EGAL is driving a leadership movement to reimagine business for an equitable and inclusive society.
Our Mission
Equity Fluent Leaders examine their own power and privilege and courageously:
- Confront uncomfortable truths: Equity Fluent Leaders do not ignore the inequities that exist in their teams, organizations, and communities. They acknowledge their own power and privilege, and are not afraid to challenge an inequitable status quo.
- Increase opportunities and improve access: Equity Fluent Leaders relentlessly use their voice and resources to tackle barriers that can lead to marginalization.
- Drive change towards an equitable world: Equity Fluent Leaders are not afraid to think big. They boldly envision and implement solutions that may not yet exist. Equity Fluent Leaders are relentlessly persistent and proactive.
Equity Fluent Leadership is an ongoing journey.
Our Story
It all started with lunch. In 2017, EGAL’s founder and Executive Director, Kellie McElhaney, hosted a lunch at the Battery in San Francisco with 12 Haas Alumni where she shared her vision for the Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership. Having founded the Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Haas in 2003, Kellie recognized the power and potential of business to create positive change.
For too long, businesses have been a part of the problem, perpetuating harmful barriers for certain individuals, related to one’s gender, race, sexual orientation, and more. Kellie knew it was past due time for a shift and recognized the possibilities for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives in business. When Kellie spoke about her vision to reimagine business for an equitable and inclusive society, eight of the twelve Alumni’s at lunch that day immediately made a commitment to invest in the development and creation of the first diversity-focused center at the Haas School of Business.
Our Work
Since that lunch, EGAL has evolved tremendously. We are a small but mighty team, with a core group of individuals working with us that emerge from a diverse range of social, cultural, ethnic, gender, and racial backgrounds.
In order to put our mission into practice, we center our work on:
- Providing hands-on education and learning opportunities
- Developing actionable resources and insights for leaders
- Supporting academic research and business school faculty to advance diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
We recognize that DEI leadership training is desperately needed among business leaders. We want the rest of the world to see the value that we see in building and embedding DEI skills among all business leaders.
There are many ways to support our work. We rely heavily on donations to meet our goals and to continue making the tremendous impact we have in business and in training the next generation of Equity Fluent Leaders. Click here to make a donation.
Not able to make a donation? Engage with us on social media!