Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick

Founder of Co-Creating Inclusion, a diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm with a focus on shifting culture and driving equity.

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

Silence has an impact, and in the case of leadership, it’s often an impact of harm.

Blog post: listening does not have to mean being silent
🔗 https://t.co/nK5usHk6fk

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

We often hear about the damaging impact of silence from staff more deeply impacted by systems of oppression within our client organizations.

Blog post: listening does not have to mean being silent
🔗 https://t.co/nK5usHk6fk

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

My body carries trauma, but it also carries healing.

Blog post: vacation report back
🔗 https://t.co/ceipFAN5Y8 (link in bio)

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

Reflecting on my summer vacation (before it recedes into a far away dream) was an important reminder for me that it isn't just trauma that lives in the body but also healing.

Blog post: vacation report back
🔗 https://t.co/ceipFAN5Y8

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

We need to help ourselves and each other and our teams go on vacation. This means planning work and workloads so there is a stepping down of work beforehand, and a ramping up after.

Recovering is not the same as vacation
🔗 https://t.co/DFxltJINtB

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

Throwback to a blog post from last year when I realized that my vacation was mostly spent in work and recovery mode, which is NOT the same thing. I swore to do things differently this year -it's going much better!

Recovering is not the same as vacation
🔗 https://t.co/DFxltJINtB

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

Defensiveness often causes a loss in credibility & trust, especially although not exclusively with those less proximate to power. When we shut down feedback, especially from a position of power, we’re also shutting down inclusion.

Learning builds trust
🔗 https://t.co/WR4j0Pk8Fj

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

Defensiveness destroys trust and credibility. It's LEARNING that builds trust - not just listening, which is an important step towards learning, but actually putting lessons into practice by doing things differently.

Blog post: learning builds trust
🔗 https://t.co/WR4j0Pk8Fj

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

Leaders are often “visionaries” and “change makers” with a vision for something that is different than currently exists. Not every leader is suited to driving change towards equity and inclusion however.

🔗 https://t.co/RI7ZswYmz4 (link in bio)

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

What kind of leadership does it take to drive change towards equity and inclusion?
🔗 https://t.co/RI7ZsxfXXE

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

If individual staff are left to try and address the challenges of taking PTO by themselves, it often doesn’t feel “worth it” to try and do so. At CCI, we’ve been guilty of falling into the same trap.

Blog post: vacation
🔗 https://t.co/8JugAeUxzf

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

Something we often hear from our client organizations is that it is challenging for staff to take PTO. We struggle with this too.

Blog post: vacation
🔗 https://t.co/8JugAeUxzf

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

Including people who are affected by decisions in the decision-making helps you to make better decisions.

Blog post: Inclusion isn't just about being nice to people
🔗 https://t.co/P2qDH4xbDI (link in bio)

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

The assumption that inclusion just means being nice to people often ends up landing as paternalism - people in power believing they know what's best for you.

Inclusion isn't just about being nice to people
🔗 https://t.co/188r20904K

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

In those moments of truth telling, anxiety - fear of the future and what I can’t control - is alchemized into a knowing trust of the things I cannot know or control.

Blog post: Alchemizing anxiety into trust
🔗 https://t.co/1NW5d1E9Jf

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

I've been thinking about what to do with that anxiety, when what I want to feel is grounded in trust. Could it be that anxiety could be alchemized into trust?

Blog post: Alchemizing anxiety into trust
🔗 https://t.co/1NW5d1E9Jf

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

Rushing in to fix things upholds traditional and oppressive power structures because it assumes that we have the answers.

It assumes we know how to fix things.

Blog post: The harm of rushing in to fix things
🔗 https://t.co/0Cc5xI5J2p

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

Many of us, especially those who are “professionally” successful, have been trained to be perfectionists and fixers.

And yet, rushing in to fix things upholds traditional and oppressive power structures because it assumes that we have the answers.

🔗 https://t.co/0Cc5xI5J2p

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

If systemically marginalized staff who are not aligned with power and advantage do not feel they are being paid equitably, either they’re not, or the equitable compensation structure you have is not being clearly communicated.

🔗 https://t.co/TkldsFimxB

[Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick @aletheafitz]

A question that often comes up, especially from our non-profit clients, is on how to retain valuable BIPOC employees so they don’t leave for better paying opportunities elsewhere.

What does an equitable & transparent compensation structure look like?
🔗 https://t.co/TkldsFzXp9