How Edgility is Putting Its Values Into Action
When Allison Wyatt, cofounder of Edgility, was offered a scholarship to a private boarding school a lightbulb went off. Having grown up in an economically depressed town, she immediately observed the contrast between her own background and that of her peers, and it sparked a realization: different opportunities can lead to very different outcomes. This was her first introduction to economic disparities. Later after attending college and graduate school, Allison started Edgility based on the belief that a broad and diverse group of people is necessary to solve the challenges of inequity.
Christina Greenberg, who cofounded Edgility with Allison, also understands inequities first hand, largely through the lens of living in Oakland, California. In her city, power, wealth, and privilege are unequally distributed, impacting mostly Black and Brown children and their families. Together, Christina and Allison are putting their values into action to help realize more equitable, inclusive, and just work environments.
Having conversations about DEI isn’t enough
When it comes to equity work, Edgility ensures that anti-racism, sexism, and other relevant issues are being discussed within organizations—including its own. But Edgility also realizes talking about DEI alone isn’t going to move the needle. Edgility takes a more formal and public position by writing down its beliefs and values and presenting them to all staff—and asks that its clients do the same. Aligning on values and bringing them to life through action and accountability is the north star of this work.
Three ways Edgility is making its values actionable
- With a shared leadership structure in place, the co-founders are equal leaders and share decision-making responsibilities. They have also built a leadership team within the organization that informs organization-wide decisions and is starting to effect strategic direction and broader policies. This collaborative decision-making approach has empowered more expansive thinking—as individuals and as an organization.
- To demonstrate a fair redistribution of resources, Edgility offers commissions to anyone who brings in a lead or closes a deal. And as a way of ensuring the future sustainability of the firm and building generational wealth for others beyond the cofounders, it is exploring the option of including equity as part of future compensation.
- As part of its commitment to doing impactful work without under-resourcing and overstraining staff—which is all too common in the nonprofit space—Edgility has always offered options for flexible schedules and fully remote work, even pre-COVID. While hard work and profitability are central to any organization, Edgility gives equal weight to encouraging well-balanced and happy lives for all its employees.
Edgility’s leading edge
All staff recognize that equity work is never truly done. Edgility has built and implemented numerous talent systems and compensation structures, including career pathways and performance evaluations, designed to grow and change with the organization’s needs. Last summer, Edgility performed an equity audit and realized it needed to give staff more opportunity to talk about equity and race issues. This dedication to self-reflection and an iterative, flexible process is crucial to its success. Moving forward, the organization aspires to be more forthright about its views and dedicate more resources to challenging the status quo and creating a new standard for organizations everywhere
