Diversity officers are burning out

Advocates say expecting one person to change a corporation is asking too much

When Steph Rebello took her first job spearheading equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) efforts, she was excited to make change in the corporate world.

But less than two years later, she was burned out.

In the new and “under-resourced” position, Rebello was expected to influence EDI efforts in every part of her employer’s business while also reacting to emerging challenges in times of “uncertainty, crisis and trauma.” The dual responsibilities left her feeling “stretched.”

“I wasn’t playing to my strengths,” the Toronto woman said. “I wasn’t actually fulfilling some of my design research skills and practices that I was hoping to hone as a professional.”

She soon left, in line with a pattern of EDI practitioners who have exited such jobs not long after taking them.

About 52 per cent of S&P 500 companies in 2021 had a chief diversity officer or equivalent, up from 47 per cent in 2018, consulting firm Russell Reynolds Associates found.

But nearly 60 per cent of the chief diversity officers working in 2018 have since left the job, with the majority pursuing other roles. The average tenure of a chief diversity officer similarly fell from 3.1years in 2018 to 1.8 years in 2021.

The firm found some had left for other, similar roles, but many more could no longer tolerate what the report calls “unrealistic and misaligned expectations (that) pull the chief diversity officer in too many directions at once.”

EDI practitioners emphasize that they don’t leave because the work is unnecessary or unimportant. Some, like Rebello, continue with it at companies such as external consulting firms, but others lament how many factors hamper their work and leave them feeling undersupported.

Many feel driven out by a corporate culture that is “tokenizing” them and offering little more than lip service to EDI efforts, said Tomee Elizabeth Sojourner-Campbell, who runs a consulting firm specializing in anti-racism work.

“I certainly have heard that folks feel like they will just be put out for show,” she said.

“Their credentials and some of the small things that they’re being allowed to do externally are put out for show and then, the deeper work never gets done because there’s either a breakaway, they’re fired or they leave.”

Many also leave because their positions are underfunded and come with unrealistic deadlines from companies eager to show change or progress immediately, she added.

For example, while companies poured money into EDI programs after George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, was killed in police custody in 2020, EDI practitioners agree those initiatives and funding have since slowed.

Those in the field also notice burnout is common. Being the lone expert on a complicated topic meant to transform every corner of a company is difficult, and can be even more emotionally taxing for marginalized practitioners.

“People are struggling with compassion fatigue; you are really holding space for a lot of pain and frustration and challenging conversations while dealing with it yourself,” said Rebello, who now works for EDI firm Feminuity.

“The emotional labour you’re taking on when you’re facilitating panels, when you’re managing a room of leaders, when you’re holding space for individual stories and challenges, it can be tiring.”

An increasing number of EDI practitioners are pushed out during layoffs. They’re the first to be cut and when they depart, companies lose momentum or EDI initiatives altogether, said Sarah Saska, cofounder and CEO of Feminuity.

But it’s those “volatile” times that highlight why EDI practitioners are so necessary.

“Organizations end up realizing, ‘Oh shoot, we do need to continue these efforts,’ ” Saska said.

“They end up bringing them back a few months later because of pressure or because there’s a clear need.”