New Lunch & Learn: DEI Facilitation and Social Status
- Cultures Connecting
- Jan 16
- 1 min read
Are you feeling stuck in your DEIBelonging work? Have you lost momentum for change in your organization? One of the most common pitfalls of DEIB work in teams and organizations is falling into the trap of status inversion.
Status inversion shows up when an organization genuinely wants to advance equity but ends up flipping who is seen as credible instead of changing the deeper rules of the game. Rather than separating competence and leadership from things like race, gender, or sexual orientation, those assumptions quietly get reassigned. White employees may feel their perspectives don’t count in equity conversations, while employees of color may be treated as if they’re supposed to have the right answers—or carry the hard conversations—simply because of who they are. That pressure isn’t fair, and it often means important, nuanced discussions never really happen.
Even though this dynamic can look like progress on the surface, it keeps the same hierarchy in place, leading to tension, withdrawal, and burnout. Real transformation happens when we stop tying worth, competence, and leadership to identity at all—not when we just reshuffle who holds status.
Facilitated by Dr. J.P. Anderson, this lunch & learn, DEI Facilitation and Social Status, will focus on how DEI facilitation can inadvertently contribute to status inversions and how to recognize, avoid, and repair them. Be sure to click on the button below for more information and to register!
Date: Friday, February 27, 2026
Time: 12:00-1:30pm PT / 3:00-4:30pm ET
Location: Zoom
