“Allies are people who bring change to life in a given setting,” said Sarah Benczik, principal at Deloitte, during her presentation at One In Tech’s seminar during last month’s ISACA Conference Europe. The workshop, “Allies Required: Your Role in the Evolving Digital Trust Workforce,” focused on the allyship journey: exploring the continuum required to learn and grow as an ally for diversity, equity and inclusion. Benczik shared details on how women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented tech professionals can identify potential allies in their organizations or in their professional networks.
What – or Who – is an Ally?
Anyone. We all have intersectional identities that afford us privileges others may not experience as well as those that marginalize us. Anyone can use their power and privilege where applicable to advocate for another by being:
- Empathetic. Allies need to understand the challenges marginalized people face, or possess a willingness to listen, learn, and support us through these challenges.
- Inclusive. Allies should be deliberate about including marginalized people in conversations, events, job opportunities, and projects, and ask for their perspectives, insights and opinions.
- Courageous. It takes courage to stand up, speak out, break barriers, change opinions, wake up, and open eyes to ensure the urgency of equity and inclusion are taken seriously.
- An Advocate. Often, our allies have close relationships with marginalized people who they may be advocating for outside of the workplace.
- Action-Takers. There is a big difference between someone who says they are an ally and someone who takes visible, sometimes controversial, action to demonstrate that they are.
- Relationship-Builders. Allies with strong relationships and the ability to influence others, whether in a leadership role, or other power role, are often the most effective by educating, building trust and rallying support
What an Ally Is NOT:
- Patient. This is a people issue that requires a sense of urgency; an impatient person is going to be more effective at moving the needle.
- Competitive. If we are seen as the competition, we are often overlooked or deliberately alienated.
- Selfish. Finding compassionate, altruistic, caring and selfless supporters is a challenge, so you may want to show the value of allyship if you think someone has the potential to become an ally.
- Toxic. Toxicity can fester in many ways, even appearing to be positive. Drill down to understand a potential ally’s motivation to understand if they are actually an ally or not.
- Uneducated. This doesn’t mean someone without a university education; this refers to someone who is unaware of the challenges underrepresented people face and has yet to express an interest in learning about them.
- Closed-minded. Unless you are up for a giant challenge, you should seek another ally.
- Defensive. Being an ally will often be uncomfortable; a person with a defensive personality likely won’t support you once their position is challenged.