Ryann Lofchie, chief executive officer at The Frontier Project (Photo by Diego Valdez courtesy The Frontier Project)
As the #MeToo movement progresses, more people are coming forward with stories of harassment, assault and gender-based discrimination in the workplace. At Richmond-based consulting firm The Frontier Project, CEO Ryann Lofchie has launched a new set of business workshops called All In to address the underlying dynamics that cause harm toward women and LGBTQ+ employees, an idea spurred by #MeToo.
“It was famous people, movie stars. Not that it was difficult to relate to, because many of us have these stories, but it was becoming more mainstream,” says Lofchie, a University of Richmond graduate. “It’s making people feel that they’re not alone.”
In the anonymous stories section of the All In website, a woman recalls a lobbyist giving her a birthday gift of knee pads, accompanied with a sexual proposition and a threat that she would never get ahead if she didn’t comply. Another person describes standing by while a student intern was harassed by the boss of their small company, not sure what to do. A third person discusses the repercussions they received at their company for firing a serial harasser.
Lofchie says these stories are common, no matter what industry people are from. About a year ago, as the #MeToo movement had exposed and taken down famous men — including Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Mario Batali and Harvey Weinstein — Lofchie decided to start All In to have deeper discussions about workplace toxicity. Beginning in January, the team has offered workshops for human-resources departments, managers and executive teams, as well as men-only question-and-answer sessions, along with programs for allies and advocates open to the public at Frontier Project’s Scott’s Addition offices.
“We need to create a way for people inside of organizations to actually have these conversations in a way that’s actually constructive so that we can heal and move forward,” Lofchie says. “I started to talk to my male counterparts who are business owners or executives, and what came out from them was that this whole movement was scaring them so much. They didn’t know how they were supposed to engage anymore. Part of me was thinking we have to figure out a way to do this constructively, because otherwise it’s going to turn into this destructive force where guys retreat instead of stepping in to fix it. That’s really where All In came from.”
For more information, visit allin.community.
