May and June are heavy on conferences for me, and while it’s an excuse to talk to anyone other than my cats, it does put a strain on the ever-growing list of things to do–-including writing these missives. I find that conferencing in Vermont where I live is quite different from going to the national out-of-state ones (tbh, I haven’t been to one since before COVID).
Conference adjacent agendas (in-state, or even regionally) tend to veer towards meeting up with non-conference friends or colleagues in the area, visiting a restaurant or shop that I had heard about, or sometimes cramming a virtual call in between sessions, to chisel away at the desk work waiting for me back home.
For out-of-state conferences, I’m usually in the same hotel as the event, where I have access to the restaurant, bar, and pool. There’s the chance to try a bit of the local flavor–-Nashville hot chicken sandwiches, Chicago hot dogs or Philly cheesesteaks-–it’s usually always food for me. Of course, whenever I’m in a city more populous than the state of Vermont, I’m always on the lookout for a Laotian restaurant.
The best part is meeting and learning from professionals from all across the country. I love learning from others and making connections, even when it means enduring the anxiety of networking with strangers.
But let’s face it, not many people travel to Vermont for a conference. The folks I meet locally are the folks I will likely encounter in my professional sphere. I seldom get a chance to digest the content of these sessions with others, which is more a symptom of a one-person operation than anything else. Which is why I’m writing to you, to work these things through.
Here are a few takeaways from some recent convenings. So in an effort for kaizen, they are noted below with where my learning took place, and who organized the event.
There is not enough talk about race.
(Central Vermont Economic Development Conference, Barre Area Development Corp.)
The schedule included a DEI session led by the members of Barre City’s DEI Committee. They summarized their work with VLCT and their recent “kindness” campaign—fostering civil, if heated, discourse at municipal meetings.
We filled out and shared our social identity wheels. Responding to the question of who might be missing from the room, one of the two men pointed out that the room was “almost all women”, as if to imply that men were disproportionately underrepresented. I was one of two visible people of color, and no one mentioned that non-whites were underrepresented. In a room where participants stated that they were there because their work included “justice equity tools”, “JEDI as backbone for many decisions”, “DEI strategy”, and other buzzy words.
What was ultimately disappointing was that while the facilitator talked about turning “safe spaces” into “brave spaces”, no one was brave enough to utter the R-word. The most telling bit of recalcitrance was when she gave in and affirmed that there are indeed “many kinds of diversity”. We people of color know what this is code for. And we hear you. As for everyone else’s acquiescence, it certainly gave the room texture.
Someone at one point said this: “We have to look at you for a while before we embrace you.” I don’t remember the context in which it was said, but it was puzzling enough for me to make note of it.
Immigrants as “them/theirs” vs. “us/ours”.
(Vermont Economic Conference, Vermont Chamber of Commerce)
This conference occurred back in January and I have since lost the phone which held the texts my colleague and I exchanged during the “Leveraging Vermont’s Immigration Experience to Solve Workforce Needs” session. It was pretty triggering for the both of us. Between my family’s and her husband’s Vermont immigration experience, we kept the text chain going throughout the presentation for some emotional tether to keep us from laugh-crying our way out of the room.
First and foremost, the panelists did acknowledge that the “immigration experience” they were talking about is a humanitarian issue. War, persecution, political unrest are some of the factors that force migration. What they didn’t say, but implied, was that it was exploitable. What followed were proven tactics, regulatory structures, and “goals”. I cringe as I write this.
I recognize that it’s demanding and difficult work to guide traumatized individuals through bureaucracy in a new language and cultural setting. While I may have issues with the system, the presentation was offensive in the othering way the panelists spoke about their new recruits: “They live in multi-generational homes,” as if immigrants were a newly discovered species.
An employer talked about creating “safe spaces,” being a “friendly workplace” that “hires for personality”. None of them spoke about the aftercare of war, persecution, or political unrest necessary for our immigrants to be able to become economically self-sufficient in the few short years that the government expects. We allow our kids more time to get through college than we do for our newly landed to assimilate and create a new life here.
The most offensive (and I’m sure it was unconscious on their part) was the pervasiveness of they/them differentiation, which is chattel slavery language. If we are to truly be a melting pot–-if we open the doors to our homes and someone crosses the threshold, then “they” should be assumed as “ours.”
By prioritizing client “fit”, consultants perpetuate inequitable access to resources
(Nonprofit Consultants Convening, Common Good Vermont)
What a privileged bunch of fools we consultants are. 🙋🏻♀️
I missed most of this gathering as I did not get on the road on time. I arrived at the tail end of a breakout session on “values-based consulting,” which was hippie-speak enough to pique my curiosity. I quickly realized my mistake once I heard my fellow consultants talk about “alignment.” I thought I was entering a conversation about nonprofits and their mission-critical work. Oops.
What these consultants want are clients that align with THEIR values! They want a union. They want to be able to fire their clients. They want clients that “fit”---that they can work with. They want client-facing workshops to teach potential clients how to work with consultants!! 🤣 I can’t.
I go into nonprofit work because there are urgent problems to solve and lives that I can affect for the better. There are people with unrealized dreams, whose stories are untold, whom the system works against. It’s a brutal world out there, and if I think that I can help, then I will at least seriously consider it. I don’t say this to produce my halo, because most of you know me already. For a second I wondered if maybe I had drunk too much of the nonprofit Kool-Aid. Maybe I should be in this work for my own comfort and self-important assumption that I, the consultant, know best.
What bosh! I don’t know how these folks sleep at night knowing that Vermont’s homelessness rate is the 2nd highest in the country, has some of the worst prison disparities in the nation, and is so racist that it is a public health crisis. Are we even living in the same world?
When consultants deny their services to people based on the biases of their worldview, they withhold access to knowledge and expertise clients have already identified as lacking. Knowledge, unlike food or clothing, is not a readymade resource that can be bought at the corner market. It is time, expertise, experience, and perspective.
Don’t we want a world without want? Isn’t the price of our discomfort worth it if it gets us closer to that? I have to think so. Many companies have already quashed the idea of “culture fit” as inequitable, and it’s time that individual knowledge-keepers do so as well.
…and more conferences!
I’m about to go into two more conferences this week: The Vermont Historic Preservation and Downtowns Conference and the Vermont Arts Council’s Creative Convening. It’s top of mind for me to listen to what is said and not said. I’m presenting a session at one, so I’m also aware that I have biases of my own that may out themselves during my session. I’m open to feedback!
I had briefly considered attending the Women's Economic Opportunity Conference (now hosted by Sen. Peter Welch), but after scrolling through the list of all-white presenters, I decided to save my strength.
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