Stanton Adams Consulting & The Diversity Institute

Cecilia Stanton Adams

Co-founder & Board Chair

Malissa Adams

Co-founder & President

Owners: Malissa Adams and Cecilia Stanton Adams

Business champion: Matt Kucharski

Type of business: Diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm

Website: Stanton Adams

LinkedIn: Malissa Adams and Cecilia Stanton Adams

Phone: (612) 730-3103

Cecilia Stanton Adams and Malissa Adams have known each other since they were teenagers. They are passionate about bringing people together and bridging divides, and in 2010 they established Stanton Adams Consulting. The company helps public, private, nonprofit and educational organizations identify and address diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) challenges. When they started out, the firm was growing fast and providing diversity training to many clients, but Cecilia and Malissa wanted to make a more measurable impact. So they built a framework and 10-step assessment for organizations that helps them develop their DEI strategy and vision moving forward. The firm has had much success with this model. To be sure, there are challenges, including frustration at the slow pace of social progress and difficulties with education technology. But the firm is making an impact: “There are so many positive stories,” Cecilia says, “so many people who see the light and become advocates.”

Quotes:

“One impactful thing that Matt [Kucharski, business champion] asked us is, ‘What is the end game?’ It made us step back and think: Where will we be in 20 years when we want to retire? It pushed us to think of the long game and the succession plan. We want to be able to retire and leave a legacy, including money for our daughter. We want to try to close the wealth gap. So Matt’s question made us think about bringing people on to grow the business. Another conversation with him was how to scale the business. It’s easy to talk about but really hard to put into practice! We need to get people trained on doing this work. That’s why we created the Diversity Institute, to develop people into diversity champions and advocates and help people become more inclusive leaders across industries.”

“Our whole goal is to help make change. Part of the challenge sometimes is helping white people understand their own culture. People of color know white culture, but white people haven’t been educated about other cultures. It’s a blind spot. Things won’t change if we’re only doing diversity training – it’s really a whole social movement.”

—Cecilia Stanton Adams

“The two parts of the business [Stanton Adams and The Diversity Institute] are complementary but very different. As for where Malissa and Cecilia will focus, it’s not either/or—where is your emphasis going to be?” 

“We talked about white privilege, and they were so disarming about it. Cecilia said to think of it in terms of being grateful for what you’ve been given. A lot of phrases like ‘white privilege’ or ‘defund the police’ are just provocative and don’t lead to real conversations or real understanding. I’ve been able to provide guidance about running a professional services firm, and they have given me insight into understanding DEI in business and in society. I’ve learned more from them than reading dozens and dozens of articles.”

[For anyone advising minority business owners …] “Take a breath. Take time to understand where they are coming from and how they got where they are. We are all the product of our upbringing and our history, and the same is true for these leaders. Understand their journey. That will make us better advisors.” 

—Matt Kucharski