Worcester Community Action Council, a federally mandated antipoverty agency for Central Massachusetts, sought support in developing DEI goals, developing a DEI strategic plan, and DEI training and education. To achieve these goals, they partnered with IDT to create an actionable roadmap that provided simple and pragmatic strategies to enhance employee and customer experiences.

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Worcester Community Action Council’s (WCAC) mission is helping people move to economic self-sufficiency through programs, partnerships, and advocacy. WCAC was started in 1965 under President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” It is the federally designated “community action agency” for Central MA. Today, the agency serves the City of Worcester and 45 surrounding towns through emergency and social service programs.

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Baseline Understanding of DEI

Although WCAC has embraced DEI and worked with diverse populations for decades, the organization recognized it needed to enhance its employees DEI capabilities to better serve its diverse constituencies. They valued DEI but struggled to achieve systemic and inclusive change. They aspired to enhance their services and customer engagement by further developing employee awareness and understanding of DEI and its complex history at the intersection of race and socio-economic status. Thus, WCAC partnered with IDT to further enhance their DEI capabilities and knowledge.

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Capacity Building

IDT facilitated several educational sessions on building cultural awareness and racial empathy. These sessions were three hours long and concluded with suggested next steps and attainable action items that each participant could readily employ following each session.

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Data Collection

IDT led a mixed methods study to better understand the unique employee experiences at WCAC. IDT conducted focus groups to explore the rich experiences across positions, races, and genders. The data from those interviews informed the creation of an employee survey. Once survey data was analyzed, IDT provided a report with actionable next steps.

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Results

WCAC and IDT agreed to develop a multi-year DEI roadmap that focuses on their senior leadership team first, followed by managers, and ultimately, the entire organization. This will involve senior leaders participating in coaching and mentorship while simultaneously building out individualized and tailored DEI strategic plans for their departments