I have two pieces of news I’m thrilled to share:
First, today marks the public release of “Unrealized Impact: The Case for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” This report is the product of a collaboration with a diverse group of stakeholders, including funders, leaders in the sector, and members of our Talent team. It’s also the first report from Promise54 — more on that in a moment! “Unrealized Impact” is an important paper that is the result an effort to gather data and promote progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the education sector, and it is authored by Xiomara Padamsee and Becky Crowe. I invite you to visit the study website to download your copy today!
Second, the tremendous anticipation for the “Unrealized Impact” study has prompted the launch of a new organization: Promise54. Xiomara Padamsee and Monisha Lozier —  partners and management team members who lead the Talent Services group at Bellwether —  were inspired by the report’s data to explore an expansion of their team’s work and impact. After months of extensive business planning, these two leaders, the rest of the Bellwether leadership team, and our Board of Directors determined that Promise54 should be established as a standalone organization. Its goal will be to aggressively pursue the opportunity to support education organizations in building and sustaining healthy, inclusive, and equitable environments where a diverse set of staff choose to work — and can thrive.
Promise54 will enable organizations to deliver on the promise of educational opportunity for all students, symbolized by the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. Xiomara Padamsee will serve as the organization’s founding CEO and will lead in partnership with Monisha Lozier, one of Bellwether’s founding partners. In addition to new services, Promise54 will continue to offer the full range of services (executive search, talent structures and systems, coaching, etc.) that Bellwether’s Talent Services practices offers today with a deeper focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Bellwether is committed to supporting the launch of Promise54 because we share a common understanding that diversity, equity, and inclusion are bedrocks of strong organizational effectiveness. We know our sector is in urgent need of support on this vital work and believe the launch of a new organization will allow both Bellwether and Promise54 to hone our focus to better meet the needs of education organizations.
Helping seed and support crucial ideas for the field and helping those ideas grow is a core component of Bellwether’s mission, and launching a new organization is another way to grow our impact. I know I speak for all of my partners at Bellwether when I say we are thrilled to support the launch of Promise54.
This work is so important, and I could not imagine more capable, passionate leaders than Xiomara and Monisha to lead it.
And, as excited as we are about the impact that Promise54 will have, this news is also bittersweet. We love our colleagues on the Talent Services team and will miss how our day-to-day-interactions enrich Bellwether. It’s in this spirit of collaboration and camaraderie that we’re committed to the creation and continuation of two transformative organizations.
I hope you will join me in celebrating “Unrealized Impact” and Promise54!