The American Institute for Managing Diversity (AIMD) was an American nonprofit diversity think tank and educational institute. Founded in 1984, by the âÂÂguru of diversity theoryâ R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. (1944âÂÂ2013), AIMD was the first national nonprofit organization in the United States to research and study workplace diversity, and the leading nonprofit think tank dedicated to furthering the field of diversity management. Thomas died in 2013, and AIMD ceased operations.
In 1983, a white corporate manager asked R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr., a former professor and dean of the business school at Clark Atlanta University, a historically black institution, for advice on how to manage his Black employees. Thomas, who was an alumnus of University of Chicago and Harvard business schools, did not believe that Black employees needed special attention nor supervision.
In 1984, Thomas approached his undergraduate alma mater, Morehouse College, and asked them to partner with him to build an institute that would study âÂÂmanaging diversity,â a term that refers to the changing demographics of organizations; in the 1980s, more white male managers were managing more women and ethnic minority employees, and more women and ethnic minority managers were managing white male employees. The American Institute for Managing Diversity (AIMD)'s first offices were located on the ground floor of a Morehouse administration building, although AIMD was technically not affiliated with the college. AIMD did not pay rent for its office space at the college. In addition to his role at AIMD, Thomas was selected as Secretary of Morehouse in 1988.
The organization's founding mission was to advance the field of diversity and to expand the practice of managing diversity with the goal of âÂÂshaping global policy and expanding critical consciousness.â In its early years, AIMD received major funding from Avon Products, CBS, Dayton Hudson, Equitable, and Quaker Oats foundations. Bell Communications Research and Coca-Cola Company were some of the first supporters of AIMD's management consulting team and financial audit capabilities. AIMD believed that managing diversity was a belief, a philosophy, a way of managing change.
AIMD had a goal to become the repository of scholarship for the field of diversity. AIMD maintained a research library; hosted research fellows and visiting scholars; and prepared and delivered working papers, magazine articles, books, videos, electronic information services, post-secondary undergraduate and graduate curricula, a monthly newsletter, âÂÂResearch Notes,â and a quarterly journal, âÂÂTranslational Journal of Diversity Studies.â AIMD advanced diversity thought leadership through its research, education and public outreach programs. The organization hosted educational seminars, planning sessions, symposium, and workshops for business professionals, academic researchers, organizational consultants, and others interested in managing diversity. AIMD developed the âÂÂcultural auditâ process and delivery systems, a diversity management tool. AIMD was the source of pioneering issues and cutting-edge perspectives on diversity and diversity management.
In 1987, the Hudson Institute released a report, âÂÂWork Force 2000,â that supported AIMD's research; the 21st century workforce would consist of more diverse workers from more diverse backgrounds and for organizations to remain competitive their leaders would have to learn how to manage diversity.
In 1991, AIMD created a for-profit consulting firm, Diversity Consulting, Inc. A year later, the consulting group was sold to Towers Perrin for an undisclosed amount.
In 1995, AIMD hosted a global conference on managing diversity, âÂÂAt the Frontiers of Managing Diversity: Integrating Practice and Researchâ at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education in Athens, Georgia. The conference attracted business executives, academic researchers, and diversity scholars from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Africa.
In 2009, AIMD conducted a published study of cross-generational mentoring programs in organizations. AIMD determined that organizational mentoring programs are successful when they have a strong purpose and a culture that values mentoring.
In 1991, seven pioneering diversity professionals established the "Diversity Collegium" to advance the field of diversity. In 2003, AIMD formed a partnership with the Diversity Collegium, referred to as "The Alliance," to research and study common terms and language for the field of diversity. The Alliance and its members are credited with expanding the definition of workplace diversity beyond race and gender to include religion, sexual orientation, physical disabilities, family background, organizational newcomers and old-timers, functional backgrounds, union and non-union workers, exempt and non and non-exempt workers, ways of living, and others. In 2006, The Alliance co-hosted, âÂÂThe World is Flat: Implications for Diversity Managementâ forum at Kraft Foodsâ world headquarters in Glenview, Illinois. Kraft, Tyson Foods, and Weyerhauser sponsored the forum that involved leading academics, business executives, and diversity practitioners to discuss the relationship between a changing world and the implied flatness of managing diversity.
In 2000, The Coca-Cola Company donated $1.5 million to AIMD for the creation of the Diversity Leadership Academy (DLA) of Atlanta, âÂÂa leadership development program for executive level business and community leaders.â This partnership was announced after Coca-Cola settled a lawsuit for more than $192 million that was filed by Black employees who alleged employment discrimination. Coca-Cola executive Juan Johnson, an African-American, served as the first president of DLA Atlanta.
DLA Atlanta served as a model for other AIMD Diversity Leadership academies. In 2003, AIMD hosted a DLA in Indianapolis, Indiana, and in 2008, a five-month DLA training session in Charleston, West Virginia. For the tenth anniversary of DLA Atlanta, AIMD announced that 300 professionals had graduated from the Atlanta program, and more than 1,200 executives nationwide had participated in an AIMD diversity leadership academy.
AIMD was first nonprofit organization in the United States to advise Fortune 500 companies and large institutions on managing diversity. Some of the âÂÂpioneering managing diversity companiesâ included Amoco, Avon Products, Great Rivers Girl Scout Council, Procter & Gamble, and Union Pacific.
AIMD worked with Avon Products to develop diversity training programs. One of those programs gave Black and Hispanic managers more authority over under-performing inner-city markets, resulting in those markets becoming some of the most profitable in the company.
In 1988, AIMD advised Quaker Oats on workplace diversity issues, including employee advancement for women and ethnic minorities.
Throughout its history, AIMD consulted and provided research for several corporations and large organizations. The following is a partial list.
The following is a partial list of former AIMD administrators, research fellows, educators, senior executives, and board directors.