Quick: Name a famous contemporary Black–white women’s professional partnership. Can’t? That’s the problem—or is it?

Research shows that 70% of white women and 62% of Black women report that most of their close friends share their race (Pew Research Center, 2023). At work, authentic cross-racial friendships remain rare—and the consequences are devastating. Black women on whiter teams have worse job outcomes (Linos, Mobasseri, & Roussille, Harvard Kennedy School, 2024). White women advance to manager at nearly double the rate: 89 per 100 men promoted versus only 54 Black women (McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.org, 2024).

And now? More than 319,000 Black women have been pushed from the workforce due to federal layoffs and related impacts—the highest unemployment rate since 2021.

This session begins with what you won’t see anywhere else: two facilitators—one Black, one white—in a live fishbowl conversation about their own cross-racial friendship. What’s unspoken? Where have we failed each other?

Using the Wicked franchise as a cultural mirror—2024’s blockbuster and 2025’s For Good—we explore: Is the good witch/wicked witch binary playing out in your workplace? Are you Glinda, meaning well but centering comfort? Are you Elphaba, flying solo because solidarity proved hollow?

We ask: What remains unspoken? Is deep friendship even desirable? Who gets cast as “difficult” versus “principled”? We don’t pretend to have answers. What we know is this: toxic patterns repeat, and solidarity is under threat. This session creates space to explore what authentic cross-racial relationships require—and whether we’re willing to do that work.