Embracing Intersectionality: The Future of Equity

"Intersectionality is a metaphor for understanding the ways that multiple forms of inequality or disadvantage sometimes compound themselves and create obstacles that often are not understood among conventional ways of thinking." - Kimberlé Crenshaw, 1998

At Let’s Shake the Table, Inc., our work is rooted in identity. An understanding of how privilege (and a lack of privilege) functions is critical to the work we do in the Charlotte community. Race, gender, sexuality and religion often garner much attention in the workplace, but other identity components like age, socioeconomic status, upbringing, education level, geographic location and even core values layer into what makes us individuals. More importantly, it’s these layered identities (known as intersectionality) that create shared experiences that can translate into a preferential treatment from privileged groups known as affinity bias.

There’s a thin line between common interests and biased perspectives. And we know that addressing these biases can very easily feel like boiling the ocean, right? The good news is that we can not and should not be working to eradicate these biases. We don’t want to completely eliminate humanity from the work we do, especially as communications professionals – connecting with each other is our bread and butter! Instead, we want to drive understanding that the human experience is a complex one. Just because two people look alike doesn't dictate their likes, dislikes, preferences or experiences. That means we all must work a little harder to see, hear and understand each other. But the outcome of doing that work is truly magical.

That outcome is the true golden result of diversified perspectives, particularly for cross-functional strategic functions. You never know how a piece of messaging will resonate with different audiences; same goes for creative approaches and marketing channels. That’s the value of having a group of advisors with intersectional experiences collaborating to bring a concept to life – some might even call them… table shakers.