The Equity Mindset

13Pipelines Are Deep Work: What You Should Know and Be Prepared For

Designing pipelines is no joke. One of the first major projects I was tasked with leading as the executive deputy director of the New York City Mayor's Office was a three‐year strategy to recruit 1,000 Black, Latino, and Asian men to become public school teachers. The announcement was made during the wave of the My Brother's Keeper Initiative, a campaign created by President Barack Obama's administration in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin and several other unarmed Black boys and men. It felt like every week, I was asked for program updates—and that made me anxious. At that time, 45 percent of all NYC students were boys of color, yet only 7 percent of all educators were men of color (which was higher than other cities, which ranged from 2 to 4 percent, nationally).

I'm honored that the program is not only still in existence, but is thriving as one of the leading teacher‐diversity efforts in the nation. But designing this pipeline exposed me to the following observations:

• Many within institutions who claimed to desire more diverse candidates were not prepared for that representation, or what that meant for them personally or as an organization.
• Most organizations that desire more representation have not seriously asked why underrepresentation is a problem.
• There is often more enthusiasm about recruitment, but less attention to the experiences of underrepresented persons once they enter into a new culture. ...