Paradigm for Parity® Coalition Presents Very Courageous Conversations: Remembering Juneteenth and Recognizing the Challenges Black Women Face in the Workplace

Featuring Amber Joiner Hill, Owner and Principal Consultant of Magnolia Detroit Consulting

Juneteenth officially recognizes June 19th, the anniversary of the 1865 emancipation of enslaved people in the United States

This second video in the Paradigm for Parity® coalition’s Very Courageous Conversations series honors the anniversary of Juneteenth, highlighting the obstacles Black women face in the workplace and the impact on their mental health. The video features Amber Joiner Hill, Owner and Principal Consultant of Magnolia Detroit Consulting, Dr. Tracy Laszloffy representing the Center for Relationship Healing and Jackie Glenn, Founder/CEO of Glenn Diversity and HR Solutions.

In discussing solutions to address toxic workplaces, especially for Black employees, Amber Joiner Hill says “employers [must] realize that if you don’t change, like make meaningful, impactful, systemic changes in order to keep your Black female workforce, we will leave.”

Jackie Glenn emphasizes that companies “really have to bring in… psychologists and mental health professionals” to uplift and support Black voices, and to also give them the tools they need to succeed. Jackie has been encouraging CEOs “to have a roundtable [with their employees] especially with people of color in their organizations. I call it amplifying the voices.” She said that when CEOs do this, they hear the very real challenges their employees may be facing that they otherwise would not know.

Dr. Tracy Laszloffy says that it’s not on the employer alone. It’s also on their white colleagues to listen and begin to understand their Black co-workers. “I think this is the greatest challenge that we as white people have, to listen, to hear, to validate and to not challenge, lecture and deny because this is one of the major breakdowns in conversations cross racially” understanding that “intentions are a lovely thing, but it’s consequences that matter.”

Visit our YouTube channel to view the first video, Very Courageous Conversations: Addressing the Barriers Asian American Pacific Islander Women Face in the Workplace, featuring Ennie Lim, Founder of Honeybee for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.