Creating justice-centered organizations is the next frontier in DEI. This book shows how to go beyond compliance to address harm, share power, and create equity.

Traditional DEI work has not succeeded at dismantling systems that perpetuate harm and exclude BIPOC groups. Proponents of DEI have put too much focus on HR solutions, such as increasing representation, and not enough emphasis on changing the deeper organizational systems that perpetuate inequities—in other words, on justice. DEIJ work diverges from traditional metrics-driven DEI work and requires a new approach to effectively dismantle power structures.

This thought-provoking, solutions-oriented book offers strategic advice on how to adopt a justice mindset, anticipate and address resistance, shift power dynamics, and create a psychologically safe organizational culture. Individual chapters provide pragmatic how-to guides to implementing justice-centered practices in recruitment and hiring, data collection and analysis, learning and development, marketing and advertising, procurement, philanthropy, and more.

DEIJ pioneer Mary-Frances Winters and her coauthors address some of the most significant aspects of adding a justice focus to diversity work, showing how to create a workplace culture where equity is not a checklist of performative actions but a lived reality.
“Leveraging years of experience and measurable effectiveness, Mary-Frances Winters and her team have given us an excellent and accessible guide for integrating racial justice in the workplace. From operationalizing definitions, to expecting and responding to resistance, to assessing outcomes, this step-by-step manual needs to be in every organization's hands.” 
Robin DiAngelo, PhD, author of White Fragility: Why It's so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
 
“Once again, Mary-Frances Winters and The Winters Group lead the charge toward understanding and accountability to bring about immediate action and deep change for workplaces and societies. Reaching beyond DEI, Racial Justice at Work captures the next-level leadership required to transform organizations into stewards of justice, particularly for Black and brown people who have been harmed by exclusion. This book is a must-read for all who seek to disrupt inequitable systems and build those in which diverse communities can reach their full potential.”
—Laura Morgan Roberts, PhD, University of Virginia Associate Professor and CEO of The Alignment Quest Enterprise
 
“This highly illuminating book deserves to be read, and reread, by every executive who has even an inkling of curiosity regarding how they can foster a more just workplace. It unpacks the cartoonification of DEIJ narratives that tend to dominate our discourse and provides an extraordinary depth and breadth of insights, perspectives, and approaches. Kudos to Mary-Frances Winters and her colleagues for sharing so much of their wisdom in one place.”
—Jeremy Boal, MD, Chief Clinical Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, and President, Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Downtown
 
“Clear, concise and compelling, Mary-Frances Winters and her team have written the book every company needs. In explicit and easy-to-follow language, they lay out a road map for companies and senior level executives for achieving racial justice in the workplace. No longer will companies have to guess or wonder about how to operationalize their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
—Areva Martin, Esq., award-winning civil rights attorney and USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
 
“Mary-Frances Winters and The Winters Group bring justice into corporate culture with an incisive guide that articulates the need for systems and practices that produce equity and shift power in the workplace, then outlines a compelling plan for transformation. This book offers organizations an equity lens that puts justice into action everywhere, from entry-level positions to the C-suite. Following its plan will lead to organizational cultures where more employees, particularly those most marginalized by structural discrimination, can succeed and thrive.”
—Lurie Daniel Favors, Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College
Mary-Frances Winters is the founder and president of the Winters Group Inc. She was named a top ten diversity trailblazer by Forbes and a diversity pioneer by Profiles in Diversity Journal, and she is the recipient of the prestigious ATHENA Award as well as the Winds of Change Award conferred by the Forum on Workplace Inclusion. Winters is also the author of We Can’t Talk about That at Work, Inclusive Conversations, and Black Fatigue.

The Winters Group Team contributors are Kevin A. Carter, Megan Ellinghausen, Scott Ferry, Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez, Dr. Terrence Harewood, Tami Jackson, Dr. Megan Larson, Leigh Morrison, Katelyn Peterson, Mareisha N. Reese, Thamara Subramanian, and Rochelle Younan-Montgomery.
Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez View titles by Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez
Dr. Terrence Harewood View titles by Dr. Terrence Harewood
Rochelle Younan-Montgomery View titles by Rochelle Younan-Montgomery
Introduction: It’s about Correcting Harm, Mary-Frances Winters
Part I: Reimaging Justice in the Workplace
1.    Defining Justice, Mary-Frances Winters
2.    The Minimization, Weaponization, and Demonization of Racial Justice Concepts, Mary-Frances Winters
3.    Operationalizing Justice: A Radical Shift in Consciousness, Leigh Morrison
4.    The Leadership Imperative, Mary-Frances Winters
5.    A Developmental Approach to Racial Justice, Dr. Terrance Harewood
6.    Anticipating Resistance, Kevin Carter
7.    Addressing Resistance, Kevin Carter
8.    Neutrality Isn’t Neutral: Whose Values Do We Value in the Workplace?, Thamara Subramanian
Part II: Actualizing Justice in the Workplace
9.    Employees Can’t Be Safe Until They Feel Safe, Scott Ferry
10. Closed Mouths Don’t Get Justice, Katelyn Peterson
11.Accountability through Restorative Dialogue, Rochelle Younan-Montgomery
12.The Problem with “Professionalism,” Tami Jackson
13.Allyship Is for All, Scott Ferry
14.The Problem with DEIJ Data, Mary-Frances Winters
15.Make a Difference with Your DEIJ Data: A Four-Step Process, Thamara Subramanian
16.How to Make Reparations a Reality Now, Leigh Morrison and Tami Jackson
17.Recruiting, Hiring, and Other HR Practices for Racial Justice, Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez
18. Disrupting What It Means to Be a Productive and Healthy Workplace, Thamara Subramanian
19.A Racial Justice–Centered Approach to Learning and Development, Leigh Morrison
20.Justice in Procurement, Mareisha N. Reese
21.Automating Bias, Megan Ellinghausen
22.Disrupting the Racist Narrative in Marketing and Advertising, Dr. Megan Larson
23.Justice in Philanthropy, Mary-Frances Winters
Conclusion: Radical Change, Mary-Frances Winters

About

Creating justice-centered organizations is the next frontier in DEI. This book shows how to go beyond compliance to address harm, share power, and create equity.

Traditional DEI work has not succeeded at dismantling systems that perpetuate harm and exclude BIPOC groups. Proponents of DEI have put too much focus on HR solutions, such as increasing representation, and not enough emphasis on changing the deeper organizational systems that perpetuate inequities—in other words, on justice. DEIJ work diverges from traditional metrics-driven DEI work and requires a new approach to effectively dismantle power structures.

This thought-provoking, solutions-oriented book offers strategic advice on how to adopt a justice mindset, anticipate and address resistance, shift power dynamics, and create a psychologically safe organizational culture. Individual chapters provide pragmatic how-to guides to implementing justice-centered practices in recruitment and hiring, data collection and analysis, learning and development, marketing and advertising, procurement, philanthropy, and more.

DEIJ pioneer Mary-Frances Winters and her coauthors address some of the most significant aspects of adding a justice focus to diversity work, showing how to create a workplace culture where equity is not a checklist of performative actions but a lived reality.

Praise

“Leveraging years of experience and measurable effectiveness, Mary-Frances Winters and her team have given us an excellent and accessible guide for integrating racial justice in the workplace. From operationalizing definitions, to expecting and responding to resistance, to assessing outcomes, this step-by-step manual needs to be in every organization's hands.” 
Robin DiAngelo, PhD, author of White Fragility: Why It's so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
 
“Once again, Mary-Frances Winters and The Winters Group lead the charge toward understanding and accountability to bring about immediate action and deep change for workplaces and societies. Reaching beyond DEI, Racial Justice at Work captures the next-level leadership required to transform organizations into stewards of justice, particularly for Black and brown people who have been harmed by exclusion. This book is a must-read for all who seek to disrupt inequitable systems and build those in which diverse communities can reach their full potential.”
—Laura Morgan Roberts, PhD, University of Virginia Associate Professor and CEO of The Alignment Quest Enterprise
 
“This highly illuminating book deserves to be read, and reread, by every executive who has even an inkling of curiosity regarding how they can foster a more just workplace. It unpacks the cartoonification of DEIJ narratives that tend to dominate our discourse and provides an extraordinary depth and breadth of insights, perspectives, and approaches. Kudos to Mary-Frances Winters and her colleagues for sharing so much of their wisdom in one place.”
—Jeremy Boal, MD, Chief Clinical Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, and President, Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Downtown
 
“Clear, concise and compelling, Mary-Frances Winters and her team have written the book every company needs. In explicit and easy-to-follow language, they lay out a road map for companies and senior level executives for achieving racial justice in the workplace. No longer will companies have to guess or wonder about how to operationalize their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
—Areva Martin, Esq., award-winning civil rights attorney and USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
 
“Mary-Frances Winters and The Winters Group bring justice into corporate culture with an incisive guide that articulates the need for systems and practices that produce equity and shift power in the workplace, then outlines a compelling plan for transformation. This book offers organizations an equity lens that puts justice into action everywhere, from entry-level positions to the C-suite. Following its plan will lead to organizational cultures where more employees, particularly those most marginalized by structural discrimination, can succeed and thrive.”
—Lurie Daniel Favors, Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College

Author

Mary-Frances Winters is the founder and president of the Winters Group Inc. She was named a top ten diversity trailblazer by Forbes and a diversity pioneer by Profiles in Diversity Journal, and she is the recipient of the prestigious ATHENA Award as well as the Winds of Change Award conferred by the Forum on Workplace Inclusion. Winters is also the author of We Can’t Talk about That at Work, Inclusive Conversations, and Black Fatigue.

The Winters Group Team contributors are Kevin A. Carter, Megan Ellinghausen, Scott Ferry, Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez, Dr. Terrence Harewood, Tami Jackson, Dr. Megan Larson, Leigh Morrison, Katelyn Peterson, Mareisha N. Reese, Thamara Subramanian, and Rochelle Younan-Montgomery.
Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez View titles by Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez
Dr. Terrence Harewood View titles by Dr. Terrence Harewood
Rochelle Younan-Montgomery View titles by Rochelle Younan-Montgomery

Table of Contents

Introduction: It’s about Correcting Harm, Mary-Frances Winters
Part I: Reimaging Justice in the Workplace
1.    Defining Justice, Mary-Frances Winters
2.    The Minimization, Weaponization, and Demonization of Racial Justice Concepts, Mary-Frances Winters
3.    Operationalizing Justice: A Radical Shift in Consciousness, Leigh Morrison
4.    The Leadership Imperative, Mary-Frances Winters
5.    A Developmental Approach to Racial Justice, Dr. Terrance Harewood
6.    Anticipating Resistance, Kevin Carter
7.    Addressing Resistance, Kevin Carter
8.    Neutrality Isn’t Neutral: Whose Values Do We Value in the Workplace?, Thamara Subramanian
Part II: Actualizing Justice in the Workplace
9.    Employees Can’t Be Safe Until They Feel Safe, Scott Ferry
10. Closed Mouths Don’t Get Justice, Katelyn Peterson
11.Accountability through Restorative Dialogue, Rochelle Younan-Montgomery
12.The Problem with “Professionalism,” Tami Jackson
13.Allyship Is for All, Scott Ferry
14.The Problem with DEIJ Data, Mary-Frances Winters
15.Make a Difference with Your DEIJ Data: A Four-Step Process, Thamara Subramanian
16.How to Make Reparations a Reality Now, Leigh Morrison and Tami Jackson
17.Recruiting, Hiring, and Other HR Practices for Racial Justice, Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez
18. Disrupting What It Means to Be a Productive and Healthy Workplace, Thamara Subramanian
19.A Racial Justice–Centered Approach to Learning and Development, Leigh Morrison
20.Justice in Procurement, Mareisha N. Reese
21.Automating Bias, Megan Ellinghausen
22.Disrupting the Racist Narrative in Marketing and Advertising, Dr. Megan Larson
23.Justice in Philanthropy, Mary-Frances Winters
Conclusion: Radical Change, Mary-Frances Winters

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