A woman of color-centered approach to transformative leadership: how to build better workplace cultures that resist tokenization, dismantle white supremacy, and empower BIPOC women leaders to thrive
What happens when workplaces put the comfort of white people above the safety of women of color?
Our work environments are toxic. From microaggessions to burnout, the effects of white supremacy at work are evident, and women of color are disproportionately affected. We need solutions for healthier, more inclusive organizations—and the stakes are high.
What Your Comfort Costs Us is essential reading for leaders and allies who are motivated to dismantle oppressive structures in the workplace and cultivate truly healthy, inclusive environments. Topics and chapters include:
- Talking About Racism Is Hard: How making women of color solely responsible for addressing workplace causes us harm
- Checking the Boxes:Why tokenizing and commodifying women of color impedes true reform
- Exploring the (Invisible) Structural Barriers to Leadership and Leadership Resources
- How White People’s Comfort Often Comes at the Cost of People of Color’s Safety
- Uncovering The Added Burden and Toll of Unpaid and Unseen Emotional Labor
- How we Dismantle Supremacist Scaffolding
- Plus Dimensions of Care, Rest, and Healing
Featuring personal narratives from 10 women of color in leadership and supported by systemic analysis, What Your Comfort Costs Us addresses the pervasive challenges experienced by women of color leaders in their own words—and explores the real-world effects of prioritizing white people’s comfort over women of color’s material safety. The book also offers practical solutions for any leader looking to transform their workplace culture. By centering empathy and constructive discomfort, What Your Comfort Costs Us provides a roadmap for systemic change, empowering leaders to challenge entrenched power dynamics and cultivate healthier, more inclusive workplaces.