Dee Poku

You created WIE (Women Inspiration & Enterprise) after seeing a lack of diversity at traditional business forums. How did your personal experience shape this mission?

I spent most of my career in the entertainment industry. For me, both as a woman and a black woman it was definitely hard because of the status quo; there just wasn’t space for women and women of color. It’s an interesting industry because there’s a lot of surface glamour; you get to travel and do all these amazing things, you’re surrounded by celebrity, and it lulls you into a false sense of security. It sort of dulls the pain of the underlying issues. I loved my job, and I feel privileged and honored to have had that career, but I didn’t necessarily feel a sense of sisterhood or that there was much trust between employees, and especially between women. Looking back, I think some of the executives in positions of power at the time encouraged that divisiveness. And so I created WIE really to create a space for women to talk honestly, share experiences and get advice from their peers.


Another critical part of the work you do is to support and educate brands and companies as they work towards meaningful change.

I think that companies are waking up to the fact that it is not okay to have a workforce that does not reflect the world around them. And it is also not okay for the diverse members of your workforce to feel they can’t bring their full selves to work. I think every company right now should be looking at that. Do you have a workforce that is truly representative, and how are you making them feel when they come to work every day? Especially now, in light of what’s happening across the country, you have to look at how this trauma is particularly affecting your black employees. But in terms of the work I do, my focus is more specifically on gender diversity and supporting all women in the work force, and ensuring that companies are hiring and supporting and elevating them. That might be through training and providing them with everything they need to thrive, but also ensuring there’s intersectionality and community amongst those women as well. The environment you create plays such a big part in whether you can retain the women you hire. To use myself as an example, I didn’t necessarily feel anchored in the film business and so eventually I left. I have heard that from so many women of color, and women in general, that eventually they walked away because they didn’t feel supported.


What is the first thing you look at when you begin working with a company in this way?

The bulk of what I’m doing is offering training and community building, but also helping to facilitate conversations, because a lot of companies aren’t necessarily listening to their employees. If you work for a big company, there can be a fear of saying the wrong thing and compromising your position. So I go in and provide the spaces that allow these women to speak freely. And I think any company that really wants to look at reform should start there. And then, you have to have a clear plan of attack. Think about what you are trying to achieve, determine what that looks like, set a timeline and concrete goals. Then, you need to take a look at how you are coming across, the language you use and your brand positioning, how and where you post about a job opening, and how you interview. Sometimes, much of this has been put in place by people who are less enlightened and you really have to shake it up. And finally, you have to think about where you are showing up, so that you reach the people who may not have considered you a viable employer.


For all of your work supporting women, and women of color, you are raising a son, 7-year of Sebastian. How conscious are you of setting an example?

I take it so seriously! It’s funny, because of the work I do, when I got pregnant, I just assumed I was having a girl. I was prepared to raise this fierce feminist who would go marching with me. And then I found out I was having a son, and it’s been such a blessing in ways I couldn’t have imagined, because actually the responsibility is greater and the good I can do is even greater. I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately, in the wake of COVID-19, about women feeling really overwhelmed and quitting, or thinking about quitting their jobs, because they’re not getting the support they need at home. I think about the husbands and partners who are not pulling their weight, and I know that all of the ingrained ideas they have about women are coming from somewhere. So as mothers, we have such a responsibility to keep a careful eye on that with our kids. I correct any behavior or statement from my son that hints to girls not being able to do everything boys do. And conversely, I also want him to be comfortable being vulnerable and sensitive. I don’t want him to hold back his feelings and have that manifest into other aggressive ways. A lot of the issues we see with patriarchy is men not being able to process emotions. So we spend time breaking down his feelings and processing emotions. And we do many little things, like he makes his bed, and clears his dish from the table, and cleans up after himself (he’s 7, so of course I end up doing the double clean!). He understands that he shares in the responsibility of the household. I have to say, whoever gets him as a partner in life is going to be darn lucky! And of course, the mom guilt felt by so many working moms is real, but I know Sebastian will appreciate and honor and respect women who work. Because he sees me as not just his mum but as a woman who works.


You were born in the UK and raised between London and Accra. How did you end up here?

I’m always looking to shake things up. I’ve always been someone who likes to keep it uncomfortable. It’s not always the best thing but it’s how I’m built! So when I was offered a job working for a major film company in New York, I was over the moon. I hadn’t expected to stay this long, but now I’m married to an American and have a child who has a different accent to me which still throws me off sometimes!


Given recent unrest across the country, in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and countless others before him, do you find yourself thinking about your decision to raise a black son in this country?

I think the first thing to note is that none of this is new to me. I think for a lot of people, the last couple of weeks has sort of been an awakening to what’s been happening to the black community for years and years. Where and how I raise my son is always something I’ve grappled with. And it’s not just about him. It’s about where I want to live, which place will serve me best as well. I love America. Especially compared to the UK, which is steeped in class and how you speak and where you went to school, and not appearing to be overreaching, which can really hold you back. In that regard, the US is much more meritocratic – it’s the place where in theory anyone can make it if they work hard. It’s the idea of the American dream, and it’s been true for me, in a sense. I have definitely felt freer to pursue my ambitions in a way that I didn’t feel I could in England. Americans love it when you have big and bold ideas and want to change the world. And I want those things for my son. At the same time, we visited Ghana last year, and Sebastian said to me, “Everyone’s brown here! It’s awesome,” and I thought, gosh, I want him to have that sense of being anchored, rather than feeling ‘othered’ and for there to be no limits to what he can do, at least not because of his color. But he loves tech, and he loves to code, and I suppose I just want what every mother wants for their child, which is the best opportunities I can give him, wherever that may be.


He is still so young. How and when do you talk to him about race, and particularly, recent events?

Let’s talk about both sides. First of all, I would say to mothers of white children, kids do see color very early. So it’s important to make sure their environment is diverse, that the children and toys they play with and the books they read and the films they watch also include black and brown faces, so they are not always the dominant color in their environment. And in the same way that I correct my son if he says anything negative towards gender, I think it’s important to correct anything that your children say that is divisive or incorrect or inappropriate. And obviously as they get older, the words you use will vary, but it’s important to have the conversations and not shield them. To teach them they have advantages that other kids don’t have and that it’s important for them to be supportive and to be allies and to call out injustice when they see it.

When it comes to my son, it’s much more complicated. At home, I encourage him to challenge the status quo, to ask questions. We have conversations about the things he doesn’t understand, and we answer those questions for him the best we can. I am trying to raise a kid who is confident and feels invincible and can go out into the world and conquer. But, can he go out into the world and do that? That’s a completely different story. There will come a point when we will have to have those conversations with him. About what he should say and do, and not say and not do, when he is stopped by a policeman.

But not right now.

Sebastian is aware of what is going on right now - I want him to be informed - but I try to put it in language that doesn’t unsettle him. He understands good guys and bad guys, and that there are some policemen who do bad things. He knows racism exists. We read books about slavery and he is particularly into Harriet Tubman right now, who he thinks is very brave and a bad-ass. I feel my job is to educate him without knocking the innocence and confidence out of him. So no, I am not having the level of conversation that I will have to have when he is older. And I recognize that that in itself is a privilege, because there are a lot of black and brown kids who, even at a young age, are confronting more aggressive racism in their daily lives. And I respect every mother’s right to make the decisions she thinks are right for her child.