On Jan. 6, 2021, Raheem Uqdah was, like many in the U.S., in shock. The CSR director for Curaleaf, one of the largest national cannabis companies, gathered with his BIPOC co-workers — digitally, thanks to the pandemic — to hold space for each other’s fear, panic and hurt regarding the Capitol Building siege.

The multistate cannabis operator (MSO) could ultimately create this kind of safe space for its employees, Uqdah explained, because of the prevailing workplace culture. Uqdah entered his role in November 2020; he can’t say for sure if the anti-racism awakening that summer directly led to a proliferation of CSR roles in his industry.

“I do know that, at Curaleaf, that was a sincere moment in our culture. That changed the way we relate to one another,” Uqdah, who uses he/they pronouns, said. “It changed our need to build employee resource groups and to create safe spaces for people to have conversations and digest really difficult things.”

In his role as CSR director, he describes the creation of a positive feedback loop of internal and external diversity, equity and inclusion practices. A halo effect, where the glow is felt from within.

The task of maintaining this kind of positive feedback loop as Curaleaf director of corporate social responsibility, however, does not come without challenges, Uqdah said. In fact, these challenges often mirror the hardships many HR teams or departments of one face in trying to keep abreast of the ever-changing DEI landscape.

“Hearing...

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