E-Newsletter March 2022
Friends + Colleagues,
What a March it’s been! COVID-19 pandemic infection rates are slowing, international events seem to distract us on a daily basis and we’re only beginning to understand how different our world has become as a result of the changes globally, nationally, and locally. In the Team Dynamics’ values of Presence, Possibility, Courage, Connection, Embodied + Enheartened, and Justice, we’re inviting you to consider how being present in the body you’re in now can lead to possibility through connection with others (in any shape that may take), what you need to feel courageous so that justice is not just an end goal, but a regular practice.
Team Dynamics Partnership with CultureSource
We are THRILLED about our new partnership! For the next two years, Team Dynamics’ Tyrai Bronson and Levi Weinhagen will be the Equity Strategists in Residence for Culture Source!
We define culture as noticing and naming patterns, how we learned them and what those patterns mean to us. We know that culture’s impact can be a wellspring and an impactful reality for many folks on the margins.
CultureSource’s vision of flourishing Southeast Michigan communities that benefit from a thriving arts and culture sector—and its core principles, including a responsibility to elevate marginalized perspectives and creativity being fundamental—makes this partnership a joyful collaboration.
In our collaboration, we’ll co-create equity-focused programs, create new tools and resources, record special episodes of BEHAVE, and provide weekly equity strategy advice office hours all for CultureSource members.
Check out our blog for more updates about this exciting new collaboration.
What International Conflict Brings Up in the Workplace
Four weeks ago, despite urgent warnings, the world was shocked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since the conflict began, Ukrainian defense forces have delayed what the Kremlin believed to be a relatively uncomplicated proposition. Though resistance is high, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to press for international intervention and aid.
And while the outpouring of support and solidarity is encouraging at the seeming height of global division, there are still institutional differences making a difference for Ukrainian refugees and immigrants within Ukraine.
According to Vice, transgender Ukrainians face an impossible choice: stay and wait, or flee without documents to other countries openly hostile to LGBTQ+ people. Inside Ukraine, transgender women face stringent regulations to change their documentation to reflect their gender identity (until December 2016, surgery was a prerequisite for any change to one’s documentation and it was granted to only seven people).
Getting to Pay Equity for All Women
March is Women’s History Month and as a People of Color-, woman- and LGBTQ+-owned national strategy firm, Team Dynamics is grateful to be co-founded and led by Trina C. Olson and supported by the work of a majority woman-identified staff.
We also know that race and gender are the differences that make a difference in the workplace and that mixed teams are more effective than homogenous teams—if and only if—they intentionally build the capacity to acknowledge and leverage differences as assets. Team Dynamics is stronger because of our differences and is honored to share the practices that help Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit, and allied workers live their fullest lives.
Even so, our experiences have shown us that—without the intentional work of self-awareness and questioning what we’ve come to accept as “standard practices” in workplaces—inequity is still pervasive, frustrating, and self-replicating.
According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), Women’s Equal Pay Day is March 15, a date on which, women will need to work (in addition to the preceding year) to match the pay of men in the workplace. It changes and is indexed based on gains or losses in pay equity measured each year. Women, on the whole, will have to work 15 months and 15 days to earn the same amount that men earn in just 365 days.
Frustratingly and unsurprisingly, pay equity among women is … inequitable. Because race is the primary difference that makes a difference,
Asian/Pacific Islander + Indigenous Hawaiian women’s Equal Pay Day is May 3, meaning that API + Native Hawaiian women will need to work an additional 138 days more to equal get the equal pay of men.
Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is September 21, an additional 279 days of work. Indigenous Women’s Equal Pay Day is November 30, 329 days more of work for the first women of North America.
And Latinx Women’s Equal Pay Day is December 8, 357 days, meaning almost a full two years of work to equal the pay of men.
In real money, Asian/Pacific Islander + Indigenous Hawaiian women are paid 75 cents for every dollar paid to white men. Black women are paid 58 cents for every dollar paid to white men. Indigenous women are paid 50 cents for every dollar paid to white men. Latinx women are paid 49 cents for every dollar paid to white men.
But statistics are overwhelming for the uninitiated and cause an obsession with the problem for the unprepared. Team Dynamics always offers solutions for your pressing pay equity questions! In “HIRING REVOLUTION: A Guide to Disrupt Racism + Sexism in Hiring,” Trina C. Olson + Alfonso Wenker outline how, when starting at the beginning of the hiring process, pay equity can be simply addressed with the Sample Job Description that outlines salary in a transparent way.
And, if pay equity is something you’d like to address after your team is assembled, but there’s no clear bridge to get to the other side, we highly recommend the tools, Notice/Name/Navigate and Investigate Our Instinct. Remember that all these tools are designed to be used in combination with HIRING REVOLUTION, so be sure to purchase your copy today by CLICKING HERE.
Breaking Through: Strong Enough + Fast Enough
Tyrai Bronson, Vice President of Capacity Building, offers her perspective on how womanhood was shaped for her and the women who guided her journey.
This entire month is dedicated to celebrating the amazing women that have contributed to our world and our lives. At Team Dynamics, we use an activity that helps us and our clients get more familiar with how we have come to know our identities and the events, beliefs, and experiences that have shaped that understanding. So, I decided to break down my gender identity and reflect on the influences that have shaped womanhood for me so far. Let’s start with my definition.
wom•an
/ˈwo͝omən/
noun
A person whose innermost concept of self is most related to the socially constructed ideas and expectations of a “woman”
BEHAVE Podcast
This March has been a good reminder for Alfonso + Trina to share with listeners that diversity, equity, and inclusion are actions and verbs. When we allow ourselves to think there is a point where we’ve enshrined DEI, we have to begin again, interrogating if comfort is being confused with safety.
Remember that we love hearing from you and answering your equity + justice questions! Send us an email by emailing BEHAVE@teamdynamicsmn.com or if you prefer to remain anonymous, send us a question by CLICKING HERE.
Episode 2208: Listener Question - Leaving Well
"Culture change requires community organizing."
Trina + Alfonso respond to an anonymous listener question. A white, straight, man who helped move some internal equity work forward at an organization has changed organizations but still feels connected to the work + isn't sure if he should stay directly involved or not. Our hosts offer ways to talk about shared leadership when doing workplace equity work + share some key questions to ask oneself about the role you can + should play at work.
“When I make that shift in behavior + thinking, what’s next? Not, now I’m done.”
Trina + Alfonso share a zippy, lightning-round episode focused on continuing to build + learn in equity work rather than wanting to reach a finish line.
Episode 2206: Unsafe vs. Uncomfortable
“Doing new stuff is uncomfortable… until it’s a pattern.”
One of the challenges of discomfort is that it can remind us of other kinds of pain, other kinds of trauma, other kinds of fear, and sometimes it can remind us of times we have felt unsafe. Alfonso + Trina share some ways of noticing when we are experiencing discomfort as a lack of safety and reminders of the choices + opportunities those experiences offer.
Wins Along the Way
THANK YOU FOR MAKING “Why Race + Gender Matter at Work” A SUCCESS!
We launched our first online series for the general public on March 3 to a national and international audience who are beginning to revolutionize how they’re approaching workplace equity + justice.
Thank you to Trina C. Olson + Tyrai Bronson for guiding online participants through this new offering! Thank you to Alexa McIndoe + Alfred Walking Bull for your work in making this inaugural online series happen!
In case you missed this launch, don’t worry! We will keep you apprised of new opportunities to engage with this series later in the year!
Connection + Possibility
Did you know …
Team Dynamics Co-Founders Alfonso Wenker + Trina C. Olson are available for your workplace you have a special breakout session at an upcoming conference, are in need of experienced perspectives on hiring successful, mixed teams of all-stars, or are looking for expertise for your podcast, Alfonso + Trina are available for your audience!
To learn more about how to connect with us for your workplace’s individual equity journey needs, email us at Team@TeamDynamicsMN.com, and tell us about you! We’d love to be in touch!