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Berkeley Haas Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership Philanthropic Impact Update 2020

This past year has undoubtedly been a year of uncertainty and unconventionality as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted all spheres of life across the globe — with devastating and disproportionate impacts on Black and brown communities and women. The murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black individuals highlighted the persistence of racism, police brutality, and white supremacy in the United States. In the face of these circumstances and unprecedented times we accelerated our progress. We accomplished a tremendous amount this past year in advancing Equity Fluent Leadership in the workplace, our communities, and beyond — and it was all made possible by your contribution.

Your investment in our Center has been essential to our work in igniting and accelerating change, especially at a time like this; the need for Equity Fluent Leaders has never been more urgent. In partnering with us, you are developing transformative thought leadership and creating a more equitable world. We thank you for collaborating with us at this critical time.

This year, your support has enabled inclusive growth opportunities for our Berkeley Haas students by:

  • Offering two MBA courses: Equity Fluent Leadership: The Value of Inclusion and Diversity and Dialogues on Race; as well as one undergraduate course: Equity Fluent Leaders: The Value of Inclusion and Diversity
  • Launching the undergraduate version of our Equity Fluent Leadership consulting projects course in the spring and continuing the MBA version in the fall, which allowed student teams to support 17 companies in advancing various aspects of their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals
  • Sponsoring two MBA student fellowships to support individuals who have best demonstrated their commitment to creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces
  • Sponsoring eight PhD students and Postdocs who are advancing critical research on DEI through our research grants program
  • Bringing our Equity Fluent Leadership playbooks to campus, facilitating crucial discussions between students and current industry leaders
  • Launching our case compendium which includes both case studies with diverse protagonists, and case studies that focus on DEI-related issues and opportunities to enhance the classroom experience; accompanied by a groundbreaking analysis on the state of DEI in business school cases
  • Continuing to be the institutional home for Dialogues over Dinner, a student-led initiative through the Race and Inclusion Initiative (RII) that brings students together in small groups to facilitate dialogue around race-related issues in the US — more than 140 students from the Full-time MBA program participated in 23 virtual dinners this past year
  • Engaging the EGAL Student Advisory Board and four student initiatives: RII, Gender Equity Initiative (GEI), Women in Leadership (WIL), and Berkeley Women in Business (BWIB)

This year, we launched our first three Equity Fluent Leadership Playbooks, delivering strategies and tools for business leaders to advance DEI. These Playbooks serve as a bridge between academia and industry, highlighting and translating research into practitioner-oriented strategies.

We launched our first Playbook on Supporting Dual Career Couples in January. It outlines the challenges dual career couples face and provides evidence-based plays organizations can implement to mitigate them. We held an in-person launch event in partnership with BCG, and the Playbook was subsequently highlighted in Forbes.

In July, we launched our second Playbook on Mitigating Bias in Artificial Intelligence. It explores why bias exists in AI systems, its impacts, challenges, and evidence-based plays to help business leaders mitigate it. To continue the discussion, we also hosted three virtual brown bag sessions on advancing inclusive AI in the fall, with over 400 registrants. Notably, our Playbook was featured in Fortune's raceAhead, Forbes, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and a UNESCO report.

After seeing the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on women and people of color, we released our third Playbook on Transforming Business Beyond COVID-19 in August. The research-backed guide examines the health and economic impacts of the pandemic on marginalized populations as well as company responses, and offers a series of plays to help leaders integrate equity and inclusion in their COVID-19 recovery efforts.

Your contribution has also allowed us to amplify Equity Fluent Leadership by:

This year, the Investing in Inclusion pitch competition welcomed five finalist teams from MIT Sloan, Yale SOM, Georgetown McDonough, UCLA Anderson, and Berkeley Haas to present their early-stage ventures focused on advancing equity and inclusion. The first place venture, FIT’D, connects students from community colleges and non-traditional backgrounds to their dream jobs at top tier companies, improving access to quality employment and workforce mobility. Other placing teams included a clothing line that promotes women’s health and a device that protects women’s safety in social settings. Thanks to your contribution, the top winning teams received a total of $15,000 to support the continued growth of their ventures.

In addition, we hosted our largest Zendesk Pitch Competition to date in a first-ever virtual setting, attracting over 175 participants and 37 teams. The winning team developed a DEI certification program that equips managers with the necessary skills to promote an inclusive culture, creating leader accountability towards global DEI goals across all functions and ensuring a systematic approach across the firm.

In addition to our high-impact student and industry support, your contribution also provides academic research support to faculty, Post-docs, and PhD students advancing knowledge and understanding of DEI-related issues. The researchers sponsored by EGAL this year are:

  • Sydnee Caldwell, Assistant Professor, Haas School of Business and Department of Economics, who works on examining the impact of automation on workers and local communities
  • Solène Delacourt, Assistant Professor, Haas School of Business, who works on understanding how researchers’ identity affects the public’s perception of gender research
  • Anastassia Fedyk, Assistant Professor, Haas School of Business, who works on evaluating the role that glass ceilings play across U.S. firms
  • Heather Haveman, Professor, Haas School of Business and Department of Sociology, who works on analyzing corporate culture, workplace practices, and gender equity in Bay Area tech firms
  • Elizabeth Linos, Assistant Professor, Goldman School of Public Policy, who works on studying race and gender inequity across the elite career course
  • Can Huang, PhD Candidate, Haas School of Business, who works on examining the gender gap in entrepreneurship and solutions to mitigate it
  • Shoshana Jarvis, PhD Candidate, Haas School of Business, who works on analyzing perceptual differences in sufficient diversity and its implications for the workforce
  • Eva Lyubich, PhD Candidate, Haas School of Business, who works on studying the Black-white residential energy expenditure gap in California
  • Sonya Mishra, PhD Candidate, Haas School of Business, who works on addressing how heightened perceptions of women and minorities’ ethical behavior encourages greater engagement
  • Alicia Sheares, PhD Candidate, Haas School of Business, who works on examining how Black tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and Atlanta navigate inequality in their respective markets
  • Gauri Subramani, PhD Candidate, Haas School of Business, who works on investigating how the gender gap in patent outcomes affects inventors’ trajectories and the landscape of innovation
  • Charlie Townsend, PhD Candidate, Haas School of Business, who works on studying how criteria for evaluating applicants provide justification for discrimination
  • Margaret Lee, Post-Doc Scholar, Haas School of Business, who works on understanding gender differences in work preferences

In response to the murder of George Floyd and growing awareness of anti-Blackness and racism, we created a virtual anti-racism commitments whiteboard aimed at helping individuals in the Haas community frame good intentions into impactful action items. We hope this whiteboard will serve as a checkpoint for participants at any place in their anti-racism journeys. We also believe this whiteboard can serve as a launchpad and source of inspiration for anyone looking to get involved with anti-racism work in various spheres of their lives. To this end, we’ve grouped the commitments into five focus areas. Some of the most common commitments we received include:

  • For workplace events, groups, and/or systemic change: faculty members committed to decolonizing and diversifying their reading lists, staff members committed to elevating BIPOC voices through speaker events, and students committed to asking questions about how race affects core course topics
  • For family engagement / intervention: common commitments included facilitating dialogue around race and diversity, and calling out / in racist behavior
  • For personal education: Several participants committed to reading at least one BIPOC-authored resource per month

“Creating a more equitable world requires bold collaboration, curiosity, and conversation - dialogue that informs policy and decisions. Philanthropy is critical for advancing EGAL’s relevant research, resources and community building, and we are proud of its national traction. Thank you for investing in our shared values through EGAL’s work. Together, we amplify thought leadership and transform business and the world for true belonging of all.” — Ann Harrison, Dean of the Haas School of Business

“This past year has laid to bare the vast amount of work we still have to do in igniting and accelerating change in equity and inclusion. Our mission is to educate Equity Fluent Leaders (EFLs) and we are doing just that thanks to our investors who believe deeply in us and our work. We are developing Haas students to lead equity strategy across their organizations, educating Haas alumni who did not have equity fluency as part of their management education, influencing companies through our EFL playbooks, and supporting faculty with research grants, a DEI case compendium, and engaging them in our Professor Pledge. All of this would not be possible without your support. We are so appreciative.” — Kellie McElhaney, Founder & Executive Director, Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership (EGAL)

Thank you for investing in the Berkeley Haas Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership and a more equitable world. Your partnership is invaluable in helping us to address barriers, increase access, and drive change for positive impact.

Appreciate
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