By Diya Mehta - Careers in Colour volunteer. Diya reflects on CiC’s virtual event - From Potlucks to Power: Moving Beyond Cultural Celebrations into Influence held as part of CiC’s Alliance Program
Cultural celebrations at work have their place by bringing people together. But once the food is packed away and the room empties out - what has changed? That was the heart of Careers in Colour’s event - From Potlucks to Power: Moving Beyond Cultural Celebrations into Influence. It was part of CiC’s Alliance Program, which brings together employee resource group (ERG) leaders across organisations to share experiences, build connections and learn from one another.
The conversation featured:
Div Pillay, CEO of MindTribes;
Krystin Low, Senior Legal Counsel and Co-Lead of AGL Cultures; and
Quynh Nguyen, Senior Advisor DEI, Development Victoria and Co-Chair, Victorian Public Sector Women of Colour Network
I joined as a participant, and it was one of those conversations that makes you sit up. It wasn’t overly formal. It was relaxed and open, with the panellists bouncing off each other and the audience right there with them for the whole session.
What stayed with me early on was how these networks begin. Often it’s just a few people comparing experiences and realising it isn’t only them. That sounds small, but it’s evidence in its own right, and it’s where the case for change starts.
Who does this serve?
I’ve been to my fair share of potlucks and Harmony Day feasts, so it was interesting to hear how the panellists had reshaped them. Their events had started as gatherings with no clear next steps. Over time, they became far more intentional. No one wanted to throw the potluck out entirely. In one example, everyone still brought a dish, but the event now included a structured conversation about embedding cultural diversity into the organisation’s work. The food brought people into the room, and the conversation gave them a reason to care about what happened after they left it. The language shifted too. One panellist spoke about being braver in naming racism and anti-racism, rather than relying only on softer terms.
It also raised a question that kept coming up: who does this serve? If an event has no clear purpose or benefit for members, it’s worth rethinking. This matters most when ERGs are volunteer-based, because volunteer energy is finite. Putting that energy into things members can genuinely take something from keeps the focus on what matters.
The question of sponsors
The same thinking applied to sponsors, and this is where I was surprised. I had assumed the aim was a long list of senior, influential names to be appointed to the sponsor role. Those on the panel had found the opposite. Name recognition and sway count for little if a sponsor has no skin in the game. What worked better was the ERG choosing sponsors deliberately and asking them to get directly involved. Those sponsors have a real stake in the work, and they know how to help build the network’s profile.
Additionally, ERGs shouldn’t be afraid to hold their sponsors to account throughout their term as sponsorship should be an active commitment, not just an honorary title.
Influence also came from working with what’s already there. What felt most practical was the idea of building on what organisations already track. For example, if they already report pay gaps and run engagement surveys, why not ask what those numbers look like through a cultural lens? The network doesn’t have to do the analysis. It just has to keep asking: “where is the data?”
You are not there to fix everything
But the part I found most valuable was about the weight of it all. Hearing from people with deep, lived experience of running ERGs, I was struck by how openly they spoke about overburdening yourself, and how quickly that leads to burnout. Raising issues and advocating for members is a network’s job. Solving every problem alone is not.
My key takeaways
Their advice for lightening the load was practical:
Do fewer things, well. Pick three things and do them properly, rather than trying to juggle 15.
Stop and reflect. Every three to six months, ask whether you’re doing the right things for the right reasons. Are your efforts serving members and creating the change you hoped for? If not, what needs to change?
Treat the work as legitimate. Don’t squeeze it in after everything else. Improving how people feel at work benefits the whole organisation, and it deserves real time and priority.
Spread the load. Clear roles and more than one person per role mean not one single person is carrying everything.
I left feeling inspired, but what I didn’t expect was to feel relieved. These are people who have built something real, and they were open about how hard it has been, how often they got things wrong, and that they are still figuring it out. Hearing that made the work feel less daunting. Change takes time, and progress isn’t always a single big moment. It’s small things, repeated, over a long time.
The thing I keep coming back to is that a network doesn’t have to answer for everything. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is be the person in the room who keeps asking questions and holds leadership accountable.
It’s not often that a conversation about these issues feels this easy to be part of. I feel very lucky to have been part of it and am grateful to everyone who made the space so warm and welcoming.
