring professionals of color into a company, in turn increasing representation at all levels of the organization. Steelcase took the following actions:Created a deep data analysis system for hiring practices and listened to employees to understand the current state and to identify opportunitiesResearched best practices for skills-based hiringCreated positions within HR specifically for people who specialize in developing new pipelines and sources for diverse talentRemoved barriers to entry, such as industry experience, whenever possibleRevamped job postings to eliminate biased languageShifted away from a "résumé and pedigree" focus to a skills and competency, evidence-based approachDeveloped a playbook on diverse hiring practices for hiring managers and recruitersTo sustain these efforts, the Steelcase global talent team redesigned its talent acquisition strategy and team structure, identified areas of focus for their recruiting practices, partnered across business units, and engaged current employees to involve them in the hiring process. These efforts resulted in a robust, standardized hiring process that uplifts evidence-based hiring while working to eliminate biases.

Employment Equity; Racial Equity and Healing

At A Glance: Anti-Retaliation Legislation to Protect Workers and The Rule of Law

September 1, 2022

This two-page issue brief explains how state lawmakers can use anti-retaliation legislation to better protect workers and the rule of law. The paper includes policy options that strengthen retaliation protections, examples of states that have enacted such policies, and additional resources for state legislators to learn more.

Employment Equity

U.S. Based Workforce and Board Composition Report by Race/Ethnicity, Gender and Job Category 2022

August 31, 2022

W.K. Kellogg Foundation's workforce composition and how it has changed over time.

Employment Equity

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