The American Institute for Managing Diversity (AIMD) was an American nonprofit diversity think tank and educational institute. Founded in 1984, by the “guru of diversity theory”Blackmon, Douglas A. (March 16, 1997; updated September 30, 2005). Company clones its diversity advice. Tampa Bay Times. R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. (1944–2013),Profile (2013). Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. Diversity Officer Magazine. AIMD was the first national nonprofit organization in the United States to research and study workplace diversity, American Institute for Managing Diversity. Emory University | Rollins School of Public Health. and the leading nonprofit think tank dedicated to furthering the field of diversity management. Thomas died in 2013, and AIMD ceased operations.
History
In 1983, a white corporate manager asked R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr., a former professor and dean of the business school at Clark Atlanta University, a historically black institution, for advice on how to manage his Black employees. Thomas, who was an alumnus of University of Chicago and Harvard business schools, People, Locations, Episodes: R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., Administrative Activist born on Wed, 05.24.1944. African American Registry. did not believe that Black employees needed special attention nor supervision.
In 1984, Thomas approached his undergraduate alma mater, Morehouse College, and asked them to partner with him to build an institute that would study “managing diversity,” a term that refers to the changing demographics of organizations; in the 1980s, more white male managers were managing more women and ethnic minority employees, and more women and ethnic minority managers were managing white male employees. The American Institute for Managing Diversity (AIMD)'s first offices were located on the ground floor of a Morehouse administration building, although AIMD was technically not affiliated with the college.Wilson, Robin (October 5, 1994). “Crisis” at Morehouse: College is shaken by the resignation of its president for financial “impropriety.” The Chronicle of Higher Education.Environmental Protection Agency (November 1991). EPA Cultural Diversity Vendor Catalog. United States Environmental Protection Agency 22A-1001. AIMD did not pay rent for its office space at the college. In addition to his role at AIMD, Thomas was selected as Secretary of Morehouse in 1988.
The organization's founding mission was to advance the field of diversity and to expand the practice of managing diversity with the goal of “shaping global policy and expanding critical consciousness.”Expanding Horizons of Diversity. The Decade Report, 1985-1995. The American Institute for Managing Diversity, Inc. Atlanta, Georgia. 1995. In its early years, AIMD received major funding from Avon Products, CBS, Dayton Hudson, Equitable, and Quaker Oats foundations. Bell Communications Research and Coca-Cola Company were some of the first supporters of AIMD's management consulting team and financial audit capabilities. AIMD believed that managing diversity was a belief, a philosophy, a way of managing change.
AIMD had a goal to become the repository of scholarship for the field of diversity. AIMD maintained a research library; hosted research fellows and visiting scholars; and prepared and delivered working papers, magazine articles, books, videos, electronic information services, post-secondary undergraduate and graduate curricula, a monthly newsletter, “Research Notes,” and a quarterly journal, “Translational Journal of Diversity Studies.”Williams, Lena (December 15, 1992). Companies Capitalizing on Worker Diversity. New York Times. AIMD advanced diversity thought leadership through its research, education and public outreach programs. The organization hosted educational seminars, planning sessions, symposium, and workshops for business professionals, academic researchers, organizational consultants, and others interested in managing diversity. AIMD developed the “cultural audit” process and delivery systems, a diversity management tool. AIMD was the source of pioneering issues and cutting-edge perspectives on diversity and diversity management.
In 1987, the Hudson Institute released a report, “Work Force 2000,” that supported AIMD's research;Johnston, William B., and Arnold E. Packer (June 1987). Workforce 2000: Work and Workers in the Twenty-first Century. Hudson Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana. the 21st century workforce would consist of more diverse workers from more diverse backgrounds and for organizations to remain competitive their leaders would have to learn how to manage diversity.Dishman, Lydia (February 15, 2021). Companies have been trying (and failing at) diversity training for 50 years. Fast Company.Anand, Rohini, and Mary-Frances Winters (2008). A Retrospective View of Corporate Diversity Training From 1964 to the Present. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2008, Vol. 7, No. 3, p. 356–372.
In 1991, AIMD created a for-profit consulting firm, Diversity Consulting, Inc. A year later, the consulting group was sold to Towers Perrin for an undisclosed amount. Towers Perrin. see “Towers Perrin established a workplace diversity unit in 1992, when it acquired Atlanta-based Diversity Consultants Inc.”
In 1995, AIMD hosted a global conference on managing diversity, “At the Frontiers of Managing Diversity: Integrating Practice and Research” at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education in Athens, Georgia.Woolridge, Blue (1995). Publications and Presentations. See "Changing Demographics of the Workforce: Implications for the Successful Implementation of Total Quality Management," with Annie B. Wooldridge (authors listed in alphabetical order). The Global Conference on Managing Diversity At The Frontier of Managing Diversity: Integrating Practice and Research (on disk). Athens, GA: The American Institute for Managing Diversity, Sept. 7-9, 1995.Ferdman, B. M. & Gallegos, P. I. (1996). Crossing borders at a maquiladora: Lessons learned from an HR manager's experiences. In At the frontier of managing diversity: Integrating practice and research (Proceedings of the 1995 AIMD Global Conference on Managing Diversity). Atlanta, GA: American Institute for Managing Diversity. The conference attracted business executives, academic researchers, and diversity scholars from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Africa.
In 2009, AIMD conducted a published study of cross-generational mentoring programs in organizations.Harrington, Melanie, and Pamela Arnold (March 8, 2011). Mentoring: A Tool To Improve Cross-Generational Employee Engagement. Profiles in Diversity Journal. AIMD determined that organizational mentoring programs are successful when they have a strong purpose and a culture that values mentoring.
AIMD Alliance with Diversity Collegium In 1991, seven pioneering diversity professionals established the "Diversity Collegium" to advance the field of diversity. In 2003, AIMD formed a partnership with the Diversity Collegium, The Diversity Collegium: A Think Tank of Diversity Practitioners. referred to as "The Alliance," to research and study common terms and language for the field of diversity. The Alliance and its members are credited with expanding the definition of workplace diversity beyond race and gender to include religion, sexual orientation, physical disabilities, family background, organizational newcomers and old-timers, functional backgrounds, union and non-union workers, exempt and non and non-exempt workers, ways of living, and others. In 2006, The Alliance co-hosted, “The World is Flat: Implications for Diversity Management” forum at Kraft Foods’ world headquarters in Glenview, Illinois. Executive Summary: The World is Flat: Implications for Diversity Management, 2006 Alliance Forum. American Institute for Managing Diversity, Inc. and Diversity Collegium Membership. Kraft, Tyson Foods, and Weyerhauser sponsored the forum that involved leading academics, business executives, and diversity practitioners to discuss the relationship between a changing world and the implied flatness of managing diversity.
Diversity Leadership Academy In 2000, The Coca-Cola Company donated $1.5 million to AIMD for the creation of the Diversity Leadership Academy (DLA) of Atlanta, “a leadership development program for executive level business and community leaders.”Tucker, Katheryn Hayes (June 1, 2006). From Representation to Inclusion. Georgia Trend.The Coca-Cola Company (September 30, 2001). Coca-Cola Executive to Head Diversity Leadership Academy.Yarbrough, Dick (December 14, 2000). Diversity Training Shouldn’t be Directed Just to Whites. This partnership was announced after Coca-Cola settled a lawsuit for more than $192 million that was filed by Black employees who alleged employment discrimination.Winter, Greg (November 17, 2000). COCA-COLA SETTLES RACIAL BIAS CASE. New York Times. Coca-Cola executive Juan Johnson, an African-American, served as the first president of DLA Atlanta. Juan Johnson, Founder & President. Diversity Leadership in Action.
DLA Atlanta served as a model for other AIMD Diversity Leadership academies. In 2003, AIMD hosted a DLA in Indianapolis, Indiana, and in 2008, a five-month DLA training session in Charleston, West Virginia.Smith, Lawrence (June 27, 2008). Jackson Kelly co-sponsoring inaugural hands-on diversity program for West Virginia. West Virginia Record. For the tenth anniversary of DLA Atlanta, AIMD announced that 300 professionals had graduated from the Atlanta program,94th Airlift Wing Public Affairs (January 13, 2012). Dobbins chief graduates 10th Atlanta Diversity Leadership Class. Dobbins Air Reserve Base. and more than 1,200 executives nationwide had participated in an AIMD diversity leadership academy.
Major research partners and clients AIMD was first nonprofit organization in the United States to advise Fortune 500 companies and large institutions on managing diversity.Geber, Beverly (July 1990).“Managing Diversity,” Training 27, no. 7: 23-30. "The first consulting firm specifically dedicated to corporate diversity consulting was R. Roosvelt Thomas’s Institute for Managing Diversity." Some of the “pioneering managing diversity companies” included Amoco, Avon Products, Great Rivers Girl Scout Council, Procter & Gamble, and Union Pacific.Arnold, Pamela, and Terri Kruzan (June 12, 2012). Organizational Culture Roadblocks & Shortcuts for Leveraging Diversity: Part I. Profiles in Diversity Journal.
AIMD worked with Avon Products to develop diversity training programs.Williams, Robin (2001). Some Essentials of Diversity in the Workplace. Journal of Technology Studies. vol. 27, no. 1. p. 58-60. DOI: 10.21061/jots.v27i1.a.12. One of those programs gave Black and Hispanic managers more authority over under-performing inner-city markets, resulting in those markets becoming some of the most profitable in the company.
In 1988, AIMD advised Quaker Oats on workplace diversity issues, including employee advancement for women and ethnic minorities.Nicklin, Julie L. (September 30, 1992). Helping to Manage Diversity in the Work Force. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Throughout its history, AIMD consulted and provided research for several corporations and large organizations. The following is a partial list.
Aetna American Airlines American Red Cross, Atlanta American Transtech Amoco ASHA AT&T Avon Products Bell Communications Research CBS Centers for Disease Control Coca-Cola Company Control Data Corporation Dayton Hudson Defense Information Systems Agency EDS Equitable Exxon Fannie Mae Federal Reserve Bank Ford Motor Goodyear Tire and Rubber Great Rivers Girl Scout Council Greater Leadership, Hartford, Connecticut Hallmark Cards Hartford Insurance Hoecht Celanese Household Finance Hughes Aircraft IBM Indiana University Junior Achievement Kent State University Lawrence Livermore Labs Metropolitan State College of Denver PG&E Procter & Gamble Quaker Oats