Shared Sisterhood: How to Take Collective Action for Racial and Gender Equity at Work

Gender equity can’t happen without racial equity. We need Shared Sisterhood.

Bias persists in organizations and society. Despite efforts that have been made in the last few decades, gender and racioethnic equity still hasn’t been achieved. What’s worse, Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Latina women are being held back more than their White counterparts.

We need to change how we strive for equity. We must move beyond individual solutions toward collective action, where people from historically power-dominant and marginalized groups work together, so that all women experience the benefits of professional growth and equity. We need Shared Sisterhood, and anyone, regardless of gender, can join in.

Professor Tina Opie first started Shared Sisterhood as a movement to drive gender and racial equity in organizations. Since then, she and professor Beth A. Livingston have worked together to spread the word to leaders across organizations, with thousands of followers joining the cause. In this book, they explain how to use vulnerability, trust, empathy, and risk-taking to build Shared Sisterhood and break down three key parts of the process:

1. Dig into your own assumptions around racioethnicity, gender, and power
2. Bridge the divide between women of all backgrounds through authentic relationships
3. Advance all women across the organization and beyond

Balancing a mix of history, research, and real-life examples--including the authors’ own experiences--this book encourages everyone to join Shared Sisterhood and advance equity for all.

Tina Opie, PhD is an Associate Professor of Management at Babson College and an award-winning teacher and researcher, consultant, and speaker. She is the founder of Opie Consulting Group, where she advises large firms in the financial services, entertainment, media, beauty, educational, and healthcare industries. Her research has appeared in such outlets as O Magazine, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and Harvard Business Review and been published in multiple academic journals. She is also a regular commentator on Harvard Business Review’s Women at Work podcast and Greater Boston’s NPR affiliate television station, WGBH.

Beth A. Livingston, PhD is an Assistant Professor in Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business and has done executive education, speaking engagements, and consulting for companies and nonprofits such as John Deere, Yves Saint Laurent Beauty, Allsteel, and Hollaback!. Her research interests lie primarily in gender, diversity, and the management of work and family. Her research has been highlighted in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and on NPR and published in several top academic journals.

Connect with Tina Opie at drtinaopie.com and Beth A. Livingston at linkedin.com/in/bethalivingston