Ready to reimagine the concept of workplace equity? Gear up as Lindsay Majer discusses actionable strategies for creating a work environment that truly embraces and empowers everyone. From standardizing pay to redefining job descriptions, we dive into the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty of crafting equitable, people-centered workplace policies.
About Lindsay: Lindsay Majer is the Director of Mindful Operations & Finance at the Tzedek Social Justice Fund where she works to create, manage, and enhance systems and processes for efficient and equitable operations. Through policy development, benefits distribution, and budget tracking, she strives to center humanity and maintain a culture of care for staff sustainability. When not directing operations for Tzedek, Lindsay practices and teaches yoga in a variety of settings from group classes to wellness retreats to one-on-one private sessions in Asheville, NC. She loves digging in the dirt, growing flowers and vegetables, cooking with fresh flavors, and spending time with friends.
The revolution starts within! It's one thing to talk about social justice and another to translate it into tangible policies. Listen in for ideas on how to fuel social change from the inside out.
We'll see you same time, same place next month. Until then, peace.
Ready to reimagine the concept of workplace equity? Gear up as Lindsay Majer discusses actionable strategies for creating a work environment that truly embraces and empowers everyone. From standardizing pay to redefining job descriptions, we dive into the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty of crafting equitable, people-centered workplace policies.
About Lindsay: Lindsay Majer is the Director of Mindful Operations & Finance at the Tzedek Social Justice Fund where she works to create, manage, and enhance systems and processes for efficient and equitable operations. Through policy development, benefits distribution, and budget tracking, she strives to center humanity and maintain a culture of care for staff sustainability. When not directing operations for Tzedek, Lindsay practices and teaches yoga in a variety of settings from group classes to wellness retreats to one-on-one private sessions in Asheville, NC. She loves digging in the dirt, growing flowers and vegetables, cooking with fresh flavors, and spending time with friends.
The revolution starts within! It's one thing to talk about social justice and another to translate it into tangible policies. Listen in for ideas on how to fuel social change from the inside out.
We'll see you same time, same place next month. Until then, peace.
We're profoundly, profoundly interconnected. We don't always live that way, we don't always acknowledge it, but if we're going to hear, we have to live it, experience it and create institutions that celebrate it.
Speaker 2:Can we create a we where no one's on the outside of it?
Speaker 3:Welcome to the Uplift with Zedek. Real talk for real change.
Speaker 2:Before we jump in, a quick reminder of why we're here and what we hope to achieve.
Speaker 3:We're here to build a community that's not just a community. We're here to build authentic community relationships and help fuel social transformation. In Asheville, north Carolina, we believe collect deliberation is not only possible but probable, as we share, listen and learn together. We're here for the process. However, the views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent. Hello everyone, thank you for listening and tuning in today. My name is Michael Hoban, I'm the director of communications with Zedek Social Justice Fund and today I am joined by Libby Kiles, our executive director. Hey, libby, how's it going? It's going great. How are you today? I'm feeling good. We are also here with Lindsay Major, the director of mindful operations and finance. That's right, mindful. We'll dig into that a little bit and see how you do it today. I'm well. How are you, michael? I'm doing well. So, libby, what are we talking about today?
Speaker 2:Oh, today, today, today, people, we are going to dive into the workplace. What does it mean when we talk about equity within the workplace?
Speaker 3:All right, so let's start off with talking about what do we mean when we talk about workplace equity? You want to jump in on that?
Speaker 2:Nobody's jumping in. Okay, I'll jump in. So when we talk about workplace equity, we are talking about creating an environment where people are able to show up as their authentic cells, with the policies and procedures in place that prevent people or hopefully prevents harm happening within the workplace. So doing everything that we possibly can to reduce harm and create a space where folks can show up and do the work that needs to be done in an equitable way. Equal meaning people get what they need. That's not the same as equality saying that we all get the same thing, but everybody gets specifically what they need to do their jobs.
Speaker 1:That's right and I see equity in the workplace being the substance. You know, I see a lot of organizations. They have diversity, equity and inclusion statements and it's on their website and it looks nice. But how do you treat the people at your organization? What kind of policies, what are procedures? Are those equitable? Are those inclusive? Are those support staff across the board? So that's kind of how I see equity at the workplace.
Speaker 3:And, if I hear you correctly, libby, quality is our end goal. Right and equitable practices are our way to get to that equality.
Speaker 2:Exactly so. We create equitable practices so that we're not saying that everyone gets the exact same thing, but everyone gets exactly what they need to be successful, which inevitably creates an equality within the workplace.
Speaker 3:But that's hard, right. I mean, we talk about policies, so standardize is one of the words, right, we love that word standard, standard, standard. So how do we work that in, like flexibility, into our policies? Lindsay, let's talk about how we do that at Zedek.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one thing that comes to mind right off the bat is we have a pay structure policy. So if we were to say you know, we embrace equality at our work, okay, everyone gets paid the same, everyone gets paid equally, will know, of course not. People have different tasks, people. The executive director has a lot more responsibility than myself as the operations director. Jennifer's been at the organization for 11 years, so she has a lot of institutional knowledge about the organization. So our pay is based not across the board, but based on your role, the responsibilities that you hold, how long that you've been in the organization. So that's one example of the top of the head when it comes to equity in the workplace that I think everyone can relate to.
Speaker 3:So how are we setting a standard for pay then?
Speaker 1:Well, for one, we don't make it based on merit. So it's not based on what you received at your previous job. Statistic show we can point to data that says white men make more on the dollar than women, than black men, than black women, than indigenous people, so on and so forth. So why would we continue to pay that disparity? So it's not based on education, it's not based on background, it's not based on what you were making at your previous job. It's based on what we know that you can do and what the role requires.
Speaker 2:So I also think that it's important to acknowledge that the pay structure also takes into account where we live. We're very committed to making sure that we are paying folks a wage that allows them to live in Asheville right. We know that traditionally, job growth has not kept up with the cost of living in Asheville, and that there are lots of jobs that are coming to Asheville that are low-wage jobs and make it really hard for those people in those jobs to only work one job, and so we want to make sure that we are honoring each person's humanity and that they are being paid at a rate that creates a living situation for them, so they're not having to work two and three jobs.
Speaker 3:Okay, so we're paying them well. So what about hiring?
Speaker 2:We don't set up job descriptions with someone's college education in mind. We honor lived experiences. We want to make sure that in our hiring practices that we are not so focused on academics, but that we also acknowledge that what you've lived for the last 15 years is just as important as a college degree. So we look for skill sets and we're looking for people that fit into the culture of Zedek and that doesn't necessarily require a bachelor's degree, a master's or a PhD.
Speaker 1:Well, while we're talking about compensation, can we talk about our pay time off policy? Yes, so a lot of jobs that I've had in the past and seen other people work for. It's okay. You have federal holidays, vacation days and sick days, and that's it right. Those federal holidays include Columbus Day, july 4th, veterans Day, easter, thanksgiving, christmas, new Year's Day, so on some level, that excludes our Jewish staff, jewish workers, muslim workers, indigenous workers I don't know that. You know Indigenous people are excited about celebrating July 4th, for example. Fortunately, juneteenth was added to the federal list, but that was a few years prior. That wasn't acknowledged. So the way that our pay time off is set up is you have this number of days per year and you can take them off whenever you want to take them off. You want to celebrate Flag Day? You can celebrate Flag Day. If you want to just take Friday off and have you know, go for a walk, whatever. Take care of yourself, do what you need to do. These are your days. They're part of your compensation, they're part of your benefits.
Speaker 3:And again, it's that flexibility right that allows that to be an equitable practice.
Speaker 2:Right, and also the hours that we work in a week. What is considered full-time for Zedek is a 32-hour week. We know that traditionally folks are expected to work 40 hours, but again, thinking about honoring folks' humanity and giving people the time to take care of themselves, a 32-hour work week for Zedek seems much more humane than a 40-hour work week.
Speaker 1:And that's just it. Centering the humanity, acknowledging that we all have lives outside of our work. Centering humanity taking the time off that you need to take off without the federal holiday, determining which days those are. Removing barriers. There's an organization, I believe it's called the Farmers Jewish Network. I hope I didn't get that wrong, but they produced a zine specifically to advocate for Jewish people in the workplace to get Jewish holidays off. So removing barriers is another piece of an equitable workplace. And then cultivating a culture of trust. You have those times off. We trust that you're going to take them off and take care of yourself. We trust that you're not going to take more that. We trust that you're going to do your work really.
Speaker 2:We trust that you're going to do your work and it's the idea that you trust unless given a reason not to trust, right? Isn't that something that we all deserve? That if we say we're going to do it, we trust that each person is going to pull their weight and we negotiate, and whenever we see that that's not happening, and my personal experience has been that when you are taking care of as an employee, you'll work it.
Speaker 1:Go above and beyond, you will work it.
Speaker 3:Because you value that right. You value being held and having a place where you can show up as a human being. Speaking of pay time off, there's also caregiver policy right, and not everyone accesses that at the same time or in the same time frame. So what tells us a little bit more about this caregiver policy?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So the caregiver policy came around when one of our staff was taking care of their mother and their mother had dementia and was also on kidney dialysis and had to drive an hour three times a week to receive kidney dialysis. Now the staff did an amazing job balancing work. They got everything done and they were wearing thin burning out and we recognized that, okay, we can support this stuff. Again, equitable what is the equitable thing? Does everyone get this? No, but this person has a special circumstance. So we developed a caregiver policy pretty much on the fly, as a lot of policies are created. That says you have so many hours a year that you can take. The caregiver provides care for someone who has short-term, long-term disability, illness, injury can range from taking someone to kidney dialysis or running errands for them or taking them to a doctor's appointment. So the caregiver policy we have four weeks addition out of the year that that employee would receive full pay for their time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, four weeks, four weeks, so an entire month of additional outside of PTO.
Speaker 1:That's right, and oftentimes it's not consecutive time. I find it's often three hours here, four hours here, one day here, one day here. Some of you who are in that role of caregiver know that it can pop up at any given time. So, having that flexibility, having that resource and again not acknowledging that you have your paid time off, that's paid time off to celebrate holidays of your choice, to rest, to recover, to go on vacation, to travel, so on and so forth, to be at your kid's graduation, to do all of the things. You need that time and sometimes you need to provide care for someone close to you and so that caregiver leave that caregiver time is there for you.
Speaker 2:And I will be very transparent and say my first year at Zedek I lost my dad and I remember Lindsey saying take the time, take the time, but I came from a background where you didn't have that time. So I think it's very important what we do here at Zedek in terms of making sure that we are honoring the whole person right. So it's not just honoring Lindsey as a worker, but it's honoring Lindsey as a human who has all these things happening in life around her and who might need this extra time to be able to care for someone and to be able to come back to Zedek still feel supported and feel like they haven't been rushed through a process that can be emotionally draining. Does that make sense?
Speaker 3:Entirely.
Speaker 1:Well, because often it impacts others yes, and others that you work with the people that you serve. If you're not showing up as your best self which we can't do all the time anyway but if you're going through this grieving process, then it's better for everyone to take that time and take care of yourself and do what you have to do. When we talk about equity.
Speaker 3:The kickback is often like well, that's not fair, right, but if my belly is full, what problem do I have with your belly also being full, right? It's not taking away from anyone else. So what else are we doing at Zedek?
Speaker 1:Well, something that came up for me is that I do recognize that we are a funder and we are in a privileged place to provide our staff with well paying jobs, with plenty of time off, and when we were developing these policies something that, working with Amy Mandel, the founder funder when I first started working here seven or so years ago we kept coming back to we want to be the change that we want to see, and so when we see people running ragged and their employers extracting every ounce of juice from them to get the job done, that's not what we want to see. We want to see employees who have time and space and can rest. They can recuperate, they can recover, they can grieve, they can take care of their loved ones, they can afford to live here. They can be the change that we want to see in the world. As I create a policy, that's something that I keep coming back to as well.
Speaker 3:And now I think we can touch a little bit upon this mindfulness, because not only do you create the policies, but you enforce them, and I say that in a beautiful, loving way, but really you are often the voice that's like hey, remember, you can take a break, breathe, come down.
Speaker 2:I thought you. I'm sorry, I thought you remember. I remember you were off today.
Speaker 1:Why are you calling me? You're off today. I like your impression of me, by the way, libby, but it's really beautiful.
Speaker 3:Yes, and it's really hard to adjust to when you haven't been treated that way in a workplace.
Speaker 1:Well, part of our mission at Zeduck is systems change and community healing, and I hope that when people come to work at Zeduck they experience some healing. I know I have. I know that I've brought a lot of distrust to employers and defensiveness and things that I don't want to carry In working here I feel, oh, I'm appreciated, oh, I am trusted. You trust me to take time off. You trust me that I'll get my work done. So it's been a healing process for me too, and I see that a lot with people who come in and have similar experiences.
Speaker 2:It is hard coming into a place like Zeduck, where you're used to the norm being that you're expected to grind harder every day, do more with less, and then to come into a space of abundance where people not only honor what you do but they honor you as a human being. I think that's something that's really special and I have to hope that it's something that we're able to support other groups in doing and thinking more about how policies are created. I can say that my being at Zeduck has certainly impacted the work that I do on the board of YTO and some policies that we've started to institute there, because of the experiences that I have here, and it is about knowing that when you truly take care of your employees, they truly do great work and they take care of the organization and they're able to show up in spaces happy, healthy maybe not whole all the time, but as whole as we can support them in being.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 3:And the nonprofit industrial complex does a terrible job. I mean well, a very efficient job of kind of like chewing up and spitting out top talent, because you attract talent that believe in the mission and the vision of the work. And so that alignment between what you say you're about outside right that mission vision piece and what you're doing internally and how you're treating your people is critical right.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. So, Lindsay, could you talk a little bit about our conflict of interest policy, and I'll tell you guys why I specifically wanted to talk about this policy. When we think about the word conflict, it generally has some type of negative connotation, but I'd love for you to explain what that looks like. In said it turns.
Speaker 1:Sure, well, asheville's a relatively small place and there's a lot of nonprofit organizations, and so we acknowledge that there's going to be multiple crossover in your time and space. So you know, libby, you're on the board of YTL, you're Zedx executive director, you're involved with the RSAA, you're involved in a lot of different organizations. We encourage that. That's not a bad thing. And so the complex of interest policy just asks to name those things, be transparent, say yes, I'm involved in all of these things, laying it out on the table.
Speaker 1:And when a time and a place comes up for example, we're deciding on whether or not to give YTL a grant, for example the complex of interest policy says okay, I'm on the board, I can't be part of this conversation, I'm just going to step outside. And so it's not something to avoid, it's not a matter of oh well, you can't do this because you're involved with this, or oh, this is a problem here. It's not by nature problematic, it's natural. Of course, you're going to be in a lot of different things. And so the complex of interest policy just says let's just talk about it. You know, the policy says it can be managed. And so we manage that conflict by being transparent and talking about it and recusing ourselves when situations come up that you don't need to be part of the conversation and that's it and I remember when I was hired, I was like what we're going to do, what we're going to talk about it?
Speaker 2:Because I had been employed in places where it was like, well, we need you to separate yourself from this organization and separate yourself from that organization. So what does that do for an employee when you tell them they need to cut off ties to things that they've been passionate about and have been working towards because of what? So I love the idea that we can manage by having conversations and being transparent and, specifically when we're making decisions, that there might be some quads over and making sure that we are clear how we handle those situations.
Speaker 3:And that community connection and engagement right. That's a gift. This is not something to shy away or avoid.
Speaker 1:It's probably why we hired you in the first place.
Speaker 3:So does that make just aesthetic just so different? What we're talking about here can't translate to other organizations. Not at all.
Speaker 2:I don't think so I don't think so either, and what I'm hoping is that folks can hear this right and maybe reach out and say these are some of the issues that we have in our workplace. Is there any space where you all might be able to and I say you all is if I'm not talking about Lindsey, but does Lindsey even have the capacity to maybe support us in thinking differently about how we structure our policies and our procedures? That word mindful is very important, because when being mindful, you have to take into account multiple things, and one of the most important things you take into account is how does the system allow this land for the employees? What does it do? How do we honor their humanity and what does that look like within this specific policy, whether it's around conflict of interest, whether it's around pay, whatever it might be about, how do we ensure that, as an organization that talks a lot about trust, that we are trusting in the humanity and honoring the humanity of the people who work with us?
Speaker 3:And equity cannot be removed from that equation. It has to be equity, or else you're taking like a colorblind approach. Yes, not only is that not accurate, but it is actually inhumane and against the very causes that we're fighting for.
Speaker 1:And as organizations strive to be more equitable in their internal practices. I can share. Believe it was Rob Thomas with Racial Justice Coalition who said equity is often at odds with efficiency. Yes, and I can't agree with that more because, in full disclosure, I don't have a human resources background. This has all been on the job, learning as I go.
Speaker 1:I have had our policies reviewed by an attorney, but what I have found is, as developing these, you can't cut and paste a policy. I mean, there's so many templates online. You go online oh, I need a record retention policy, let me see what I can find. We Google and we look, oh, here's a template download. But then when you really read what the policy says and maybe records retention isn't the best example but when you read what it says, it's so often punitive, it's so often power over employees, so often Well, just not in line with our values as an organization. And so, in many ways, I've had to write these policies from scratch, of course, informed by research and informed by attorneys advice. But having those policies aligned with Zed X values took a lot of work. And so, if you're thinking about developing equitable policies at your organization, give yourself plenty of time, review your values and seek other resources. Run it by someone who you know can enforce the policies you know. That's another piece. If it's if there's no buy-in from your organization, that can be challenging too.
Speaker 3:And another thing that I would throw in there is to reimagine how you're measuring success. Maybe maybe the enemy of efficiency to start with, because it takes time and it takes intention. It is not the enemy of productivity or sustainability or longevity retention, all those things that also carry high costs.
Speaker 2:Employee retention organizational culture oh yes, organizational culture, something we haven't really talked a lot about. Our policies do support what we say we value, and it supports how we work together, how we move together, the ways that we're able to contribute to a healthy workspace.
Speaker 3:All right, my friends, any final thoughts before we wrap this up.
Speaker 1:Thank you all for bringing this topic to the radio waves, to the sound waves, because it's one that I think sometimes gets left out of the equity equation, maybe because it's not just kind of dry, it's kind of boring. But for me, I think that's, it's substantive. It's where the substance is, where the meat, where the juice is, it's where the good stuff is.
Speaker 3:What I hear is equity is a real sexy.
Speaker 2:Well, and it is really sexy around here and the reality is, if we are not operating from a place of equity and we think about the funding that we do, we think about our buckets and we think about what it means when we talk about social justice, it only makes sense that you would create policies that would be equitable. And, yes, as funders, we have a little bit more leeway and privilege, and this is not undoable in organizations that aren't funders. This is not something that is that you cannot navigate, but what it takes is patience, time and a true desire to honor individual humanity.
Speaker 3:Lindsay, I just want to take this opportunity to personally thank you. Can I tell you how transformative like truly for my life, my family's life, it has been to be doing this work here, and I know that your mind and your genius has contributed a ton to that, and so I want to thank you for that.
Speaker 2:And I want to give you a couple of snaps for that, because it truly is remarkable the way that you do the work that you do, and so thank you so much for being so mindful. Thanks, y'all.
Speaker 3:Before we go, I'd like to leave you with inspiration to catalyze innovation and liberation from the inside out and outside in. This is Dr Tai East Ruffin, chair of Education, and Director and Professor of African Studies and Education at UNC. Asheville's 2020 commencement address.
Speaker 4:Please do not be a bystander in the pursuit of an equitable and just world. As Fannie Lou Hamer said, prominent civil rights activists, nobody's free until everybody's free. Dr King also said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. I encourage you be warriors for justice and be torch bearers of equity. Reject the ideologies that sow divisions and thrive on the dehumanization of others. Use your strengthened intellectual acumen to fight for justice and to stand up for others. Really, come on. What are humans without humanity?
Speaker 4:As you continue on, please believe in your power to make the right decision. Please grant yourself some grace when you stumble. Learn from your challenges and don your armor of resilience. Yes, you will face many obstacles along the way, but every obstacle is another opportunity to reimagine. The impossible. Failure is only when you give up, no matter what.
Speaker 4:Stay positive, stay engaged with confidence. Use an internal courage and the fortitude to keep going. Never give up. Let your tracks leave a footprint or an impression or mark that you were here and that you were made an impact, a difference, but make sure your tracks are grounded in justice and equity. Let fairness, respect, value, the dignity of others and honor be one of your anchors. Understand that your humanity is linked to all humanity. Your humanity has to be linked to all humanity so that you do not dehumanize, push people to the margins or disenfranchise. Continue to navigate the world with all of that self-awareness, with justice, equity and humanity as your anchors. Shake things up, flip the script in society, sometimes reversing the norms and the status quo. Do the unexpected and be revolutionary. Your voices are important. They must be heard, seen. Keep doing what is right for our humanity.
Speaker 3:Keep doing what is right for our humanity. Dr Ruffin, that me just be the medicine that we need. All right people, you know the deal we will see you same time, same place, next month. Until then, peace, peace, no-transcript.