Philanthropic gifts embolden diversity, equity and inclusion changemaking in 2022 at nation’s leading nonprofit addiction, mental health provider
This article originally appeared on the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation website. It has been given minor edits before re-posting.
Center City, Minn. (June 24, 2022) — The pressing need to address health disparities and improve access to high-quality treatment for chronic conditions such as substance use disorder makes the latest donation of $75,000 from PhoenixTeam all the more consequential to advancing the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) activities.
“Addiction is a family killer, a community killer, and dream killer. I have a level of financial privilege that fewer than 1% of people have, and that privilege gave me access to medicine and care that should be standard for any person in need of it—regardless of socioeconomic status,” said Tela Gallagher Mathias, COO and partner at PhoenixTeam. “Sadly, without a lot of money and/or good insurance benefits, treatment and recovery are far less accessible and unattainable, and that’s just unacceptable. We at PhoenixTeam want to change that and help ensure that available care is inclusive and culturally relevant for diverse populations. Our hope is that other companies will see this kind of action and take similar steps to acknowledge their own position and access, and make a real impact on their communities.”
This is the second year that PhoenixTeam has funded work that specifically targets the inclusivity of Hazelden Betty Ford’s services and programs. In 2021, the software company’s philanthropy powered financial assistance for patients, as well as a third-party audit of Hazelden Betty Ford’s treatment center in St. Paul, looking at everything from marketing materials and patient handbooks to therapeutic literature and how people are greeted to identify opportunities for creating a more LGBTQIA+-inclusive culture. As an individual donor, Gallagher Mathias contributed an additional gift that enabled the Foundation to create a full-time DEI director position filled by Andrew Williams, a professional experienced in inspiring others through example, challenging colleagues to live up to institutional values and legal obligations, and engaging in creative and meaningful intercultural experiences.
“For more than 70 years, Hazelden Betty Ford has been a voice for underserved, marginalized people who have addiction, and we are now making structural changes to broaden our banner and be more inclusive of the total population affected by the disease,” said Williams. “In addition to that important external priority, we are working to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive internally. We want our workforce to better represent the broad communities we aim to serve, and our care to be as culturally responsive as possible. PhoenixTeam and Tela Gallagher Mathias’ trust and investment in the vision of the DEI initiatives at Hazelden Betty Ford is both humbling and truly galvanizing.”
“As a company, we are very passionate about the lifesaving work of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation,” said Tanya Brennan, CEO of PhoenixTeam. “We firmly believe that this best-in-class treatment should be accessible to all who need it, which is why we invested in advancing the organization’s ability to operationalize DEI initiatives to help power true change. Our company values are not just words on our ‘About us’ page: We truly live our values, and express them through our financial choices. We not only believe in the ability of Hazelden Betty Ford to save lives, but we also believe in its vision and roadmap to broaden its banner and reach more people.”
About PhoenixTeam
PhoenixTeam is a woman-owned small business that specializes in the consumer lending and financial services space. Partnering with government agencies, financial institutions and technology providers, PhoenixTeam brings top-tier talent and expertise to deliver the best mortgage loan experience for our clients and those seeking homeownership. As a full-stack product company that emphasizes a continuous learning culture, PhoenixTeam leverages unique and creative methods to develop and deliver on our client’s strategy and vision. For more information, visit us www.phoenixoutcomes.com.
About the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a force of healing and hope for individuals, families and communities affected by addiction to alcohol and other drugs. As the nation’s leading nonprofit provider of comprehensive inpatient and outpatient addiction and mental health care for adults and youth, the Foundation has treatment centers and telehealth services nationwide as well as a network of collaborators throughout health care. Through charitable support and a commitment to innovation, the Foundation is able to continually enhance care, research, programs and services, and help more people. With a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center, the Foundation today is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in its services and throughout the organization, which also encompasses a graduate school of addiction studies, a publishing division, an addiction research center, recovery advocacy and thought leadership, professional and medical education programs, school-based prevention resources and a specialized program for children who grow up in families with addiction. Learn more at HazeldenBettyFord.org.
For countless businesses in Greater Washington, 2020 was a chance to step back and reflect on what their mission was and how they were doing it.
PhoenixTeam’s leaders had time for soul-searching, too.
Arlington-based PhoenixTeam is still a relatively new business, having formed in 2015 so its culture remains malleable. At the same time, it has grown to 140 employees, so the systems put into place now have an outsized impact on how it continues to grow. So when it began thinking about diversity, the company found it wanted a more ingrained way to measure how it was doing.
“Financial technology and housing are some of the least diverse sectors, but we need to reflect the diversity of the customer base,” said Tela Mathias, managing partner and COO.
PhoenixTeam’s “IDEA” initiative — Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access — was its all-encompassing strategy. The program relies on a four-pronged approach that includes education, policies, open dialogue, support, and understanding to educate its workers and ensure the workplace is empathetic and inclusive.
And so, it’s a holistic approach, Mathias said, because it requires employees to understand the moral and business need to build a diverse workforce so that they can support the initiative. The ultimate goal is “a culture of support and understanding” as its employees are more aware of one another’s business and personal challenges and how to help. Three activities a month ranging from discussions of emotional intelligence, empathy, prejudice, discrimination and celebration of heritage and holidays across a diverse community, with a few focused on Pride, pronouns and stronger allyship with the LGBTQIA+ community.
Doubling down on that investment, the company built a relationship with Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation to hire a chief diversity officer, draft a $75,000 budget and continue training and implementation of its IDEA initiative. After an audit with JustUs Health, the company also removed gendered language from its employee handbook and restrooms, added conscious inclusion training and updated its website with information about the LGBTQIA+ community and substance abuse. This year, the company plans more workshops to target recruiting, bias, leadership and emotional intelligence, with a goal to work more with the HBFF to determine what other resources to offer the LGBTQIA+ community.
“These things don’t come into your understanding naturally,” Mathias said. “You have to make room for them.”
The company’s recruitment efforts had to fall in line too, as it posts open positions on diverse job sites and has a single recruiting, interviewing and hiring experience for all candidates. Once people are aboard, they’re now included in one of eight employee resource groups, including one for LGBTQIA+, each a private channel that allows them to connect with others of similar life experience and background.
That’s because the company’s customer base has had to contend with these struggles, too. PhoenixTeam has many customers in the federal government, for instance, including veterans working with the Department of Veteran Affairs to stay in their homes. It’s meaningful work, but it requires understanding people with a wide range of life experiences.
It’s not just that the woman-owned business benefits from a broader array of perspectives as it tries to go to market in a diverse world. But these kinds of teams are turning out to be more resilient in the long run, too. The company landed on Inc. Magazine’s “Best Places to Work” list for the second time this year after a survey put 99% of team members engaged with “high favorability, advocacy, intent to stay and discretionary effort” and 96% feeling leaders put people first.
Analyst Jaedri Wood, reflecting on the past two years, summed it up in her comments. “People want to work for a company that has a positive impact and prioritizes the quality of their work over the quantity,” she wrote. “Team members are more invested in delivering positive change than solely improving the company’s bottom line.”
https://phoenixoutcomes.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/Tela-Business-of-Pride.jpg10081500PhoenixTeamhttps://phoenixoutcomes.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/04/Logo.pngPhoenixTeam2022-06-17 12:16:392022-06-17 17:17:03PhoenixTeam receives 2022 Business of Pride Corporate Pride Award
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access, also known as I.D.E.A., are the elements that make up the foundation of who we are at PhoenixTeam. We are all about continuously investing in our team members and their growth and this certainly includes our commitment to I.D.E.A. Just as we do with our client engagements, we leverage our agile mindset on all things I.D.E.A. Through the implementation and continuous delivery of I.D.E.A. initiatives and our commitment to better outcomes for all groups, our team members tell us that they have never worked with an organization who truly practiced the equality they socialized to the public.
Why I.D.E.A.? | Acronym explanation
Inclusion
The intentional effort of ensuring everyone feels a sense of belonging. Inclusion is rooted in respect for others and requires active participation. Diversity does not equal inclusion.
Diversity
The gamut of the human experience, including but not limited to race, gender identity, sexuality, nationality, religion, and neurodiversity, is represented at the table and in the conversation.
Equity
The fair and just treatment of all team members and community. Equity takes effort; you must intentionally assess how everyone is individually treated. It also requires commitment to strategic approaches that ensure equity as the goal.
Access
Everyone has equitable access to job opportunities, promotions, resources, etc. The entire spectrum of the human experience is considered when creating material so there are no roadblocks preventing someone from accessing information.
Initiatives
Dinner, Drinks, and I.D.E.A.s
Once every two months we gather as a team to share, learn, and reflect on the world of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. We started in October 2020 with Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month and since then we have hosted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 101, Black History Month, and Recruiting and I.D.E.A. At the end of each workshop, our team members express feelings of growth and self-improvement, validating our hypothesis that diverse people to share experiences and thought is valued and valuable.
Weekly Blogs
Every week our I.D.E.A. team provides a short, thought provoking piece about something in the world of I.D.E.A. For the past few months, we have covered topics such as resume whitening, trigger warnings, seasonal affective disorder, systemic racism, and more. At PhoenixTeam we are constantly being challenged to think deeper about our impact on our teams, our company, and our world.
Cultural Spotlights
Cultural awareness is a critical skill to embody and practice in our industry and world and enables us to appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of a variety of different cultures and ethnicities. As a company we have dug deep and explored Native American, Jewish, and Chinese cultures. Our I.D.E.A. roadmap lays out what the future holds for us to continue to explore many other cultures.
Knowledge Network
To be effective leaders in our industry and communities, we must dedicate ourselves to continuous learning at every opportunity. Knowledge has always been the key. Creating an internal network of resources aimed to better equip our team with the tools they need to succeed is one of our best implementations. We include a plethora of readings, TED talks, documentaries, podcasts, and trainings, to ensure everyone has a resource that works best for them. No matter how a team member best absorbs his/her/their information, we are prepared.
Special communities served
Veterans work with VA
The people who serve in our armed forces, and their families, make unbelievable sacrifices for the sake of our country and safety. We feel it is our responsibility to ensure the home buying process is as seamless as possible. In working with government agencies and their goals to enhance the home buying experience, we look at the experience from the Veteran’s perspective and help drive strategies and product outcomes that bring real value to our Veterans.”
Pro Bono work with HBFF
The path to recovery from substance use is long and difficult. Thankfully, organizations like the Hazeldon Betty Ford Foundation (HBFF) are mitigating some of the difficulties. HBFF has focused on making substance use recovery assistance more accessible to everyone. Through its partnership with PhoenixTeam, HBFF has undertaken an LGBTQ+ audit of their facilities to assess their ability to provide adequate care for this community specifically.
Undoubtedly, you have heard someone say that all Asians look the same or are the same. While this is far from the truth, it continues to be shared as if it is. Not every Asian person is from the same culture. Even the ones that are do not have the same lives and experiences. There are 48 countries in the continent of Asia. Forty- Eight. So no, not every Asian person you see is Chinese or Japanese.
Asian people can also identify with their region, country, or continent. For instance, someone who is Chinese can also identify as East Asian, and/or Asian. Every Chinese person is East Asian and Asian, but not every East Asian or every Asian is Chinese.
WHITE PASSING
White passing means that a person who is not white culturally has a skin tone fair enough or has features that could allow them “pass” for a white person. East Asians tend to be the closest to having white-passing traits. Why does this matter? This can affect those who cannot pass for white because they are more likely to experience racism. On the other side, Asian people who can pass for white can experience a different kind of racism such as being bullied for not being “Asian enough” or “white enough”.
THE MODEL MINORITY MYTH
The “Model Minority Myth” credits the success of Asian people to a strong family structure and a better work ethic than other minorities. The myth highlights and draws a distinction between Asian people and those In the Black community, attributing many of the struggles Black people face to weak family structures and a worse work ethic than other minorities – an opposite Model Minority Myth both myths nonetheless.
Another pillar of this myth is that all Asian families are socioeconomically well-off. It discredits the experience of members of the Asian community that had or have financial difficulties, are refugees, or are anything less than the upper class.
The myth erases the struggles of the Asian community and simultaneously promotes anti-Blackness.
Effects the Myth has had on the Asian Community
Overall, the myth has fueled tolerance for racism against Asians, particularly non-Eastern Asians. Because of the myth, there has been a divide between East Asians and Southeast, South, and Central Asians. Many non- East Asians feel that East Asians have had an easier time dealing with racism than they have. Similarly, some East Asians feel that the divide is unfairly created by non-East Asians.
How has the Myth Affected the Relationship of Asians to Other People of Color?
The divide has not only been felt internally to the Asian community but has also caused a separation between Asians and other people of color. The myth fans the flame of Anti-Blackness particularly in the United States. As a result, some Black people feel resentment towards Asians because they are pitted as opposites according to the myth.
So Why is it Still Happening?
Is it because there is truth to the myth? No. Evidence? None. Fairness? Not a chance. So, if there’s no truth, no evidence, and no fairness… why is anyone perpetuating this belief?
Mainly because it has been taught and passed down through generations and reinforced by stereotypes broadly put on display in media.
WHILE THE ATTACKS ON THE ASIAN COMMUNITY MIGHT NOT BE YOUR FAULT, THEY ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
Our Opportunity to Ignite Change, Not Fire, Is Now.
On January 28th, 2021 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee was shoved to the ground while taking his morning walk in San Francisco.
Unfortunately, two days later, Mr. Ratanapakdee succumbed to his injuries from the assault in the hospital. Since January of this year, there have been over 20 reported violent attacks and robberies where the victims were Asian. This month eight women, six of them of Asian descent, were senselessly murdered by 21-year-old Robert Long in Atlanta, Georgia. Not only is this attack an act of white supremacy, but also of male supremacy and it needs to stop. The Asian community is not to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic. The violence against the Asian community has been perpetrated due to fake news, false accusations, and unfounded and baseless information. Sadly, as we’ve seen before in history, some people feel the need for a scapegoat and that unfair burden has most recently fallen on the Asian community.
So, reader, what are you going to do about it? While the attacks on the Asian community might not be your fault, they are your responsibility. It is the responsibility of everyone to band together and help stop this violence. If you have social media, share the hashtag #STOPAAPIHATE. And if you or someone you know witnesses a hate crime against a member of the Asian community please report it to the NAPABA by emailing standagainsthate@napaba.org or by completing their hate crime intake form. The only way to fight this is together.
Sources / Research
Abdollah, Tami, and Trevor Hughes. “Hate Crimes against Asian Americans Are on the Rise. Here’s What Activists, Lawmakers and Police Are Doing to Stop the Violence.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 4 Mar. 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/27/asian-hate-crimes- attacks-fueled-covid-19-racism-threaten-asians/4566376001/.
Chow, Kat. “’Model Minority Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks.” NPR, NPR, 19 Apr. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/524571669/model-minority-myth- again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks.
Lang, Cady. “Asian American Attacks: What’s Behind the Rise in Violence?” Time, Time, 18 Feb. 2021, time.com/5938482/asian-american-attacks/.
Richard Fausset, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, and Marie Fazio. “8 Dead in Atlanta Spa Shootings, With Fears of Anti-Asian Bias.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Mar. 2021, www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta- acworth.
Tang, Terry. “Victims of Anti-Asian Attacks Reflect a Year into Pandemic.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 2 Mar. 2021, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/victims- of-anti-asian-attacks-reflect-a-year-into-pandemic.
Photos
All photos were sourced from the website pixabay.com and are free for commercial use with no attribution is required. For more details on the license please go here: https://pixabay.com/service/license/
Undoubtedly, you have heard someone say that all Asians look the same or are the same. While this is far from the truth, it continues to be shared as if it is. Not every Asian person is from the same culture. Even the ones that are do not have the same lives and experiences. There are 48 countries in the continent of Asia. Forty- Eight. So no, not every Asian person you see is Chinese or Japanese.
Asian people can also identify with their region, country, or continent. For instance, someone who is Chinese can also identify as East Asian, and/or Asian. Every Chinese person is East Asian and Asian, but not every East Asian or every Asian is Chinese.
WHITE PASSING
White passing means that a person who is not white culturally has a skin tone fair enough or has features that could allow them “pass” for a white person. East Asians tend to be the closest to having white-passing traits. Why does this matter? This can affect those who cannot pass for white because they are more likely to experience racism. On the other side, Asian people who can pass for white can experience a different kind of racism such as being bullied for not being “Asian enough” or “white enough”.
THE MODEL MINORITY MYTH
The “Model Minority Myth” credits the success of Asian people to a strong family structure and a better work ethic than other minorities. The myth highlights and draws a distinction between Asian people and those In the Black community, attributing many of the struggles Black people face to weak family structures and a worse work ethic than other minorities – an opposite Model Minority Myth both myths nonetheless.
Another pillar of this myth is that all Asian families are socioeconomically well-off. It discredits the experience of members of the Asian community that had or have financial difficulties, are refugees, or are anything less than the upper class.
The myth erases the struggles of the Asian community and simultaneously promotes anti-Blackness.
Effects the Myth has had on the Asian Community
Overall, the myth has fueled tolerance for racism against Asians, particularly non-Eastern Asians. Because of the myth, there has been a divide between East Asians and Southeast, South, and Central Asians. Many non- East Asians feel that East Asians have had an easier time dealing with racism than they have. Similarly, some East Asians feel that the divide is unfairly created by non-East Asians.
How has the Myth Affected the Relationship of Asians to Other People of Color?
The divide has not only been felt internally to the Asian community but has also caused a separation between Asians and other people of color. The myth fans the flame of Anti-Blackness particularly in the United States. As a result, some Black people feel resentment towards Asians because they are pitted as opposites according to the myth.
So Why is it Still Happening?
Is it because there is truth to the myth? No. Evidence? None. Fairness? Not a chance. So, if there’s no truth, no evidence, and no fairness… why is anyone perpetuating this belief?
Mainly because it has been taught and passed down through generations and reinforced by stereotypes broadly put on display in media.
WHILE THE ATTACKS ON THE ASIAN COMMUNITY MIGHT NOT BE YOUR FAULT, THEY ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
Our Opportunity to Ignite Change, Not Fire, Is Now.
On January 28th, 2021 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee was shoved to the ground while taking his morning walk in San Francisco.
Unfortunately, two days later, Mr. Ratanapakdee succumbed to his injuries from the assault in the hospital. Since January of this year, there have been over 20 reported violent attacks and robberies where the victims were Asian. This month eight women, six of them of Asian descent, were senselessly murdered by 21-year-old Robert Long in Atlanta, Georgia. Not only is this attack an act of white supremacy, but also of male supremacy and it needs to stop. The Asian community is not to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic. The violence against the Asian community has been perpetrated due to fake news, false accusations, and unfounded and baseless information. Sadly, as we’ve seen before in history, some people feel the need for a scapegoat and that unfair burden has most recently fallen on the Asian community.
So, reader, what are you going to do about it? While the attacks on the Asian community might not be your fault, they are your responsibility. It is the responsibility of everyone to band together and help stop this violence. If you have social media, share the hashtag #STOPAAPIHATE. And if you or someone you know witnesses a hate crime against a member of the Asian community please report it to the NAPABA by emailing standagainsthate@napaba.org or by completing their hate crime intake form. The only way to fight this is together.
Sources / Research
Abdollah, Tami, and Trevor Hughes. “Hate Crimes against Asian Americans Are on the Rise. Here’s What Activists, Lawmakers and Police Are Doing to Stop the Violence.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 4 Mar. 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/27/asian-hate-crimes- attacks-fueled-covid-19-racism-threaten-asians/4566376001/.
Chow, Kat. “’Model Minority Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks.” NPR, NPR, 19 Apr. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/524571669/model-minority-myth- again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks.
Lang, Cady. “Asian American Attacks: What’s Behind the Rise in Violence?” Time, Time, 18 Feb. 2021, time.com/5938482/asian-american-attacks/.
Richard Fausset, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, and Marie Fazio. “8 Dead in Atlanta Spa Shootings, With Fears of Anti-Asian Bias.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Mar. 2021, www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta- acworth.
Tang, Terry. “Victims of Anti-Asian Attacks Reflect a Year into Pandemic.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 2 Mar. 2021, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/victims- of-anti-asian-attacks-reflect-a-year-into-pandemic.
Photos
All photos were sourced from the website pixabay.com and are free for commercial use with no attribution is required. For more details on the license please go here: https://pixabay.com/service/license/
By: Haleigh C. Pannell
The Asian American, Pacific Islander, and larger Asian community is a diverse group of cultures. Unfortunately, the community is not often treated with the respect it deserves. Racism towards the Asian community has existed long before COVID-19, but violent and hateful acts have drastically increased in the past year since the pandemic began. Why? Ignorance. Hatred. Impossibly incorrect rhetoric. All amplified by a level of stress and discomfort that most of us had never experienced. Add it all together and what do you get? A breeding ground for hate.
Last March, during the early weeks of the worldwide crisis, Texas resident Bawi Cung and his two sons, 3 and 6, nearly lost their lives to a violent assault against them in their local Sam’s Club. Jose Gomez, 19, attacked Mr. Cung and his two young sons with a knife slashing Mr. Cung across the face, wounding the 3-year-old in the back, and cutting the 6-year-old’s face in a way that he now cannot move one of his eyebrows. After investigating the FBI revealed that Mr. Gomez believed Mr. Cung was Chinese and therefore, was to blame for spreading the virus. The lasting impact of this and the many other hate-fueled attacks that have occurred over the past year are terrifying. The Asian community is unjustly suffering and we must do something.
The COVID-19 Pandemic and Increased Racism Towards the Asian Community
FUELING THE FLAMES
Since March of 2020, the Asian community around the world, but particularly within theUnited States, has reported a spike in hate crimes, discrimination, and harassment. The NYPD reported a 1,900% increase in anti-Asian sentiment in New York City during 2020. Between March 19th and December 31st, 2020 the organization Stop AAPI Hate said they received 2,808 reports of anti-Asian discrimination. We witnessed political leaders of all levels fuel the flames of fear and hate when they attributed the onset and spread ofCOVID-19 to China, referencing it as the”China virus” and “Kung flu”. These leaders used their platforms and stages to spread hate and lies about one, single type of person– those of Asian descent. These vitriolic, anti-China, and anti-Chinese messages have led to a vicious increase in unthinkable and harmful behavior towards the entire Asian community.
ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL
When President Joe Biden took office in January, he immediately addressed the rise in racism and racist attacks towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
President Biden stated in his executive order increasing protections for the AAPI community, “The federal government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin. Such statements have stoked unfounded fears and perpetuated stigma about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and have contributed to increasing rates of bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI persons.”
Where Does This All Originate?
NOTHING NEW
Racism against the Asian community is not only a byproduct of the dumpster fire that was 2020. It has existed in the world ever since humans decided that separation of the races was a “good” idea.
Why though? Why do those outside the Asian community allow “ching chong” to be the punchline of a joke? Why does society make Asian students feel they must excel at the top of their class or they are a failure to their culture and identity? Why do so many assume every Asian person is Chinese? Frankly, and very unfortunately, this kind of treatment has become acceptable and tolerated by society.
BUT IT IS NOT A-OKAY, IT’S NOT EVEN OKAY.
Failure to hold people accountable for bad actions allows them, including and especially our youth, to continue behavior such as making fun of the Asian boy in your class who struggles with math. This has been marked a-okay in their book! But it is not a-okay, it’s not even okay.
Each Asian culture has its own complexities and intricacies that warrant others to pay close attention to fully understand the diversity that exists in a single culture. They are beautiful and unique and just because they share a continent and share some cross-cultural similarities, does not make them all the same.
NOT ALL THE SAME…
Undoubtedly, you have heard someone say that all Asians look the same or are the same. While this is far from the truth, it continues to be shared as if it is. Not every Asian person is from the same culture. Even the ones that are do not have the same lives and experiences. There are 48 countries in the continent of Asia. Forty- Eight. So no, not every Asian person you see is Chinese or Japanese.
Asian people can also identify with their region, country, or continent. For instance, someone who is Chinese can also identify as East Asian, and/or Asian. Every Chinese person is East Asian and Asian, but not every East Asian or every Asian is Chinese.
WHITE PASSING
White passing means that a person who is not white culturally has a skin tone fair enough or has features that could allow them “pass” for a white person. East Asians tend to be the closest to having white-passing traits. Why does this matter? This can affect those who cannot pass for white because they are more likely to experience racism. On the other side, Asian people who can pass for white can experience a different kind of racism such as being bullied for not being “Asian enough” or “white enough”.
THE MODEL MINORITY MYTH
The “Model Minority Myth” credits the success of Asian people to a strong family structure and a better work ethic than other minorities. The myth highlights and draws a distinction between Asian people and those In the Black community, attributing many of the struggles Black people face to weak family structures and a worse work ethic than other minorities – an opposite Model Minority Myth both myths nonetheless.
Another pillar of this myth is that all Asian families are socioeconomically well-off. It discredits the experience of members of the Asian community that had or have financial difficulties, are refugees, or are anything less than the upper class.
The myth erases the struggles of the Asian community and simultaneously promotes anti-Blackness.
Effects the Myth has had on the Asian Community
Overall, the myth has fueled tolerance for racism against Asians, particularly non-Eastern Asians. Because of the myth, there has been a divide between East Asians and Southeast, South, and Central Asians. Many non- East Asians feel that East Asians have had an easier time dealing with racism than they have. Similarly, some East Asians feel that the divide is unfairly created by non-East Asians.
How has the Myth Affected the Relationship of Asians to Other People of Color?
The divide has not only been felt internally to the Asian community but has also caused a separation between Asians and other people of color. The myth fans the flame of Anti-Blackness particularly in the United States. As a result, some Black people feel resentment towards Asians because they are pitted as opposites according to the myth.
So Why is it Still Happening?
Is it because there is truth to the myth? No. Evidence? None. Fairness? Not a chance. So, if there’s no truth, no evidence, and no fairness… why is anyone perpetuating this belief?
Mainly because it has been taught and passed down through generations and reinforced by stereotypes broadly put on display in media.
WHILE THE ATTACKS ON THE ASIAN COMMUNITY MIGHT NOT BE YOUR FAULT, THEY ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
Our Opportunity to Ignite Change, Not Fire, Is Now.
On January 28th, 2021 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee was shoved to the ground while taking his morning walk in San Francisco.
Unfortunately, two days later, Mr. Ratanapakdee succumbed to his injuries from the assault in the hospital. Since January of this year, there have been over 20 reported violent attacks and robberies where the victims were Asian. This month eight women, six of them of Asian descent, were senselessly murdered by 21-year-old Robert Long in Atlanta, Georgia. Not only is this attack an act of white supremacy, but also of male supremacy and it needs to stop. The Asian community is not to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic. The violence against the Asian community has been perpetrated due to fake news, false accusations, and unfounded and baseless information. Sadly, as we’ve seen before in history, some people feel the need for a scapegoat and that unfair burden has most recently fallen on the Asian community.
So, reader, what are you going to do about it? While the attacks on the Asian community might not be your fault, they are your responsibility. It is the responsibility of everyone to band together and help stop this violence. If you have social media, share the hashtag #STOPAAPIHATE. And if you or someone you know witnesses a hate crime against a member of the Asian community please report it to the NAPABA by emailing standagainsthate@napaba.org or by completing their hate crime intake form. The only way to fight this is together.
Sources / Research
Abdollah, Tami, and Trevor Hughes. “Hate Crimes against Asian Americans Are on the Rise. Here’s What Activists, Lawmakers and Police Are Doing to Stop the Violence.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 4 Mar. 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/27/asian-hate-crimes- attacks-fueled-covid-19-racism-threaten-asians/4566376001/.
Chow, Kat. “’Model Minority Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks.” NPR, NPR, 19 Apr. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/524571669/model-minority-myth- again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks.
Lang, Cady. “Asian American Attacks: What’s Behind the Rise in Violence?” Time, Time, 18 Feb. 2021, time.com/5938482/asian-american-attacks/.
Richard Fausset, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, and Marie Fazio. “8 Dead in Atlanta Spa Shootings, With Fears of Anti-Asian Bias.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Mar. 2021, www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta- acworth.
Tang, Terry. “Victims of Anti-Asian Attacks Reflect a Year into Pandemic.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 2 Mar. 2021, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/victims- of-anti-asian-attacks-reflect-a-year-into-pandemic.
Photos
All photos were sourced from the website pixabay.com and are free for commercial use with no attribution is required. For more details on the license please go here: https://pixabay.com/service/license/
Undoubtedly, you have heard someone say that all Asians look the same or are the same. While this is far from the truth, it continues to be shared as if it is. Not every Asian person is from the same culture. Even the ones that are do not have the same lives and experiences. There are 48 countries in the continent of Asia. Forty- Eight. So no, not every Asian person you see is Chinese or Japanese.
Asian people can also identify with their region, country, or continent. For instance, someone who is Chinese can also identify as East Asian, and/or Asian. Every Chinese person is East Asian and Asian, but not every East Asian or every Asian is Chinese.
WHITE PASSING
White passing means that a person who is not white culturally has a skin tone fair enough or has features that could allow them “pass” for a white person. East Asians tend to be the closest to having white-passing traits. Why does this matter? This can affect those who cannot pass for white because they are more likely to experience racism. On the other side, Asian people who can pass for white can experience a different kind of racism such as being bullied for not being “Asian enough” or “white enough”.
THE MODEL MINORITY MYTH
The “Model Minority Myth” credits the success of Asian people to a strong family structure and a better work ethic than other minorities. The myth highlights and draws a distinction between Asian people and those In the Black community, attributing many of the struggles Black people face to weak family structures and a worse work ethic than other minorities – an opposite Model Minority Myth both myths nonetheless.
Another pillar of this myth is that all Asian families are socioeconomically well-off. It discredits the experience of members of the Asian community that had or have financial difficulties, are refugees, or are anything less than the upper class.
The myth erases the struggles of the Asian community and simultaneously promotes anti-Blackness.
Effects the Myth has had on the Asian Community
Overall, the myth has fueled tolerance for racism against Asians, particularly non-Eastern Asians. Because of the myth, there has been a divide between East Asians and Southeast, South, and Central Asians. Many non- East Asians feel that East Asians have had an easier time dealing with racism than they have. Similarly, some East Asians feel that the divide is unfairly created by non-East Asians.
How has the Myth Affected the Relationship of Asians to Other People of Color?
The divide has not only been felt internally to the Asian community but has also caused a separation between Asians and other people of color. The myth fans the flame of Anti-Blackness particularly in the United States. As a result, some Black people feel resentment towards Asians because they are pitted as opposites according to the myth.
So Why is it Still Happening?
Is it because there is truth to the myth? No. Evidence? None. Fairness? Not a chance. So, if there’s no truth, no evidence, and no fairness… why is anyone perpetuating this belief?
Mainly because it has been taught and passed down through generations and reinforced by stereotypes broadly put on display in media.
WHILE THE ATTACKS ON THE ASIAN COMMUNITY MIGHT NOT BE YOUR FAULT, THEY ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
Our Opportunity to Ignite Change, Not Fire, Is Now.
On January 28th, 2021 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee was shoved to the ground while taking his morning walk in San Francisco.
Unfortunately, two days later, Mr. Ratanapakdee succumbed to his injuries from the assault in the hospital. Since January of this year, there have been over 20 reported violent attacks and robberies where the victims were Asian. This month eight women, six of them of Asian descent, were senselessly murdered by 21-year-old Robert Long in Atlanta, Georgia. Not only is this attack an act of white supremacy, but also of male supremacy and it needs to stop. The Asian community is not to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic. The violence against the Asian community has been perpetrated due to fake news, false accusations, and unfounded and baseless information. Sadly, as we’ve seen before in history, some people feel the need for a scapegoat and that unfair burden has most recently fallen on the Asian community.
So, reader, what are you going to do about it? While the attacks on the Asian community might not be your fault, they are your responsibility. It is the responsibility of everyone to band together and help stop this violence. If you have social media, share the hashtag #STOPAAPIHATE. And if you or someone you know witnesses a hate crime against a member of the Asian community please report it to the NAPABA by emailing standagainsthate@napaba.org or by completing their hate crime intake form. The only way to fight this is together.
Sources / Research
Abdollah, Tami, and Trevor Hughes. “Hate Crimes against Asian Americans Are on the Rise. Here’s What Activists, Lawmakers and Police Are Doing to Stop the Violence.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 4 Mar. 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/27/asian-hate-crimes- attacks-fueled-covid-19-racism-threaten-asians/4566376001/.
Chow, Kat. “’Model Minority Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks.” NPR, NPR, 19 Apr. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/524571669/model-minority-myth- again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks.
Lang, Cady. “Asian American Attacks: What’s Behind the Rise in Violence?” Time, Time, 18 Feb. 2021, time.com/5938482/asian-american-attacks/.
Richard Fausset, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, and Marie Fazio. “8 Dead in Atlanta Spa Shootings, With Fears of Anti-Asian Bias.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Mar. 2021, www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta- acworth.
Tang, Terry. “Victims of Anti-Asian Attacks Reflect a Year into Pandemic.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 2 Mar. 2021, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/victims- of-anti-asian-attacks-reflect-a-year-into-pandemic.
Photos
All photos were sourced from the website pixabay.com and are free for commercial use with no attribution is required. For more details on the license please go here: https://pixabay.com/service/license/
By: Haleigh C. Pannell
The Asian American, Pacific Islander, and larger Asian community is a diverse group of cultures. Unfortunately, the community is not often treated with the respect it deserves. Racism towards the Asian community has existed long before COVID-19, but violent and hateful acts have drastically increased in the past year since the pandemic began. Why? Ignorance. Hatred. Impossibly incorrect rhetoric. All amplified by a level of stress and discomfort that most of us had never experienced. Add it all together and what do you get? A breeding ground for hate.
Last March, during the early weeks of the worldwide crisis, Texas resident Bawi Cung and his two sons, 3 and 6, nearly lost their lives to a violent assault against them in their local Sam’s Club. Jose Gomez, 19, attacked Mr. Cung and his two young sons with a knife slashing Mr. Cung across the face, wounding the 3-year-old in the back, and cutting the 6-year-old’s face in a way that he now cannot move one of his eyebrows. After investigating the FBI revealed that Mr. Gomez believed Mr. Cung was Chinese and therefore, was to blame for spreading the virus. The lasting impact of this and the many other hate-fueled attacks that have occurred over the past year are terrifying. The Asian community is unjustly suffering and we must do something.
The COVID-19 Pandemic and Increased Racism Towards the Asian Community
FUELING THE FLAMES
Since March of 2020, the Asian community around the world, but particularly within theUnited States, has reported a spike in hate crimes, discrimination, and harassment. The NYPD reported a 1,900% increase in anti-Asian sentiment in New York City during 2020. Between March 19th and December 31st, 2020 the organization Stop AAPI Hate said they received 2,808 reports of anti-Asian discrimination. We witnessed political leaders of all levels fuel the flames of fear and hate when they attributed the onset and spread ofCOVID-19 to China, referencing it as the”China virus” and “Kung flu”. These leaders used their platforms and stages to spread hate and lies about one, single type of person– those of Asian descent. These vitriolic, anti-China, and anti-Chinese messages have led to a vicious increase in unthinkable and harmful behavior towards the entire Asian community.
ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL
When President Joe Biden took office in January, he immediately addressed the rise in racism and racist attacks towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
President Biden stated in his executive order increasing protections for the AAPI community, “The federal government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin. Such statements have stoked unfounded fears and perpetuated stigma about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and have contributed to increasing rates of bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI persons.”
Where Does This All Originate?
NOTHING NEW
Racism against the Asian community is not only a byproduct of the dumpster fire that was 2020. It has existed in the world ever since humans decided that separation of the races was a “good” idea.
Why though? Why do those outside the Asian community allow “ching chong” to be the punchline of a joke? Why does society make Asian students feel they must excel at the top of their class or they are a failure to their culture and identity? Why do so many assume every Asian person is Chinese? Frankly, and very unfortunately, this kind of treatment has become acceptable and tolerated by society.
BUT IT IS NOT A-OKAY, IT’S NOT EVEN OKAY.
Failure to hold people accountable for bad actions allows them, including and especially our youth, to continue behavior such as making fun of the Asian boy in your class who struggles with math. This has been marked a-okay in their book! But it is not a-okay, it’s not even okay.
Each Asian culture has its own complexities and intricacies that warrant others to pay close attention to fully understand the diversity that exists in a single culture. They are beautiful and unique and just because they share a continent and share some cross-cultural similarities, does not make them all the same.
NOT ALL THE SAME…
Undoubtedly, you have heard someone say that all Asians look the same or are the same. While this is far from the truth, it continues to be shared as if it is. Not every Asian person is from the same culture. Even the ones that are do not have the same lives and experiences. There are 48 countries in the continent of Asia. Forty- Eight. So no, not every Asian person you see is Chinese or Japanese.
Asian people can also identify with their region, country, or continent. For instance, someone who is Chinese can also identify as East Asian, and/or Asian. Every Chinese person is East Asian and Asian, but not every East Asian or every Asian is Chinese.
WHITE PASSING
White passing means that a person who is not white culturally has a skin tone fair enough or has features that could allow them “pass” for a white person. East Asians tend to be the closest to having white-passing traits. Why does this matter? This can affect those who cannot pass for white because they are more likely to experience racism. On the other side, Asian people who can pass for white can experience a different kind of racism such as being bullied for not being “Asian enough” or “white enough”.
THE MODEL MINORITY MYTH
The “Model Minority Myth” credits the success of Asian people to a strong family structure and a better work ethic than other minorities. The myth highlights and draws a distinction between Asian people and those In the Black community, attributing many of the struggles Black people face to weak family structures and a worse work ethic than other minorities – an opposite Model Minority Myth both myths nonetheless.
Another pillar of this myth is that all Asian families are socioeconomically well-off. It discredits the experience of members of the Asian community that had or have financial difficulties, are refugees, or are anything less than the upper class.
The myth erases the struggles of the Asian community and simultaneously promotes anti-Blackness.
Effects the Myth has had on the Asian Community
Overall, the myth has fueled tolerance for racism against Asians, particularly non-Eastern Asians. Because of the myth, there has been a divide between East Asians and Southeast, South, and Central Asians. Many non- East Asians feel that East Asians have had an easier time dealing with racism than they have. Similarly, some East Asians feel that the divide is unfairly created by non-East Asians.
How has the Myth Affected the Relationship of Asians to Other People of Color?
The divide has not only been felt internally to the Asian community but has also caused a separation between Asians and other people of color. The myth fans the flame of Anti-Blackness particularly in the United States. As a result, some Black people feel resentment towards Asians because they are pitted as opposites according to the myth.
So Why is it Still Happening?
Is it because there is truth to the myth? No. Evidence? None. Fairness? Not a chance. So, if there’s no truth, no evidence, and no fairness… why is anyone perpetuating this belief?
Mainly because it has been taught and passed down through generations and reinforced by stereotypes broadly put on display in media.
WHILE THE ATTACKS ON THE ASIAN COMMUNITY MIGHT NOT BE YOUR FAULT, THEY ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
Our Opportunity to Ignite Change, Not Fire, Is Now.
On January 28th, 2021 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee was shoved to the ground while taking his morning walk in San Francisco.
Unfortunately, two days later, Mr. Ratanapakdee succumbed to his injuries from the assault in the hospital. Since January of this year, there have been over 20 reported violent attacks and robberies where the victims were Asian. This month eight women, six of them of Asian descent, were senselessly murdered by 21-year-old Robert Long in Atlanta, Georgia. Not only is this attack an act of white supremacy, but also of male supremacy and it needs to stop. The Asian community is not to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic. The violence against the Asian community has been perpetrated due to fake news, false accusations, and unfounded and baseless information. Sadly, as we’ve seen before in history, some people feel the need for a scapegoat and that unfair burden has most recently fallen on the Asian community.
So, reader, what are you going to do about it? While the attacks on the Asian community might not be your fault, they are your responsibility. It is the responsibility of everyone to band together and help stop this violence. If you have social media, share the hashtag #STOPAAPIHATE. And if you or someone you know witnesses a hate crime against a member of the Asian community please report it to the NAPABA by emailing standagainsthate@napaba.org or by completing their hate crime intake form. The only way to fight this is together.
Sources / Research
Abdollah, Tami, and Trevor Hughes. “Hate Crimes against Asian Americans Are on the Rise. Here’s What Activists, Lawmakers and Police Are Doing to Stop the Violence.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 4 Mar. 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/27/asian-hate-crimes- attacks-fueled-covid-19-racism-threaten-asians/4566376001/.
Chow, Kat. “’Model Minority Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks.” NPR, NPR, 19 Apr. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/524571669/model-minority-myth- again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks.
Lang, Cady. “Asian American Attacks: What’s Behind the Rise in Violence?” Time, Time, 18 Feb. 2021, time.com/5938482/asian-american-attacks/.
Richard Fausset, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, and Marie Fazio. “8 Dead in Atlanta Spa Shootings, With Fears of Anti-Asian Bias.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Mar. 2021, www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta- acworth.
Tang, Terry. “Victims of Anti-Asian Attacks Reflect a Year into Pandemic.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 2 Mar. 2021, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/victims- of-anti-asian-attacks-reflect-a-year-into-pandemic.
Photos
All photos were sourced from the website pixabay.com and are free for commercial use with no attribution is required. For more details on the license please go here: https://pixabay.com/service/license/
https://phoenixoutcomes.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/06/Racism-towards-Asian-community-white-paper_3-980x653-1.jpg653980PhoenixTeamhttps://phoenixoutcomes.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/04/Logo.pngPhoenixTeam2021-03-31 13:55:072021-07-12 01:07:53The Rise in Racism Towards the Asian Community as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic
PhoenixTeam’s DE&I team hosted our second Dinner and Drinks for Black History month. We kicked it off with an interactive activity where team members shared stereotypes and strengths they have experienced personally or indirectly within the Black community. Words such as ‘lazy’, ‘sassy’, ‘loud’, and ‘thugs’ are often used to describe the culture. Accusatory statements such as: Black fathers do not care for their children or all Blacks are involved with drugs and have a criminal record are other stereotypes that carry no merit and certainly no place in our society. As always, we never focus only on the negative and sharing our positive thoughts and impressions of the Black community led to a wonderful, positive vibe as we discovered food, music, culture, and spirituality that represent the best of what we cherish in our diverse country. The Black is Beautiful movement, strength, perseverance, activism through strong leadership are all incredible earmarks of the action that the Black community is taking to make America stronger.
When we opened the discussion to early education of Black culture and origin, we learned that many of our team members grew up with very little exposure and acknowledged that wish they would have had this education in their early life. The conversation was empathetic, gentle, and educational. and Those who shared their thoughts and perspective were incredibly open and honest and our Black colleagues who heard these experiences were gracious and non-judgmental.
At Phoenix, we always want to make sure our team member activities are valuable, and we asked participants what value they received from our Black History Month Dinner & Drinks. Here is what a few of them said:
Tom Westerlind, Managing Partner: I cherish this time to have meaningful, difficult, and necessary conversations about the real-life experiences of our team members. In the time it takes to complete a meal, I learn and connect with those that participate in a more meaningful way than I can by working with them for several months.
Daniel Dennis, Salesforce Architect: In addition to being a useful source of new or more in-depth information on DEI topics, regularly setting aside time as a team to gather and learn is valuable because:
It implicitly sets expectation regarding Phoenix assumptions about how we should treat one another and our clients.
It normalizes conversations and topics that many people struggle to engage with.
Damion Campbell, Sr. Practitioner: Professionally, the workplace is comprised of people of different backgrounds. Understanding the backgrounds of our colleagues will help increase the richness of our interactions with them. The same is true of our personal interactions.
Tony Ronchak, Sr. Practitioner: Love, not hate means empathy over ignorance. I cannot develop empathy if I am not listening. I must look at life through the lens of another human to understand their position and grow my understanding of the right way to treat people. Respect begins here.
Katie Brewster, Sr. Practitioner: These events provide a safe place to ask questions without humiliation or retaliation. The knowledge shared during DDDE&I helps us grow as humans, so we can do better together.
Our DE&I program offers a great deal of insight, education, and open discussion. PhoenixTeam is very proud of our program and always strives to keep our work environment diverse, equitable, inclusive and always welcoming.
https://phoenixoutcomes.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/06/Black-History-Month-Calendar.jpg455828PhoenixTeamhttps://phoenixoutcomes.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/04/Logo.pngPhoenixTeam2021-02-19 10:14:202021-07-12 01:10:23Celebrate Black History Month
PhoenixTeam is committed to promoting a workplace culture that embraces and is empowered by our core values, including, diversity, equity and inclusion. Our DEI team goals are to:
Offer resources to explain the importance of diversity and inclusion from both a moral and a business perspective.
Advance PhoenixTeam’s diversity and inclusion policies, along with the number of diverse candidates hired.
Discover and implement engaging and collaborative opportunities to have open discussions regarding concerns in relation to diversity and inclusion.
Create support and understanding between all Phoenix employees.
PhoenixTeam’s DEI team recently held its first ever Dinner, Drinks and DEI workshop! This interactive workshop focused on the Hispanic and Latinx communities to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15- Oct. 15). The team discussed several topics surrounding the Hispanic and Latinx communities and several PhoenixTeam members shared their personal experiences.
We asked two of our Team Members to share their thoughts on the first ever workshop, here is what they had to say:
Claudia Trodden Why did you want to participate in our first DEI workshop?
I was very excited to see how the first Phoenix Team workshop would look like, and I was very impressed!
Tell us about your experience. What was a highlight moment of the Workshop that really stood out to you?
Haleigh did an amazing job! The research and the time she invested to educate the team on things that I wasn’t aware of.
What was one thing you learned that you could implement moving forward.
One of the things that resonated with me was Halloween, the fact that now I’m more conscious about costume picking to make sure it doesn’t offend anybody, especially in the crazy times we live in.
What about this workshop inspired you?
To be more curious, there are things out there that we don’t know of, if we do the research we will find things that make us proud as part of that culture, diversity in an amazing thing and learning from it is a great enrichment!
Robert Stockdale
Why did you want to participate in our first DEI workshop?
Learn more about teammates and the challenges they face daily.
Tell us about your experience. What was a highlight moment of the Workshop that really stood out to you?
Ricky sharing his experiences and the value of family.
What was one thing you learned that you could implement moving forward.
Keep the focus of making the world a better place and the importance of culture.
What about this workshop inspired you?
Always keep improving daily and openness.
https://phoenixoutcomes.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/06/PhoenixTeam-DEI-Blog-Graphic-1024x640-1.png6401024PhoenixTeamhttps://phoenixoutcomes.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/04/Logo.pngPhoenixTeam2020-10-27 15:50:322021-07-12 01:13:46PhoenixTeam’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Team Hosts First Ever Dinner, Drinks and DEI WorkshopScroll to top
Becky Griswold
Partner
Becky is a leader of leaders and a trusted advisor who can connect with anyone on a human level. She has mentored some of Phoenix’s best talents and led several of its most complex government implementations. She has extensive mortgage knowledge and appreciation of Agency and Government mortgage financing programs and serves as Phoenix’s partner to MISMO. As a lifetime learner who regularly pursues certifications and industry knowledge, she is aCertified MISMO Standards Professional (CMSP®), Associated MISMO Standards Professional (AMSPTM), Certified SAFe Scrum Master (2022), Certified LeSS Practitioner, Certified SAFe 5.0 Agile Product Owner and Product Manager, and Certified SAFe 5.0 Practitioner.
We strive for maximum value for our customers by generating insights that improve business outcomes. Throughout the full product life cycle, we provide online analytical assessments of the current state of your data framework to better plan the next steps for your product or service. Our approach is four-fold. First, we aggregate the information and allow the data to direct us to the value patterns. Second, we clean the data, removing structural errors, filter irrelevant information, and validate to provide clean, concise data that can be catalogued. Next, we index and store the data and finally, we process the data to discover and deliver valuable data sets.
Prioritize and Refine.
When all is said and done, it is a clearly prioritized and buttoned up product backlog that brings the vision to life. Equally important is a Product Owner’s ability to lead and own priorities, leveraging positional authority and collaboration to gain alignment and empower development team members to deliver value quickly with quality. Our Product Owners lead with a vision and are respected by the organization as leaders of the product.
Design and Validate.
Nothing is more important than showing customers that you hear and understand their needs at the earliest possible point in the engagement. Our Product Designers embed themselves with the customer, building trust based on empathy and listening. This early relationship allows us to research, design, and validate design hypotheses and experiences quickly and efficiently. Working in collaboration with the product and technology teams, we keep the experience and the technological capabilities to achieve the experience at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
Vision and Value.
A clear and concise product vision is imperative to gaining alignment on the desired outcome. Whether we are supporting the definition of a net new product or enhancing an existing product, we develop a vision that aligns to the overall business or organizational goals and reflects the anticipated value. Our Product Managers are experts at communicating and gaining alignment on the vision, value, meaningful and measurable objectives and key results (OKRs), and hypotheses. We collaborate with product, business, and technology to discover and ideate on new opportunities to solve business problems and increase the user experience. The future state vision is summed up through value-driven roadmaps, reflecting the iterative chunks of value the business and customer can expect to receive.
Tela Mathias
Managing Partner, COO
No one out strategizes Tela. She has spent the last 23 years defining winning strategies in both the federal and private sectors, allowing nothing to stop her from leading those strategies to realization. Tela loves to create and is a SAFe 5.0 Certified PO/PM, LPM, APM, SPC and SSM, Pragmatic Certified PMC II, and Certified Net Promoter Associate.
Ideating on a solution to a problem, technical, architectural, data related or otherwise, is usually complicated – in fact, we hear this more often than not. We love solutioning the hardest problems and bring with us the collaborative mindset to conquer the process together. Our team has partnered with some of the largest companies in the financial services industry to discover better, simpler, and faster ways to achieve the desired outcome. We do this intentionally with a quality at the forefront of our minds. Our solution strategies include an early iteration of the test strategy and plan because we know that if you do not set the stage for quality early on, you will wish you had.
Developing with Quality.
From the first piece of code to the last, we develop it with built-in-quality and accuracy. Our team treasures collaboration and works with customers, business and product teams to build the right thing the first time. Completed features means the code is unit tested and tested end-to-end. We balance automation with manual testing to maximize the development of value and the sustainability of testing. We make sure the juice is worth the squeeze. Either way, we ensure that every defect is reported, logged and tracked in a ticketing system such as Azure DevOps Server or JIRA.
Delivering on Quality.
Deploying and releasing quality code is the key to delivering value. Our approach separates delivering and releasing software to effectuate timely launches. While code is tested end-to-end as it is developed, the real test is when a user gets his, her, their hands on it during user acceptance testing (UAT), or lifecycle testing. This is where test scenarios, test cases and quality automation comes into play. Once those test cases pass UAT, we ready it for release when the end user is ready to accept it.
Drive the Vision.
Our implementation leaders guide the collaboration and alignment on the implementation vision, success metrics and roadmaps between all stakeholders. Our leaders understand the ‘what’ and ‘why’ so clearly that they can artfully communicate the value and help end users embrace the idea of change sooner, rather than later.
Support the Execution.
Implementation success involves much more than tracking to a timeline. It involves helping people grow into better, more empowered team members, while making sure the teams stay focused on the right things and not in the churn of analysis paralysis. We leverage an implementation backlog and scrum to manage outcomes and activities during discovery, delivery and, risk, communications and expectation management.
Ensure the Transition.
Our delivery and adoption readiness and preparations starts at the beginning of the project or program and culminates when the end users are ready to receive the value. During this time, we manage change, assess and coordinate training resources, participants and needs, communicate the transformation roadmap, and remove impediments.
The People.
Our analytics team not only works for our clients, but with them. Our mission is to help our client’s find actionable data and create solutions that will drive value for each of them. We do this by building custom reports, providing analytics and interpreting results to provide a holistic view of the data. We are also ready, willing and able to support and guide our client’s to realize their data value throughout every step of the process.
The Technology.
Our goal is to provide data analytics that fulfills all unmet needs without the expensive price tag. We pride ourselves on being an industry leader in data analytics, equipped to support your outcomes at scale with a secure, cloud-based platform that requires no hardware maintenance.
Tanya Brennan
Managing Partner, CEO
Tanya is an expert in implementations, launch readiness, adoption, and overall leadership. She has over 22 years of experience and is a passionate leader with a keen ability to communicate the value of different approaches to our clients. She is a Certified Scrum Master, SAFe 5.0 Certified Agilist, and Lean Portfolio Manager.
Paul is a master engineer and one of the strongest Solution Architects in the mortgage technology business. He has spent the last 18 years feeding his passion for solutioning complex problems and building the solutions to solve them. Paul is a true servant leader who uses his certifications as a scrum master, BPMN, DMP and SAFe 5.0 ARCH to provide maximum value to clients and team members.
Melanie is all about helping our clients and team members appreciate and realize their potential value. For over 14 years, Melanie has strategized, led and delivered on some of the most complex initiatives in the mortgage technology space. In addition to being a product leader, she also leads our marketing and volunteer teams. Melanie is an empathetic leader who is passionate about mentoring and uniting people. She is a Certified Scrum Master, Shipley Trained Proposal Manager, BPMN certified, SAFe 5.0 Certified Agilist, PO/PM and Lean Portfolio Manager.
Lindsay is all about detail and leading teams to deliver value quickly. For over 14 years, she has led enterprise teams to envision, design, deliver and validate complex mortgage solutions in the federal and commercial spaces. She is a true collaborative product leader with a rock solid history of delivering the most business value to her clients. She uses her Certified Scrum Master and BPMN Method and Style knowledge to help teams move quickly through ideation to delivery.
A highly admired leader, Tom is a product delivery expert with over 22 years experience serving federal and private sector clients realize value as a complex Program and Portfolio Manager. He is one of the most balanced and measured leaders able to connect with people on the most complex initiatives. Tom is a SAFe 5.0 Certified PO/PM, Agilist as well as Certified Scrum Master (CSM).
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Continuous Development.
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Continuous Solutioning.
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The Right Training.
Our Training Services are designed to help individuals and teams learn all the skills necessary to deliver value and meet personal growth needs. We truly believe that training should not suck the life out of individuals or the organization. That is why we use the latest in cognitive neuroscience (the study of how the brain learns) to customize training strategies and develop curriculum that simultaneously entertains and educates, ensuring that participants learn more and retain more than traditional training methods. Our training services include:
Training Strategy and Design
Custom Training Delivery (Synchronous, Asynchronous, Instructor Led, Virtual, and CBT)
Leadership Development Programs
Curriculum Development for Lifelong Learning
The Right Advising and Coaching.
Our advising and coaching services transform companies from good to great and beyond through customized approaches that touch all levels of the organization to rally around value and foster a continuous learning mindset that drives evolutionary change. Our advisors and coaches are Lean-Agile, Product, and Change Management experts experienced at blending and creating customized approaches using our Rally Around Value Everyone (Rave) approach to change walking leaders and the organization from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence. Our Advising and Coaching Services include:
Kanban/Scrum Team Coaching
Product Management and Ownership Coaching
StratDevOps Coaching
SAFe, LeSS, Scrum at Scale, & Customized Frameworks
Leadership Development at All Levels
The Right Facilitation.
Our facilitation services ignite your teams’ creativity and tap into the hidden talents and ideas of individuals that typically lie dormant with typical meeting facilitation. We ensure that every voice is heard and every minute counts by blending techniques from Improv, the latest in Cognitive Neuroscience, Lean, Agile and other frameworks in an effort to get the most value out of every meeting. Our facilitation services include:
Lean Decision Jams
Design Sprints
Lean-Agile events and workshops
Release Planning
Product/Requirement Elicitation
Strategic Planning Sessions
On Site, Off Site, and Virtual Event Planning
Facilitation Training and Workshops
The Right Strategy.
We make sure our clients choose the right tool to meet their strategic direction and vision, especially when it comes to client experience and loyalty. When the customer is at the center of the strategy and vision, there’s no better tool than Salesforce and we know how to develop and deliver a strategy and vision that will add continuous value to your customer throughout their loan life cycle experience.
The Right Approach.
Ultimately the right approach will result in fast delivery of value and investment realization. It is critical to gain alignment on the approach and we focus on three things to achieve this. Our philosophy is to deliver value quick and often so we can have continuous improvements and continuous value realization. Then we focus on operations and maintenance, establishing support and optimization processes. Last is systems stability, conducting periodic solution reviews to ensure scalability and long term viability.
The Right People.
People are the core of any business, whether defining a strategy, requirements, or building and releasing a solution. Without the right people success is at risk We assess the team and identify gaps in skillsets, roles or responsibilities. From this analysis we make talent recommendations, ensuring full transparency on expectations to achieve the desired results.
