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What I'll lead you through in these 19min

Employee Resource Groups as a flawed model of inclusion;

Alternative approaches to drive truly transformative impact;

That's it.

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Caveat 1 of 2

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

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Affinity Groups

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Business Resource Groups

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Employee Networks

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Caveat 2 of 2

My second caveat is that I come in peace. I recognise that ERG work is the kind of work that many of us hold close to our hearts – it may be personally special because it's how we started working in this field, it may feel important because it's when we get to keep our eyes and ears really close to the lived realities of our staff. I want you all to know I'm not here to attack them from the outside, but to rethink them from within: and I got the receipts! [click] Here you see a slightly younger version of myself, as I led 2 different chapters of my former employer's LGBTQIA+ employee resource group for meaningful 4 years – I even got an award for the work there [points at the image]!

So consider all this as coming from a friend, not a foe!

Btw, out of curiosity: who here was once or currently is an ERG lead or member? [raises hand]

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But before I share my take on this…

…let's share a bit of our experience with each other.

For reference, questions from Slido are designed to:

Create recognition
Surface tension
Make the argument feel shared, not imposed

Important to highlight: your contributions are not attributed – so do be candid to yourself and us all.

Slido 1 – “What Are ERGs Really Doing?”

Slide Question:� In your organisation, ERGs are primarily…

Options:

Community spaces
Event organisers
Strategy partners
Advocacy groups
I’m not sure

“Let’s start simple. No judgment here – just reality.� What are ERGs actually doing in your organisation today?”

Pause. Show results.

Then say:� “Interesting. Let’s keep that in mind as we go.”

Slido 2 – “Power Check”

Slide Question:� How much real decision-making power do ERGs have in your organisation?

Options:

None
Advisory only
Influence but no authority
Formal decision-making power

“This is where things get interesting.� Because activity and power are not the same thing.”

After results:� “So we have energy… but limited authority. Let’s hold that thought.”

Slido 3 – “The Collapse Question”

Slide Question:� If ERGs disappeared tomorrow, how much of your organisation's DEI system would collapse?

Slider: 1 (nothing) → 10 (everything)

Presenter Notes:� “This is my favorite question.� Because it tells us whether ERGs are community… or infrastructure.”

After results:� “If the number is high – we may be relying on ERGs more than we think.� If it’s low – we may be overestimating their impact.”

Then transition:� “Either way… something interesting is happening."

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Now time to get to it…

When ERGs become the centre of our DEI work,

they absorb our energy without shifting power.

So finally cutting to the chase: this is the point I wanted to bring to us all today – when ERGs become the center of our DEI work,

they absorb our energy without shifting power. And that is not what we want, is that?

And here I want to highlight 2 points of my proposition: the word "centre" – cause I've too often seen DEI functions and/or roles nearly wholly dedicated to this kind of work (and that's a trap!) and the point on "absorbing our energy" – and here I invite a critical eye on "what could I be doing with my time instead if I were not approving expense reports for the catering services of the Hispanic Heritage Month in our Oklahoma plant?"

My critique here is about ERGs becoming containers for structural DEI work. I'll now share 3 ways in which we inadvertently fall into this trap, and what we can do instead.

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1) The Activity Trap

6 heritage month events in a year

High attendance, strong engagement scores

Employees say “this is great!”

But… is it really?

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1) Moving from Activity to Accountability

Require a promotion review equity checkpoint

Assign ERG representatives as observers in promotion calibration meetings

Track and publish promo progress internally

Cassi

→ (no decision power, but visibility + escalation channel)

So what do you do instead? Not ‘more strategy’. Not ‘better goals’. You move closer to decisions.

Let me give you a very concrete example.

In one organisation I worked at, before promotions were finalised, leaders had to sit in a short review where they looked at the data:

Who is being promoted, by gender, by ethnicity, by level.
If there were gaps, they had to explain them.
Not in theory. In that moment.

Now — here’s where ERGs come in differently.

Instead of organising events about career growth, representatives from ERGs were invited to observe those conversations.

They didn’t decide. But they could see patterns.And they had a clear escalation path if something didn’t sit right. That changes the role completely.

From: ‘Let’s talk about the problem’

To: ‘We’re in the room where decisions are made’

That’s a very different use of energy.

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2) Voice Without Power

Listening sessions

Pulse surveys

ERGs consulted on issues

Input is collected, but…

do decisions visibly change?

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2) From Mere Input to Path to Action

Define 3–5 decisions per year where ERGs have formal input rights

Create a decision-response loop

Establish ERG escalation channel for unresolved issues

Cassi

So instead of asking for more input… we structure what happens to input.

One organisation I worked with did something very simple.

They identified a small number of people-related decisions each year where ERGs would formally contribute.

Not everything. Just a few high-impact areas.

For example:

Revisiting the family-forming benefits.
Defining the new remote working policy.
Prioritsing office accessibility investments.

And here’s the key part: After ERGs gave input, leadership had to respond in writing.

What are we changing?
What are we not changing?
And why?

That response was shared back. So the loop was closed. And if something was escalated and not addressed, there was a defined path to take it up to an executive sponsor.

Now you have something different. Not: ‘Thanks for your thoughts’ / But: ‘Here’s exactly what happened because of them

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3) Perpetuation of an Extractive Mindset

ERG leads take on extra work

Often unpaid or under-recognised

Emotional + strategic labour

We rely on the people most affected by inequities

to fix the systems that disadvantage them

Cassi

This is probably the one I care about the most, because it’s easy to miss or to settle with status quo.

ERG leads take on more: organising, advising, supporting others, sometimes dealing with really heavy topics. On top of their actual job.

We say: ‘Your voice matters’ But what we’re often doing is relying on that voice to do work the organisation hasn’t structured properly. And over time, that becomes draining. If you've ever been an ERG lead and felt like that, please signal [raises hand] / also, as a side note: who here has ever been invited to speak about DEI on an event while being offered no reward of monetary value at all? [raises hands] That is this very same extractive mindset at work.

We know that doesn't happen because people don’t care. But because the system is asking too much from the same people.

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3) Protecting & Rewarding Contribution

Explicitly allocate role capacity for ERG leads (5%-20%)

Provide monthly stipend / bonus tied to ERG leadership role

Guide ERG leads' managers on how to support their work

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Key Takeaways

Instead of This	Try This
↠ Event-heavy DEI ↠ Voice without authority ↠ Unpaid ERG labour	↠ Outcome-driven DEI ↠ Governance with accountability ↠ Protected and rewarded contribution

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“I always ask myself when I’m trying to do solidarity work, can the people I’m in solidarity with actually feel this? Can they spend this? Can they eat this? Does this actually help them in any way? And if it doesn’t, let it go.”

– Ijeoma Oluo, for Vox (2020)

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References

Deck available on:

linktr.ee/CassiMecchi

CLARKE, Rubie Eilís & NAIMA McCLOSKEY, Hanna. DEI Disrupted: The Blueprint for DEI Worth Doing. Fearless Futures, November 2024

MOSURO, Grace. Deference DEI. Aquaintz Consulting, November 2024

STUART, Emily. "Be wary of things that are purely symbolic”: How to join the conversation on race. Vox. June 2020 (archived)

This content was created with support of SarahGPT,

an AI with the voice of Sarah Cordivano, DEI expert.

This presentation features Lexend, a font originally designed for dyslexia that minimises visual stress and improves reading performance for everyone.

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Thank you!

linktr.ee/CassiMecchi