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‘People are less careful ... when they don’t realize there’s a Black person in the room’

A school human resources director discussed with the Globe the unsettling access her light skin can provide for "Inequality at Work," an occasional series of personal essays by people of color working in the Boston area.

‘There was no way the brown woman could replace the white guy’

Lakshmi Balachandra is a tenured professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College and also was a member of the Select Board in Needham. In this personal essay, she talks about being discounted by students, college leadership, and town residents.

‘He asked me if I wanted to date a board member’: An Asian American grant writer on being treated like a commodity at work

Angela Chan O’Donnell is a grant writer for a local nonprofit. Here, she talks about the experience of being a young Asian American woman treated like a commodity by the older white men she used to work with.

‘You have to embody a persona of whiteness.’ A Black event planner on standing out in a mostly white industry

Myriam Michel is the executive director of the nonprofit Healthy Waltham and the founder of M&M Elite Events.

‘I felt liberated knowing I didn’t have to try to sound like a white executive’
Juan Fernando Lopera is vice president and corporate business diversity officer at Tufts Health Plan. Here, he talks about how he leveraged his ethnicity as a business asset — and finally felt comfortable in his own skin.

‘Your skin is so dark’: A WCVB producer on the challenges of being a Black journalist in New England
Nneka Nwosu Faison is the executive producer of “Chronicle” on WCVB-TV.

Latest Headlines in Inequality at Work

‘Perhaps they’d never spoken to an educated young Latina before’

Aixa Beauchamp, a Newton philanthropy consultant, talks about challenging the racially coded language people use and finding out what's behind it.

‘The steps are small but important’: A Black DJ shares his formula for exceeding clients’ expectations, and staying safe

Freddy Fontaine of Framingham is the man behind DJ Backspin Entertainment, providing the soundtrack for weddings, corporate events, nightclubs, and private parties. Fontaine, 37, describes the formula he has developed as a Black business owner.

‘White, white, white. Then there’s me.’ A Black lawyer shares her experiences

Danielle Johnson, a staff attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, shares her experiences as one of the few Black lawyers during weekly Housing Court proceedings.

Commentary

Shopping while Black: A Boston stylist on being followed, ignored, and discredited

As a Black stylist and personal shopper in Boston for a decade, Nathalie Fanfan has encountered retail racism more times than she can remember.