Michelle Powell, associate director of Racial Equity at Work at Management Leadership for Tomorrow, participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworks: 2023 Conference in Las Vegas on June 28-29.
Powell said that Management Leadership for Tomorrow’s (MLT) mission is to advance racial equity with a focus on the workplace.
“We do that in two parts: Helping to support persons of color, professionals, moving up through their career; and then also with a focus on the organizations themselves to make sure they are ready to receive those new leaders,” she said.
Powell said that if companies want to stay relevant and have a competitive advantage, they need to set DEI goals.
“Research definitely shows that there’s a strong correlation—a positive correlation—between DEI goals and improved outcomes overall for the business,” she added.
Powell also discussed five key pillars that MLT is focused on: representation, compensation, workplace culture, diversity spending through external activities, and contributions and investments. She added that risks that can come from collecting the wrong types of data include attrition, loss of productivity, and loss of income.
“Also, you have to look at investors: What’s important to them, and are you responding to that in the work that you’re doing?” Powell said.