Building a Sustainable Black Employee Affinity Network

Black employees within the Judicial Council of California lacked a formal internal network through which they could build community, discuss shared workplace experiences, develop programming, and bring collective concerns to organizational leadership.

Creating an identity-based employee network within a formal public-sector institution required more than gathering interested employees. The network needed a clear purpose, credible leadership, operating practices, organizational relationships, and enough structure to continue beyond its founding members. It also needed to support honest discussion among Black employees while functioning effectively within established institutional expectations.

I co-founded the Black Employee Action Network and served as vice president from 2020 through 2026. Working alongside other employee leaders, I helped establish the network's organizational presence, build relationships with employees and institutional stakeholders, develop educational and cultural programming, and translate employee experiences into recommendations for organizational consideration.

We began by creating space for Black employees to connect around workplace experience, professional life, current events, and issues affecting Black communities. These conversations helped identify recurring concerns and informed the network's priorities.

The founding team developed the network's purpose and leadership structure, established regular communication and engagement practices, and created programming that combined community building, education, professional dialogue, and institutional advocacy.

Building credibility required relationships beyond the network itself. We communicated with organizational leaders and cross-functional partners to clarify BEAN's purpose and establish it as a constructive employee voice. The network provided a channel through which employee experiences could be elevated without reducing those experiences to isolated individual concerns.

BEAN also contributed to an organizational equity audit examining institutional practices and employee experience. Network leadership helped expand the organization's recruitment strategy to include sources reaching more diverse candidate populations and advocated for an organization-wide calendar recognizing cultural and heritage observances.

Programming included employee discussions, educational events, and opportunities to engage organizational and public-policy issues affecting Black employees and communities. The network's sustained operation required ongoing leadership coordination, communication, member engagement, and adaptation as organizational conditions changed.

BEAN created a durable structure for Black employee connection, voice, learning, and engagement within the Judicial Council. Its continued operation from 2020 through 2026 demonstrated that the network had developed beyond an informal or short-term response.

The network also created a mechanism for translating employee experience into organizational dialogue and practical recommendations. Its contributions to equity assessment, recruitment outreach, cultural recognition, and educational programming connected employee belonging with broader institutional practices.

This case illustrates how affinity networks can serve as more than social spaces. When supported by clear purpose, sustained leadership, stakeholder relationships, and organizational access, they can become important sources of employee insight, cultural learning, and institutional accountability.