How to Drive Corporate Change through Activism

By Nereida (Neddy) Perez

Most recently I was on a panel at a local university speaking about the impact of the Trump

Administration on Human Resources, the president of the university was in attendance and the

room was overflowing. Once the panel finished, we were taking questions one young lady got

up and directed her question to the president, “Why are we not a sanctuary school when we

have petitions signed by hundreds of students?” While the president tried to address the question in a calming manner she came back at him with the same question more forcefully.

All I could think of was, “this young lady is blossoming into an activist in front of the attendees

and her college president”. It was great to see her bravery but at the same time as a corporate

professional and consultant that activism and bravery is not always welcomed inside

corporations. Rather every company has its own unique corporate culture and in as much as

they may want or crave change, each has a level of change tolerance that it is willing to endure in order grow its business, drive innovation and attract talent.

The incident at the university as well as the current level of political activism around the country

sparked in protest to the Trump Administration as well as, the various global activities in the UK,

France and Middle East got me to thinking, “Are we entering a new era of activism? How can it

be leveraged to accelerate corporate culture, organizational, political, environmental and

community change?” This line of questioning led me down the path of exploration and ultimately

has resulted in this article which will hopefully spark interest in how you can operationalize the concepts to drive organizational/corporate culture change.

According to Wikipedia, “Activism is an intentional action with the goal of bringing

about change. If you feel strongly about a cause and are working towards a change, you could

be considered an activist. An activist is anyone who is fighting for change in society.” If you

subscribe to this notion, then we are all activists in one way or another. It could be the mom

with a special needs child that advocates for better resources at her local school, it could be a

Transgender person who advocates to be allowed to use a public restroom that matches their

gender identity, or it can be an employee resource group that advocates for policy changes

within their company for workplace flexibility or parental leave.

I have been fortunate to have met with community activists and leaders like Russell Means from

the American Indian Movement, Reverend Jesse Jackson from the Rainbow Push Coalition,

Marc Morel from the National Urban League and Raul Izaguirre the founder of the National

Council of LaRaza, etc. to address corporate concerns and civil rights challenges at major

Fortune 100 companies. These individuals have understood that change happens through the

mobilization of like-minded people and that leveraging economic and media resources to create

change is critical. These individuals have taught me communications and mobilizing people are critical to driving change.

In recent times, we have seen a new wave of activists like the ones that responded to the

Trump Administration’s Travel Ban who used the concepts employed by civil rights activists like

Martin Luther King Jr and Cesar Chavez. They even used boycotting tactics to convince the

CEO & Founder of Uber to step off Trump’s Business Advisory Council and create a million-

dollar fund to help pay for the potential legal assistance of employees impacted by the immigration policies of the Trump Administration.

Ringling Brothers’ Circus closed its doors after more than100 years citing the actions of animal

rights activists, SeaWorld eliminated their “Killer Whale Show” and publicly announced their

change in policy after the film “Blackfish” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C7Le65dCuU)

and activists took legal action and continued their protests. Even the Church of Scientology was

exposed and caught off guard by the group known as Anonymous. Overnight globally 10K+

protestors show up at the churches’ locations with signs, Anonymous also actively hacked into

the organizations server and communication systems bringing them down, one estimate

showed over one million disruptions. In the Middle East who can forget the story of a young

female activist named Malala Yousafazi whose advocacy for the education of girls resulted in

assassins trying to killer her. The artist Banksy in Europe has grown a following because of the

political commentaries his paintings make and the Pussy Riot punk rock band has inspired feminists in Russia to take action and stand up for women’s rights and social justice.

Some of these acts of activism are extreme and while I don’t condone extremism, this concept

of activism as a way to accelerate change made me wonder about its applications. As a

corporate diversity and inclusion consultant, I have often been hired by companies to help them

address diversity issues and/or transform the corporate culture from points A to Z or A to C

depending on the readiness of the organization. In studying the patterns of activism, it got me

thinking about how organizations could tap the collective mindset of employees to accelerate

workplace, corporate culture community and environmental sustainability efforts. Today more

than ever, corporations have amazing tools and resources ranging from social networking

platforms, memes, telepresence, Instagram, Snapchat, Tweeter, etc. that can help not only create communities but also can mobilize them to act and accelerate change

In this paper, you will find information on how to create activist communities, the types of

communities that exist, examples of leaders and resources that you can potentially leverage to accelerate internal change and drive corporate transformation.

Please note that there are extremist of all types in this world and in the activist communities that

exist there are radical extremists. My intention is to share information about how drive social

and economic change along the lines of Martin Luther King, Malala, and other peace

movements… this paper is not intended to inspire radicalism within corporate cultures or society.

What Motivates Activists There is a whole array of reasons why someone may become an activist. What seems to be

true for activists is that they are motivated by doing good even if it means engaging in extreme

behavior. “The spark” of activism can occur at any age, the need to be part change whether it is

to drive it personally or be part of something that will improve society is critical. There are a few common factors that serve as drivers/motivators for individuals who become activists:

Having been exposed to some form of perceived/actual injustice

A desire to make things right or better for others

A personal need to take some type of action and not be a bystander

Moral conviction to fix a situation

The need to reconcile an ethical or moral issue related to humanity, the environment, an ecosystem system challenge, etc.

There are also different levels of activism which have been around for centuries like the actions

of rebels during the American Revolution or Mahatma Gandhi’s peaceful marches and hunger

campaigns, or the Occupy Wall Street efforts. Then there are more extreme tactics like hacking

or breaking into buildings, or blowing up buildings like the airport in Belgium in 2016. In a corporate or nonprofit environment, there is no place for extremist behavior or tactics.

However, some companies have been successful in leveraging resources such as modern

technology to create solutions based hackathons or global townhalls for discussions of issues.

Others have used #hashtag groups and social media platforms to engage in conversations and

obtain feedback on how to address an issue. These tactics have provided a positive way for

people to move from conversation to action.

One letter or email can make a statement but “real/true” activism involves joining or becoming

part of a movement and taking a more active role in advocating for change. This can involve

things like: organizing community groups to protest an issue, becoming a spokesperson, becoming a blogger, or convener of conversations and town hall meetings, etc.

Activists can be found participating in micro events (i.e. neighborhood watches) or nationally or

internationally. An individual might be satisfied to be heard and work on a local community issue

or they might become so passionate about a topic that they get involved on a global level.

Many Hollywood stars and corporate leaders have gotten involved at a local level with a cause

they are passionate about and then taken that work nationally or globally.

Activists do not have to be famous or wealthy, they come from all walks of life and age groups.

Malala Yousafazi was a teenager who grew up in a town in the Swat District of north-west Pakistan but she had a clear message of what she stood for that others could rally to support.

Types of Activism

The main purpose of activism is to provoke people to ask questions and drive change. In a corporate environment, there must be clear and measurable results when

leveraging activist tactics but in the public realm often activist have loosely defined objectives which can cause groups to fizzle out.

Traditional tactics used by activists have been around for hundreds of years. For the most part the focus is on mobilizing people physically to protest whether it is through sit

ins, walk outs or marches. In the last 25 years, as new forms of communications have been adopted globally, the ability to mobilize people has become easier. For instance, in 2008, the group known as Anonymous mobilized tens of thousands of people globally

through the internet to raise awareness about the Church of Scientology.

All activists have one goal: which is to change a policy, practice or simply unmask another group. There are three types or ways of participating in activism. There

is solution-driven activism, change-focused activism, and/or revolutionary activism.

Solution-Driven Activism

Activism isn't just about complaining about an issue, it requires action. Solution-driven activism involves finding solutions to an issue and demanding steps be taken to reach

the goal (i.e. Trump Administration Travel Ban protests). In a corporate setting this

could be looking for ways to hire a more diverse group of employees or partnering with a civil rights organization to create an apprenticeship program design to address a

STEM skill and underrepresented population gap.

Change-Focused Activism

A second type of activism, called change-focused activism, centers on larger issues

and attempts to create an alternative to the issue. Instead of replacing the current

system, another system may be instituted alongside the original. This may involve creating a new process or providing a better option encouraging people to buy or use the alternative approach. A good example of change focused activism was the work led

by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta who fought for immigration civil rights. Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela’s objectives in India and South Africa. Inside a corporation

this could the creation of pay equity policies or change in promotion and succession processes.

Revolutionary Activism

Unlike the first two examples, revolutionary activism seeks to change the opposed

system. This type of activism tends to use radical approaches to drive major change. This type of activism use employ tactics used by extremist in society. Examples of revolutionary activism include the American Revolution, Fidel Castor’s takeover of

Cuba, or the socialist uprising in Russia in the early 1900s. With recent changes in the environment, we're seeing an upsurge in the realm of environmental activism. There are

of course varying levels of revolutionary acts and not all lead to war.

In a corporate setting, in the 70’s and 80’s introducing the concept of Diversity & Inclusion might have been revolutionary having a person of color/woman on a board of

directors. In today’s market place a challenge might still be empowering employee resource groups to take the lead on addressing diversity issues.

Examples of tactics used by activists include but are not limited to:

Formation of a group to raise awareness around a common cause.

Use social media to raise awareness of a wrong, an injustice or a problem. ...

Using Twitter to launch a #Hashtag campaign

Starting a Wiki for your cause

Posting messages on YouTube and/or launching a campaign asking other activists to take similar action (i.e. like the Ice Bucket campaign)

Create an online petition for your cause

Sending emails to political leaders

Engaging in product boycotting (i.e. as recently happened with Uber and Ivana Trump’s products)

Silent Protesting (i.e. When Vice President Mike Pence went to Washington, DC all his neighbors hung Gay Rights Flags outside of their homes to protest his behavior

against the LGBT community)

Types of Activists Activism has traditionally focused on a call for action related to human rights, environmental or

political causes and the approaches in the past have ranged from letter writing campaigns,

marches, to more extreme tactics. In today’s world, we have new types of activism which have been brought about by the digital age we live in. The types of activism include:

Digital Activists

o Also, referred to as online activism, internet or web activism as well as e-

activism. This is when online tools and resources are used to organize groups,

launch digital campaigns, create electronic advocacy, cyberactivism, e-

campaigning, and use electronic communication technologies such as social media,

particularly Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, e-mail, etc. to mobilize people to

take action. Some digital activists are more comfortable not being seen but rather

campaigning and creating online content is a strength. However, in recent years

digital activist have become more physically active in sit-ins and marches, etc.

Economic Activism

o While protests and marches or tweeting, etc. are effective forms of activism

one form of activism that stands out among all others is boycotting products.

By encouraging people to not purchase a particular item or pay patronage to

a store it can cause that organization to lose money. A recent example of this

tactic was the boycott of Uber within one day the president of the company

decided to resign from President Trump’s Business Council. In the medical

field, activists called for a boycott of Mylan’s EpiPen the company eventually

offered an alternative. Recent marches like a “Day without an Immigrant” was

intended to show the economic impact of what would happen if the U.S.

immigrant population was reduced. I remember in 1997 that United Parcel

Service lost millions due to a work stoppage that was deployed the Teamsters

Union. Eventually, the company returned to the negotiations table.

Environmental Activists

o Refers to the advocacy and work being done to protecting the natural environments

from destructions or pollution. Environmentalists are individuals that study and aspire

to preserve the ecosystems that sustain life like water, plants, trees, air, etc.

Environmental activists in recent years have raised concerns with the use of

Fracking a technique designed to extract oil and/or the construction of oil pipelines

through protected Native American Lands. Major environmental disasters have not

only effected humans directly but significantly disturbed the ecological fabric of

nature among some of the major disasters are British Petroleum’s Explosion of Deep

Water Horizon in the Gulf Coast probably the most famous environmental disaster

that sparked activism in the U.S. was Love Canal. Actress Julia Roberts brought to

life the story of environmental activist Erin Brockovitch who became an

environmental activist taking Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to court in1993 due to

water pollution contamination. Over the last 25 years more and more companies

have set-up and have become involved in environmental sustainability activities due

to the amount of studies and information showing that environmental protection is

critical to their ability to do business. Major companies like Ikea, New Belgium

Brewing, Panasonic, Patagonia, Shell, Starbucks, Waste Zero, etc. have become

major advocates in the environmental sustainability movement.

Hacktivists

o A website nominally associated with the group describes it as "an Internet gathering"

with "a very loose and decentralized command structure that operates on ideas rather than directives". Anonymous is a loosely associated international network of

activist and hacktivist entities.

Hashtagavists

o This term was coined by media outlets and refers to the use of Twitter's hashtags for internet activism. Individuals who use Twitter to inspire

conversations and/or call for action on a broad range of topics are referred to as “Hashtagavists”. Normally, a hashtag group is formed as a result of a discussion or

incident that has caused an outrage. #GivingTuesday, #BringBackOurGirls,

#IceBucketChallenge, #PrayforJapan, and #BlackLivesMatter are all examples of

calls to action that not only raised funds, created dialogue but have also been

attributed with changing how we think about activism and the use of the internet and

social communities.

Political Activists

o A political activist is someone who is involved in the political process for the sake

of promoting, impeding or raising awareness of a certain issue or set of issues.

Political activism typically involves engagement beyond just voting, whether it be

through protest, demonstration or lecture. Political activism can involve the

mobilization of a group of like-minded people who believe in a particular cause that

they believe can only be changed if the political process or policies in place are

challenged.

Social/Humanitarian Activists

o In this context, social justice is based on the concepts of human rights and equality,

and can be defined as "the way in which human rights are manifested in the

everyday lives of people at every level of society". Social activism seeks to identify

causes and sources of social inequality – hunger, homelessness, human trafficking,

poverty, under-employment and poor education. Working in conjunction with social

workers to provide essential services to under-served populations, social activists

lobby to change policies that limit social and economic opportunity. The actions of

companies to create equity of pay for women or partner with nonprofits to improve

education and access to clean water fall under the area of social activism. Even the

work of diversity and inclusion which strives to create equity falls under the space of

social activism.

How to Build an Activist Community to Drive Corporate

Culture Change

Employee activists are unlike community groups which are driven by broad social,

environmental, or political interests. Corporate built groups need to have parameters that enable them to function in a constructive manner. As a leader, you will need to be prepared for some level of disruption. (If your organization’s culture does not handle

disruption well or the leadership is buttoned up and has a hard time with being challenged then stop reading now or proceed with extreme caution.)

1. Identify the issue/cause or problem that you want to address

This can be as simple as posing a question like “How can our company become

more environmentally friendly?” or “What human rights/social issues do you feel the company should take a stand on?” or “How can we accelerate our diversity efforts to

create a more inclusive workplace?” or is there a piece of legislation that needs to change at a state or national level.

2. Establish the parameters and goals for the group

You will need to be clear about the purpose of the group and what are the goals that

they will be working to achieve. For instance, spelling out the kinds of behaviors that are acceptable vs nonacceptable (i.e. no place for name calling, destruction of property, etc.). Emphasize the company’s core values and intent to engage in

fruitful action based dialogue. Also, define for the group what their mission is and what the goals are. If it is just conversation without an end result the group is likely to

become disinterested and fall apart. However, the goal is broad enough and measurable then the group will get more quickly (i.e. Find a solution to eliminate and bottle clean water in underserved communities by 2020 or increase the number of

women in senior ranks in manufacturing by 2020 to 25%.)

3. Identify Potential Advocates

You may want to initially identify a cross section of characteristics and group of

employees to engage to kick off the conversation and test the waters of receptivity.

Some potential characteristics include field of work years of service with the

company, performance rating (high potentials or employees in good standing verses

those on a performance improvement plan), etc. The goal is to identify people that

have previously expressed interest in the topic and can potentially serve as a

champion or advocate.

At this stage, you may want to turn to the employees who are members of your

employee resource groups or other social communities that exist within the company

because these individuals have a tendency to be proactive. You will want to monitor

the group for outliers those that are either very extreme or those that become

disengaged. Their opinions and voices are important but you want to understand

what is the opinion of the majority of the group.

4. Educate the Group on the issue

Provide resources and information about the topic or issue that the company is wanting

to address. What are the past actions taken or external partnerships the company is engaged in. What have been the past successes or areas that the company fell short on.

Transparency of information will be critical in building trust with the community of participants.

5. Use the Power of Social Media to Keep the Group Engaged

Use whatever social media platforms your company subscribes to internally to create a space for people to come together and connect on the topic. Be sure to share information about the adoption of ideas from the group and acknowledge the group

on their contributions. Provide regular updates, particularly if there is a particular action or activity that the group is engaged in.

6. Provide Opportunities for the Group to Volunteer

Provide the group with an opportunity to become physically involved. Whether it is an opportunity to participate in a community service project or an environmental clean-up project creating an activity that brings the community you have created together gives

them a chance to connect with like-minded people and further bond. In addition, creating an activity of physical interaction allows you to invite others to participate in the group.

You will want to create activities that are fun for the group but also educational in nature. Use your personal talents to create your own, unique form of activism or ask the group to take a lead in developing activities that appeal to the group.

Whatever opportunities you create they should aspire to educate, further enroll, develop

a solution or take some type of action to support and address the challenge the company is facing.

7. Track & Measure Impact

A few years ago, the energy company that I worked for faced some major environmental legislation that would have impacted its revenue generation capabilities and resulted in a

massive workforce reduction. The company had a robust issues management team and

they realized the only way to turn the situation around was to mobilize the community and its employees to advocate for change in the state government. Sure enough they

identified community and employee resource group leaders to actively participate in letter writing campaigns and designed activities that resulted in government leaders holding

town hall activities where a business case was presented on and eventually resulted in a modification of the legislation proposed.

Hosting activities and engaging in conversations is great. However, one major difference between corporate driven activism and other forms of activism is that results/impact

need to be tracked. Results are critical in a corporate environment because shareholders measure the impact and success of a company based on dividends paid and stock

prices.

Some the of the results that can be tracked include, the number of positive media impressions, the number of people in attendance at events and the actual outcomes from

the events held.

Examples of Opportunities to Mobilize Corporate Activists

Whether it is to drive policy change internally or support an external an initiative your

employees represent a microcosm of your customers. Here are some suggestions on

how to engage your employees:

Internal Policies: (Human Resources and/or Labor Relations should be involved in

discussions to ensure the company follows relevant laws.)

Engage business/employee resource groups in providing feedback on corporate

culture changes (i.e. healthcare benefits, parental leave policy, environmental

Trying to figure out how to create a safe space for employees who are on a visa

or who are Muslim? Reach out to employees through internal communications

vehicles and host a hackathon/brainstorming session.

Got to reduce operating costs but trying to save jobs? Mobilize the employees

that will be impacted, debrief them and have come up with costs savings

recommendations and/or the process for downsizing?

External/Legislative Advocacy: (make sure to engage your government affairs team

to ensure no laws are broken)

Invite your employees to get involved in letter writing campaigns to

congressional leaders to advocate for a piece of legislation

Leverage company volunteer hours to allow employees to advocate for a

change in legislation

Host a town hall meeting with congressional leaders and provide an opportunity

for employees to have their voices heard.

The company has been found responsible for violation of a major law and fined.

Leverage employees to contribute ideas and recommendations on how to turn

the situation around… make them part of the solution.

Have Business/Employee Resource Groups engage with local community

members to support major outreach effort of the company on the

environment/healthcare/hunger or other causes.

Locations and Opportunities to Get Involved: These are some simple resources that you can use to get more familiar with issues and sample

of activist work. This list by no means is comprehensive. There are few organizations that

produce directories of activist groups available at the public library but you can also leverage the

internet to type a topic of interest and ask for which activist organizations are advocating

change.

Idealist (www.idealist.org)

United Nations (www.un.org)

Amnesty International (www.amnestyusa.org)

Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality (www.aare.org)

Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org)

Human Rights First (www.humanrightsfirst.org)

National Council of LaRaza (www.nclr.org)

National Urban League (www.nul.org)

Voices for Human Rights (www.humanrights.com)

Resources: 10 Twitter hashtags that have changed how we talk about social issues,

Washington Post article by Tanya Sichynsky, March 21, 2016,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/03/21/these-are-the-10-

most-influential-hashtags-in-honor-of-twitters-birthday/?utm_term=.62aafa2d053e

2015’s Top 5 Social Activism Sites by Adweek: http://www.adweek.com/digital/2015s-

top-5-social-activism-campaigns-blacklivesmatter-lovewins-more/

Advocates of Change Series, 2011: found on Amazon.com: series highlights

advocates for civil, economic, and transformative change Martin Luther King, Nelson

Mandela, Cesar Chavez, Mahatma Gandhi, etc.

A Concise History of Asian American Civil Rights Issues

https://jacl.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Unnoticed-Struggle.pdf

TED Activism : is a collection of topics and video talks on activism and a wide range of

topics related to social change. Check out: www/ted.com/topics/activism

Birth of a Movement, 2017: Civil Rights activist William Monroe Trotter wages a battle

against D.W. Griffith’s Ku Klux Klan.

Environmental Activism – www.adirondackcouncil.org

The Erin Brockovitch Story : http://abcnews.go.com/US/erin-brockovich-fighting-

neighbors-toxic-drinking-water/story?id=15120603

Ladonna Harris: Indian 101: a documentary that chronicles the life of Comanche

activist and national civil rights leader Ladonna Harris and the role that she played in

Native and mainstream American history since 1960’s

Human Rights (www.humanrights.com )

“I am Malala: the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban” ,

by Christina Lam & Malala Yousafazi

Paul Robeson – 20th Century Renaissance Man, Entertainer & Activist 2017: Paul

Robeson was a celebrated American actor, athlete, singer writer, Civil Rights activities.

Politics & Society in the 20th Century America Series: Activities of the 60’s Part 1 & 2 covers the Civil Rights movement to Women and the Equal Rights Amendment

This Borrowed Earth: Lessons from the Fifteen Worst Environmental Disasters

around the World (Masco) 1st Edition by Robert Emmet Hernan (Author), Graham

Nash (Preface), Bill McKibben (Foreword)

When We Rise – A film that chronicles the U.S. Civil Rights Movement

Wrenched, 2016: Documentary by activist ML Lincoln, tells the story of Edward Abbey,

one of America’s original defenders of the wildlands. Abbey inspired radical

environmental activism.

You can’t be Neutral on a Moving Train, 2004: This is a look at Howard Zinn who is

an activists, author and renowned historian

Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi, book published in 1991

9 Best Posters of Activism : https://www.activisthive.org/category/activism-inspiring-

examples/

The Activist Academy: https://www.activisthive.org/category/activist-academy/

Amherst College programs and resources for social activism:

https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/amherst-careers-in/government-

nonprofit/picareers/careers/social_activism

About the Author:

Nereida (Neddy) Perez,

Founder & Principal, D&I Creative Solutions

Neddy is an internationally known Human Capital and Diversity

practitioner with more than 20 years of corporate experience

working with Fortune 50 and Fortune 500 companies like UPS,

Shell, Sodexo, KPMG, National Grid and Ingersoll Rand. She has

developed and implemented change management initiatives designed to remove

organizational and cultural barriers to spur talent and business growth. In 2016, she

launched Diversity & Inclusion Creative Solutions, LLC (www.dicreativesolutions.com ),

a consulting company to support small to medium sized corporations interested in

building or revitalizing their diversity and talent management efforts.

Her work has been recognized by numerous organizations like: Association for Training

Development, National Association of Manufacturers, Center for Creative Leadership,

International Association of Business Communicators, Mercer Consulting ’s European

Diversity Council, Conference Board, and the Society of Human Resources

Management.

Neddy is a speaker at national and international conferences on Talent Management,

Diversity, Corporate Culture and STEM. In her spare time, she serves on the board of

several national and international nonprofit organizations focused on economic

development, education, human resources & human rights. Her primary passion is in

removing organizational and educational barriers that prevent equity in the workplace

and in educational systems.

Named as one of the most influential global diversity officers by Global Diversity

Magazine and a “Woman Worth Watching” by Profiles in Diversity Journal, and by

dozens of other publications and organizations including Diversity Inc., Latina Style

Magazine, the National Association of Manufactures, United Way, Ascend, the U.S.

Hispanic Chamber, etc.

If she is not actively involved in the board of a nonprofit like the Asia Society, NCBLN or

SHRM North Carolina, she is writing or creating a nonprofit. As a social entrepreneur,

she has helped co-found organizations like Latinos in Diversity & Human Resources

(LIDHR), STEMConnector.org, MightyChicks.org and most recently the

STEMInnovationForum.com.