you know we talk a lot about redefining the 'career path'.

We talk about listening to your instincts, following your passion, and daring to align your deepest values with the work that you do every day.

We talk about having more or less experience, more or less financial stability, more or less talent / connections / luck...you fill in the blank.

What we don't talk about is how each and every one of those characteristics is tied directly into the system of racism that we all operate within as Americans. We share passions, we share values. We do not share equal footing, we do not share in the justice of a starting point that is equitable for each of those people sharing those passions and values. 

This is a blind spot for us at GFJ. As we examine it, we see areas in which we can begin to influence change. One of those is in the hiring process. Your team member, your colleague, your business or organization or enterprise, begins with your Want Ad. How your business operates depends on how you treat your employees, and how you treat your employees depends on how you conduct your interviews and write your job descriptions. The circle is real, and unlike the sun, it can be blinding when we fail to look directly into it.

Let's work backward...

How are you operating your business? What are your values? How do those values extend through your daily operations? What happens to those values at times of stress or struggle?

How are you treating your employees? Do people receive training when they need it? Are educational opportunities folded into daily work? Do people receive support toward advancement both within and outside of your business?

How are you hiring people? We wrote recently about ideas for expanding your Job Requirements by identifying language and standards that are narrowing. We invite you to look at some other key aspects of your job post:

/ the Equal Opportunity Employment statement / not something to copy and paste in, but an opportunity for reflection on and implementation of those values we ask about above. This instantly creates a flow of communication to your future colleague about what it feels like to work with you.

/ Pay Rate / transparency is key, and benefits are part of the package, but if you're not looking at how to make your pay rates equitable across your team members, according to the value of the business itself (because what is your business without those team members?) then you have not yet begun.

/ Name Bias* / numerous studies have been conducted on how bias is at work in reading the first line of a person's resume: their name. Here's a revolutionary idea: ask applicants to leave their name off of their resume, and include only their email address / phone number / contact info. Sound awkward? Then you're on the right track.

/ Job Requirements / the 'ideal characteristics' that form the standard of what employers consider desirable - speed, perfectionism, unchecked growth - align with those of a white supremacist culture (as outlined in Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups). How do your preferred traits match up against your beliefs and knowledge about sustainable food? How can rethinking your benchmarks lead to a culture that is nourishing, rather than extractive?

Have questions or additional ideas? We're all ears, and we look forward to talking more in depth about each of these aspects, and more, in the coming weeks.
 

In food, justice, and food justice, 

Dor + Tay
 

* shout out to newsletter reader (and dear friend) Amanda Clancy for pushing us to look more closely at alternatives to the status quo of name bias

photo by Shaun Swingler for GFJ Stories