We’re thrilled that our own Caroline Dwyer, a project manager at Renaissance Planning, will be presenting a panel within the National Planning Conference 2021 (NPC21). Caroline shares her thoughts about the presentation below, with details about the presentation at the bottom. Thanks Caroline!
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On May 7, 2021 at 10 AM (Eastern) I will be moderating a live panel discussion at NPC21 called “Confront and Dismantle Discriminatory Workplace Practices,” presented in coordination with APA’s Career Center and sponsored by APA’s Women & Planning Division. This session was originally scheduled to be presented at last year’s conference in Houston which, unfortunately, did not take place as planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m excited that we’ve been given another opportunity to present this session as our discussion topic remains critically relevant.
First off – full-disclosure – I’m ashamed to admit that I never considered how cis-gender, white dominant “professional norms” impact people of color and the LGBTQ+ community in the workplace. For those new to this topic “the narrative of white supremacy that underpins professionalism today, playing out in the hiring, firing, and day-to-day management of workplaces around the world… unfolds many ways: in white and Western standards of dress and hairstyle (straightened hair, suits but not saris, and burqa and beard bans in some countries); in speech, accent, word choice, and communication (never show emotion, must sound ‘American,’ and must speak white standard English); in scrutiny (black employees are monitored more closely and face more penalties as a result); and in attitudes toward timeliness and work style.”
As a student and practitioner of urban planning, I am – of course - aware of the discriminatory practices that are literally baked into the bones of our communities. And as a planner, I am committed to exposing and dismantling these practices without question. But I will be the first to admit that – from my position of privilege (white, cis, educated, financially stable) – I never questioned the exclusive, discriminatory, and deeply damaging roots of the dominant professional norms.
In 2018, I came across an article called “How Black Women Describe Navigating Race and Gender in the Workplace” by Maura Cheeks and published in the Harvard Business Review. Featuring interviews with ten women of color, this article is full of honest testimony that blew apart my ignorance and opened my eyes to the discrimination, racism, classism, and misogyny perpetuated by what are blithely accepted as professional norms. I’ve revisited, reread, shared, and discussed this article (and others like it) many times in the last four years; sometimes as a personal reminder and sometimes to facilitate understanding in other people (especially white women) like me.
My awareness of this issue compels me to help others (like me) who are complicit in perpetuating white, western supremacist norms. The session I am moderating is both informational and a call to action. My co-panelists will be answering questions live and sharing their own professional experiences and session attendees will be asked to brainstorm solutions and commit to taking action in their own workplaces. My goal is to provide attendees with the knowledge (and a few useful tools) they need to question and help break down previously unchallenged standards of white, straight, western-dominant professionalism.
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Caroline’s presentation “Confront and Dismantle Discriminatory Workplace Practices” will be presented live at the American Planning Association annual conference NPC21 on May 7, 2021, 10 AM (eastern). Panelists include: Chloé Greene (Abt Associates; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Associate); Monica Tibbits-Nutt (Executive Director of 128 Business Council; Vice-Chair, MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board; Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board of Directors; Vice- President, Youth Engagement Planning (YEP!)); Daniel Besinaiz (Assistant Planner at Bossier City-Parish Metropolitan Planning Commission; Communications Co-Chair APA Latinos and Planning Division); and Chanelle Frazier (emerging planner and grant writer based in Houston, Texas; Director of Chapter Engagement APA Women and Planning Division). Learn more about Caroline here.