Vice President of People & Culture and Chief Diversity Officer

After the murder of George Floyd companies issued statements of outrage and committed themselves to improving their corporate culture. They also raced to hire a Chief Diversity Officers (CDO) to guide them in just how to do it without making costly mistakes. As the title implies, CDO’s are responsible for developing and implementing the diversity, equity, & inclusion strategy of an organization. They oversee initiatives, employee relations and tie business outcomes to the diversity, equity and inclusion work of the organization. They can create real organizational culture change with the proper budget, reporting structure and support. As CDO’s value has risen across industries, it’s important to pay attention to more than just their titles. Follow the work they are doing in cities like Boston which hired Dr. Kathryn Crockett, a published author and MIT lecturer of Public Policy and Urban Planning as its Chief of Equity. Boston Mayor Walsh established a cabinet-level position “to embed equity and racial justice into all City planning, operations, and work moving forward.”

Under Dr. Crockett’s leadership, the Office of Equity will be charged with leading the Administration’s efforts across departments to embed equity into all city work, and actively work to dismantle racism by putting an intentional focus on supporting communities of color and marginalized groups across all departments, and building equitable governmental structures to sustain this work.

Read about what strategies CDO’s have tried and tested. Below are links explaining the importance of CDO’s and a few to watch for.

Harvard Business Review: Do you know why your company needs a Chief Diversity Officer?

Medium: What is a Chief Diversity Officer and Why Does Your Company Need One?

City of Boston: Dr. Karilyn Crockett

CNBC: NBA appoints Oris Stuart as chief people and inclusion officer

Workday: Carin Taylor bio

FairPlayTalks: 2020’s Top 50 Chief Diversity Officers

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FRAMINGHAM – The MetroWest Health Foundation announced the award of over $720,000 in new grants to area organizations. The bulk of the funds will address immediate needs in response to COVID 19 by providing capacity building support to local public health departments, support to area councils on aging to address the social isolation of older adults, and funding to address the emotional resiliency of residents coping with the anxiety, stress and loss associated with the pandemic.

In addition to COVID-related funding, the foundation provided support to local organizations seeking to address health inequities in the region. This includes a grant to Wayside Youth & Family Support Network to be used to develop a regional resource center focused on health equity. The new center will develop tools, training modules and expert speakers that can be used by other organizations as they seek to address diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workforce, governance, and programming.

Organizations receiving grants under the foundation’s fall grant cycle are:

COVID 19 Grants to Enhance Public Health Capacity –

• Framingham Health Department $30,000
• Hopkinton Health Department $19,800
• Hudson Health Department $20,000
• Natick Health Department $30,000
• Needham Public Health Division $20,000
• Sudbury Board of Health $20,000

COVID 19 Grants to Address the Social Isolation of Older Adults –

• Ashland Council on Aging $24,000
• Friends of the Callahan Senior Center $25,000
• Holliston Council on Aging $16,650
• Massachusetts Assoc. for the Blind $21,347
• Needham Community Council $25,000
• Northborough Council on Aging $ 9,268
• Sherborn Council on Aging $16,000
• Thrive, Support & Advocacy $17,160

COVID 19 Emotional Resiliency Grants –

• Advocates, Inc. $29,962
• Boys & Girls Clubs of MetroWest $30,000
• Hudson Health Department $30,000
• New Hope, Inc. $30,000
• SMOC $25,782
• Spark Kindness $24,574
• Westborough Youth & Family Services $19,000

Health Equity Grants –

• Health Care for All $30,000
• Learning Center for the Deaf $30,000
• Natick Health Department $30,000
• Wayside Youth & Family Support Net. $29,769

Other Support –

• A Place to Turn $20,000
• Natick Service Council $20,000
• Town of Natick Rail Trail $75,000

The MetroWest Health Foundation is a catalyst for a healthy MetroWest, providing more than $5 million in annual financial support for preventative and responsive health programs. Through its work on issues such as adolescent health, healthy aging and health equity, the foundation seeks to develop and support programs that have a positive impact on the health of the 25 communities in the MetroWest area of Massachusetts. For more information about the foundation, visit www.mwhealth.org.

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