Practice Makes Progress

While teaching a challenging concept to middle schoolers, Ozy Aloziem told a student, “Practice makes perfect.” The student responded, “Practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes progress”—a light bulb moment for Aloziem that would guide and shape her approach to her work. She believes that we must keep working, she says, and if we fail, learn and try again.

Aloziem’s colleagues say she radiates caring, approachability, and warmth while tackling intense topics directly. She was initially hired at Denver Public Library (DPL) to lead and shape the direction of a national environmental scan of urban libraries to evaluate policies promoting EDI in the workforce. She managed a consultant and recruited participants in a qualitative survey of staff identifying as Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) on their experience at DPL. She also supported the creation of and co-led a chapter of the Noname Book Club, which highlights two books a month by authors of color for discussion through social media and free in-person meetups, plus a prison program.

Since transitioning to my the role of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) manager in September, Aloziem has formed an EDI advisory council, supported the creation and launch of DPL's new strategic plan, and is developing the library's Equity, Diversity & Inclusion plan. She is also in the process of developing a culturally responsive wellness resource model for DPL staff who are members of groups historically underrepresented in the library workforce. “My job is to help ensure that everyone in the organization understands what our commitment to equity is and how they are individually and collectively contributing to that,” she says.

One of her greatest accomplishments was convening and hosting the Advancing Racial Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Symposium, originally planned as a one-day, in-person event with 125 participants. When the pandemic hit, Aloziem adapted the symposium to a virtual format, extended it to three days, identified technical support, and recruited presenters. The event included pre- and post-day self-care sessions; virtual happy hours; and sessions on organizational change, equity in crisis, and promoting and sustaining a virtual work environment for staff identifying as BIPOC; discussion of effective human resources practices and evaluation; and a World Café–style dialogue. More than 4,500 people registered, and more than 2,200 engaged from around the world.

Nine months later, Aloziem still receives positive feedback about the symposium’s impact. “I’ve experienced profound connection, so I know how beautiful life can get in spite of systematic injustice, and why that’s worth fighting for and pursuing,” she says. “Centering that in all of the antiracist Black feminist liberation work that I do is what true emancipation, for me, is—freeing our entire beings and getting to a place of connection, love, relationality, accountability, care, and tenderness.”

DPL Resource Development Officer Christina McClelland says that since joining DPL, Aloziem has “greatly enhanced the library’s ability to incorporate equity, diversity, and inclusion and inspired others to think about it in new ways.”