Diversity and equity are values most organizations desire to uphold, but at times they struggle to understand how to measure and track progress towards these objectives. Through ESI’s Equity and Inclusion practice area, we marshal our analytical expertise and real-world experience to add quantitative substance and strategic nuance to diversity analyses in a wide range of sectors.
For this Present Value post, ESI President Lee Huang speaks with ESI Senior Advisor Renee Cardwell Hughes on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the legal system. She is a highly experienced senior executive, attorney, retired judge, and qualified financial expert. Judge Hughes’s legal background includes more than fifteen years as a trial judge handling both civil and criminal cases. She received her legal degree from Georgetown University Law Center, after completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia.
Huang: What are a few things us non-lawyers need to know about the law that affects how we approach DEI in different industries?
Cardwell Hughes: The laws which support a more diverse and inclusive society are being reinterpreted by the Courts. The United States Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, asserts that race-based admissions policies are unconstitutional. As a result of this ruling, many universities and corporations are proactively eliminating these programs. While it may be necessary to rethink the approach to inclusion, there is no questioning that a more diverse society benefits us all. For organizations and corporations that continue to value diversity, a change in strategic approach is necessary. For example, to ensure a diverse applicant pool, in addition to posting positions in all the traditional places, post job openings in diverse newspapers and with career counselors at diverse schools and with diverse organizations. This will increase the applicant pool and consequently increase diverse applicants without violating the law. This approach creates pathways for receiving input from different sources without excluding anyone.
Huang: As a lawyer, what do you make of the contemporary discussion around advocating for DEI vs. pushing back against DEI?
Cardwell Hughes: We are facing a cultural revolution in our country that is born of fear. Rather than believe that we can grow the proverbial American pie and make everyone better, people are afraid of losing their position, authority etc. This fear has caused legislators to seek to restrict or even eliminate the laws which promote greater inclusion and opportunity. Ultimately, this will weaken our country. Rather than cultivate and use the talent of everyone without regard to race, gender, faith, ethnicity, or ability, those who seek to ban DEI limit the talent pool and limit the opportunity for greatness in all areas. Pushing back against DEI is short sighted and self-defeating.
Huang: You are a Chair of the Board at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. For your fellow trustees and administrators in this space, what are some things to know about whether and how to advance DEI?
Cardwell Hughes: Diversity is core to the success of the Penn Presbyterian Mission. We sit in West Philadelphia and care for people of any and all economic standing, race, gender and religion. We are committed not only to serving the whole community, but also to growing the health care profession. We actively seek to recruit the best and the brightest from all communities because it improves the quality of care that we provide to the community. We are also working with local middle schools and high schools to get more students interested in the health care profession.
Huang: How does your own lived experience inform the way you approach DEI issues in the various leadership roles you have had in your career?
Cardwell Hughes: As a bi-racial woman, I have faced more than my fair share of discrimination. These experiences, and the experiences of my family, have made me sensitive to and strategic in my approach to inclusivity. DEI is core to my approach to the world. We are all better when everyone is at the table. It is not negotiable.
“DEI” has turned into a flashpoint issue in the same year as what promises to be another contentious presidential election. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are, to some, a set of ideals worth striving for in response to historic and present injustices. From this perspective, efforts to block or ban DEI initiatives are anathema, a troubling retreat from recent progress. Conversely, those who support anti-DEI measures do so from a place of exasperation that DEI has seemed to become a sort of pseudo-religion seeking adherence without substantiation or question.
ESI has never shied away from contentious contemporary topics. Indeed, we pride ourselves in always striving to do the right thing in the right way, which in our field means investigating all angles of an issue in an honest and thorough manner. Only in that way can we provide our clients with guidance on where things are going, where things should go, and how we should get there.
From where we stand, DEI initiatives at their best are an important acknowledgement of systemic disparities and a necessary platform for successful organizations, industries, and economies. However, in order to galvanize sufficient support and execute sustainable (and legally defensible) solutions, the burden of proof lies in being thoughtful about identifying where barriers exist, what’s the case for a better way forward, and which proven methods make the most sense.
Over the next few weeks, ESI will be running a series of Q&A-style blog posts in which we elicit the insights of industry professionals on the subject of DEI. Our goal is to join with these thought leaders to provide a balanced and reasoned look into how the challenges of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion play out in different fields. We look forward to engaging with additional voices in other sectors in the years to come.
Lee Huang, Principal | Huang@econsultsolutions.com
Lee Huang brings over 20 years of experience in economic development experience to ESI public, private, institutional, and not-for-profit clients. He leads consulting engagements in a wide range of fields, including higher education, economic inclusion, environmental sustainability, historic preservation, real estate, neighborhood economic development, non-profits, retail, state and local government, strategic planning, tax policy, and tourism/hospitality, and is a sought-after speaker on these and other topics.
