EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — A local East Hartford company, ExecMommyGroup (EMG,) recently received The Reimagine Main Street Project national Backing Black Business $10,000 grant. It's all a part of the mission, which focuses on growing local female black-owned businesses.
EMG is a black women-owned diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) firm. It has an all-female workforce whose mission is to change how businesses incorporate diversity and inclusion in the retention of employees.
Joelle Murchison is the Founder and Principal of EMG and has worked under the DEI umbrella for more than two decades in corporate America, non-profit and higher education sectors.
Murchison is a mom of four and said her kids were the inspiration behind the company.
"We're working to create a culture in these organizational environments that are ready for my children," said Murchison.
She explained that her oldest has dyslexia, and one of her sons is on the autism spectrum.
"So when I think of the way organizations can either welcome them as employees or provide services to them as costumers or clients," explained Murchison. "They need to be ready to pivot and change to accommodate the needs of a very broad and diverse population."
Murchison said this is why EMG focuses on consulting, coaching, and collaborating with companies, non-profits, and higher education institutions to enhance their understanding of all employees.
"ExecMommyGroup is able to come in and help to ask some of those difficult questions and then be ready to help support organizations to maximize all of the potentials that they have by leveraging diversity, equity, and inclusion," explained Murchison.
The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has worked closely with EMG to create a space where conversations about diversity and inclusion are about their work and the people who work there.
Bradford Drazen is the vice president of communications and marketing with the Hartford Foundation. He said it is imperative to have organizations and people with EMG's expertise to help create opportunities for learning and conversations that make the organization better internally to serve the community better.
"We extended that work with ExecMommyGroup because of the value they brought to us and how what we see how much more farther we can go to continue to embed DEI in all of the work that we do," said Drazen.
Murchison said the murder of George Floyd became a reminder that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done around diversity, inclusion, and racial equity.
"This work hasn't got any less important; the impact and the need, I should say in our community, has been considerably growing," stressed Murchison.
A news release stated that EMG would use the grant money from the Backing Black Bussiness grant to help with the growing demand of services needed. The funds will help standardize processes and train additional DEI practitioners to deliver its best-in-class interactive DEI workshops and perform its in-depth strategic assessments for businesses, non-profits, and other organizations.
Although her work is ongoing, she wants the community, women and the area to know that they can make a difference no matter how small or hard it may seem.
"There are young women, young girls, particularly my own children and friends and family who look and say 'wow', you really can do it, and I encourage them all to do the same," said Murchison.
Raquel Harrington is the race and culture reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at rharrington@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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