Creating and Sustaining Programs to Engage, Retain, and Promote Employees of Color at All Levels

Description

To ensure a diverse leadership bench with the competencies and skills necessary to effectively lead tomorrow’s workforce, Hennepin County has intentionally developed programs supporting the leadership development of employees of color at all levels of the organization.

Consultants from the Hennepin County DEI department will share about three core leadership development programs that they administer:
• Employee Resource Group Program – Open to all employees, with more than 50 employees leading a community of 12 active affinity groups. The history, design, and outcomes of this program will be reviewed.
• Diversity Leadership Mentoring Program and Individual Contributor Mentoring Program – These two programs work together by employing graduates of the Diversity Leadership Mentoring Program to mentor participant groups of the Individual Contributor Mentoring Program (ICMP), creating opportunity for ICMP participants of color to see leaders who look like them, while normalizing leadership of color for white participants. The purpose, design, and outcomes of both programs will be examined.

Attendees will hear compelling stories about how leadership development of employees of color can be done — and sustained — through meaningful programming that benefits the organization and all employees.

Learning Outcomes:

• Acquire models of leadership development programming to implement in your organization
• Learn examples of ways to measure outcomes of leadership development programs
• Gain inspiration to look within your organization to leverage incredible talent that is often overlooked