My LinkedIn network is white and I am not white.
There are data points and charts later, so bear with me on the initial paragraphs as it frames the initiative behind this post.
I was a panelist on a racial unity discussion for my church last week. There were close to 200 Zoom accounts logged in of individuals or families to hear the panelists, made up of minorities, share their stories of how they have encountered racism outside and within the church as well as share their feelings of the civil unrest happening in our country right now.
One of the panelists courageously shared many points which I thought were quite thought provoking and I will share three of them.
1) She said though our church is ‘diverse’ with a decent amount of minorities, it seems quite obvious that people are clumped into groups of their race and ethnicity. I envisioned my walk through our church and it is quite obvious.
2) She challenged everyone to look at our ‘life groups’ and seek to make it diverse if it is not already. Life groups at our church is a small group of individuals and/or families that meet together on a regular basis to discuss topics and support one another. Her challenge was, if we are to truly understand different races, cultures, and perspectives, we must build personal relationships.
3) She struck home with a verse that stated those in power, must become weak, to win the weak. Basically, if you are in power (white people), you need to break down and leverage your powers to be able to relate and win the hearts of those less fortunate.
I have had a few days to contemplate these points, especially around my work world.
Uncomfortably, I started to think about my professional network over the years. These are people with whom have I interacted and built relationships with over the years—both within my company and with my clients.
Ever the analyst, I decided to examine my 1379 connections on LinkedIn just to see what the breakdown looked like around gender and race.
On Sunday morning on a Post-it note, aside from white men, I started marking down the breakdown of my LinkedIn connections to the best of my judgment into Asian, Black, Latinx, and White with the dimension of men and women. I then put the numbers into a spreadsheet. I should of just started it with the spreadsheet LOL.
Gender breakdown was not great and it needs work.
Race breakdown was eye opening. 83% of my Linkedin connections are white and I am not even white! There is a lot to unpack here and I hope to put more thought into this. Though I love these folks, I am a bit self-conscious that the first five, with two more in recording phase, for my Career Rocket series are all white men.
Race and gender grouped and broken down was also insightful.
I took the time to collect this data out of my own curiosity and desire to be a part of the journey to racial unity and justice in my sphere of influence. Like I mentioned, there is a lot for me to continue to unpack and the reality is likely going to make me uncomfortable.
I am so grateful for the opportunities, experiences, and connections I have made in the digital analytics and marketing space. How can we, as smart, data loving individuals, start to rise up and make this awesome and growing industry an even better place for everyone to thrive in?
“Choosing to be curious is choosing to be vulnerable because it requires us to surrender to uncertainty. ... ”
I invite others to examine their own networks, neighborhoods, friendship circles, religious groups. What do you find? Why is it this way? Could it be better? What might you be missing out on?
Thanks for reading and let us all rise up!