Kaleel Jamison: Being Big in the World

Abstract

As a key contributor to the field of organization development and diversity, the legacy of Kaleel Jamison continues on in her writing, through her impact on her colleagues, clients, and friends and the work of the Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group. Kaleel spent much of her working life as “one of the first” and “one of the few” in many areas. During the early 1970s, she became one of the first to address differences of color and race in the workplace, consulting with such organizations as Procter and Gamble, Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, and Digital Equipment Company. Kaleel was a pioneer in applying organization development technology to affirmative action and issues of differences; she outlined her thinking in the article “Affirmative Action Program: Springboard for a Total Organizational Change Effort” for OD Practitioner. In 1983, her “Managing Sexual Attraction in the Workplace” appeared in the August issue of Personnel Administrator, making her among the first management consultants to address attraction as a workplace issue. Kaleel expanded the scope of this work beyond the classroom to position it as a system-wide issue, rooted not just in individual skills and attitudes but in organizational policies, practices, and managerial methods. In addition to being a pioneer on issues of gender, race, affirmative action, and differences, she was also one of the first and few women to work as a management consultant. Shortly before dying of cancer in 1985, Kaleel published a book, The Nibble Theory and the Kernel of Power, which summarized many of her views on human relations and personal development.