100 Steps That We Can Take In Order To Truly Create An Inclusive, Representative, And Equitable Society

You can be proactive ... You don't need to just be a Twitter Warrior.

The U.S. is currently undergoing another important self-reckoning about race, diversity, equality and inclusion. But aside from arguing with people on social Media, what are some steps that each of us can take to make a difference? Please enjoy these 100 ideas below.

Do Something New

It’s going to take true learning and not just learning to validate your own ideas. We have to learn about other people’s ideas and experiences without being defensive or dismissive. This requires suspending what you think you know to be willing to learn something new.

After you learn something new, you also have to do something new. Learning isn’t the work, it’s just the warm up. Real growth is just on the other side of the discomfort and awkwardness you may feel while trying out your new muscles. For example, many of our leaders are doing a 21 day racial equity challenge Having learned more, many of our leaders are making commitments to more deeply engage BIPOC on their existing teams while creating plans to improve diversity on their teams as well.

Organizations should avoid putting the responsibility for the change the organization’s culture needs on training alone. Training isn’t the end all, be all — the best way to make the training effective is to make it a practice. We have to give managers and employees an opportunity to use what they learn in the training. That would be like watching a cooking video without getting in the kitchen and making a meal., Yes, you’re going to make mistakes. You don’t stop eating because you burned one dish, right? Keep practicing the skills of inclusion, I promise you’ll get better over time. .

Challenge your own ideas and be willing to be wrong. You should actively be searching for ways that you might be wrong, so that you can correct your behavior if you want a society that is truly equitable for all.

Taking action and advocating is everybody’s job, not just the job of people in marginalized groups To truly be an ally you need to be doing the work to create change in your organization. This means calling it out when you see sameness or discrimination and challenging it. -Amelia Ransom

Build Trust

Stand up and walk the talk. That’s the first step leaders need to take.

Hold people accountable to this, which means leaders need to measure, make those numbers available, and understand what they mean.

Create an inclusive environment that allows for equity. This means cultural changes around inclusive leadership, hiring and promotion practices, and providing the right benefits, like paid family leave, flexible work schedules, and reskilling employees.

Lean into leading with empathy. Help people understand what that means, so they understand where people are coming from and relate to them.

Build trust within your team. They need to trust you as the leader to make the right decisions for the organization, and you need to empower them to contribute to the mission and continue to build on the foundation you created.-Lorraine Hariton

Bridge The Gap

1) Demand Transparency & Accountability — Until there is reform against excessive force in the justice system, we as a country can demand justice for those who cannot. The use of body-worn cameras and software tools can capture truth and provide transparency where there was none before. Accountability tools that measure an officer’s compliance with body camera policies, use-of-force trends, etc. can help identify where training is needed and hold officers accountable.

2) Invest in equitable hiring practices to close employment disparities — Current events have made more people aware of our nation’s disparities and implicit biases. Becoming aware that these things exist is the first step to understanding them and developing a strategy to break down inequality. Axon is taking different approaches to improving internally. I’ve already outlined our D&I hiring and promotion strategies. Our new training series will address biases, cultural and racial perceptions, and open conversations to encourage sensitivity, openness, and safety among employees.

3) Bridge gap between law enforcement and communities — The tension between law enforcement and communities across our country are heightened now more than ever. Systemic racism must be eradicated to begin bridging the divide. At Axon, we’re dedicated to helping law enforcement personnel streamline their workflows with AI-driven tools to ensure they can build constructive relationships in the community. We’re also committed to seeking community input to ensure our existing and future products reflect their needs.

Our immediate customer is the public safety industry — but our customer’s customer is the public. We have the unique opportunity to provide technology that supports both parties and helps reduce the tension that is prevalent today.

4) Invest in allies and reform — We have already changed our RFP and supplier/vendor selection process to identify minority-owned businesses. We’ve also added a weighting factor to our awards, so all selections take this into account and actively encourage diversity as we seek to support minority-owned businesses. To assist agencies with reform efforts, we will continue to balance the opportunity and necessity of using data to find actionable insights, with our ethics-first framework on key issues like retention policies and excessive force reform. Our independent AI Ethics Board will continue to play a significant role in these discussions.

5) Respect Black Lives — All lives cannot matter until Black Lives Matter. We must check unconscious bias at the door and learn to recognize microaggressions. More knowledge is power. -Rick Smith

C.L.E.A.R

COMMIT. The journey towards inclusion requires long-term, focused attention and everyone must be committed to staying the course in building a more equitable and diverse society for all

LISTEN. It is important to listen to people’s views and hear what they have to say. For example, after George Floyd’s murder, we held an all staff forum for employees to share how they were feeling and to share their experiences. We wanted to create a safe space where people felt they could express their fears and voice their frustrations. We also set up a D&I steering group and a taskforce to lead this work.

ENGAGE. Involve people as part of the solution. In Special Olympics our athletes are the leaders and teachers of inclusion. They are Global Ambassadors, Health Messengers, Board Members and play an active role in all aspects of the organization.

ACT. Actions speak louder than words. We must not just talk about how we are going to be more inclusive, each of us must be part of the change that we wish to see and not stand on the sidelines and wait for someone else. We need to be active participants. Through our Global Youth Engagement Program, Special Olympics has inclusion leadership projects that create an opportunity for young people around the world to convene through local summits in their own countries and regions to learn and grow from each other.

RESPECT. Respect, value and appreciate the talents and contributions of everyone. We have a unified schools program where students with and without intellectual disability play sports together. Through this experience and the power of play, students without disability learn about the skills and talents of students with intellectual disability and through this experience they are more respecting and understanding of difference. -Mary Davis

Recognize Accomplishments

Embrace vulnerability. Seven years into my career as a public accountant, I had just had my second child and was thriving personally and professionally. One of my managers took me aside and told me that having any more children would hurt me from progressing in my career. Two months later, I was pregnant with my third child and now I am the CEO of John Hancock. These types of experiences really stuck with me and reinforce the value of making sure my employees (and really anyone) feel they are in a judgement-free environment and can bring their whole selves to work, or anywhere else.

Recognize accomplishments. It is important that people are recognized for their accomplishments and rewarded as such, regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, age, and ability. I would never want someone to credit my gender for my success. I want people to recognize that I got to this position for being me, for working hard and for doing the best that I can.

Create space for diversity of thought. People think differently. That’s a good thing. Being able to recognize the value in different perspectives is key to creating an inclusive environment. Diversity of thought gives us the opportunity to see new and innovative ideas and understand different ways of doing things, and it comes from having people of different races, genders, sexuality, geography, work experiences, etc. at the table.

Join forces with others. At John Hancock, we benefit from having many thoughtful community partners and we participate in industry groups like the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, American Council of Life Insurers and CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion. This allows for consensus building beyond our own walls to help drive systemic level changes that are needed.

Listen and learn from experts. We have benefitted greatly from a Guest Speaker Series during our remote work that has brought in third-party voices and experiences to help keep our team engaged. From a NASA astronaut to a presidential historian — listening to and learning from those outside our team is so helpful to broaden our perspective. -Marianne Harrison

Set Specific Goals

1. Recognize the value of diverse and inclusive institutions. This seems like the most obvious statement imaginable, but if you look at the demographics of who makes up the top roles in government, business, education, entertainment, etc. maybe it isn’t as obvious. We need to have a clear belief that in order to make good decisions you have to have diverse perspectives that address other people’s blind spots. This needs to be a statement of fact rather than opinion. Just as we know for certainty that regular exercise can help make us healthier, the leaders in our institutions should know for certainty that having diverse viewpoints makes their institutions healthier.

2. Be intentional about what you want. Set very specific goals for diversity and inclusion, say them out loud, and stick to them. For example, a presidential candidate vowing that they will pick a woman as a running mate. And every time an important decision is made, we need to ask ourselves, “Do we have a variety of perspectives?”

3. Benchmark current state of affairs. You can’t fix what you don’t measure. In all of our institutions of power: government, business, education, it is almost comical that one demographic is making all of the decisions. This needs to be called to account, and measured, and made public. We have federal agencies that collect demographic data on private companies that receive federal contracts. Let’s do the same for our government. Let’s track and make clear the makeup of presidential administrations, the court system, business, education, and other institutions.

4. Diagnose the blockers to inclusion. Engage in a blend of education and gathering sentiment to identify the blockers to equity and inclusion. For example, is our criminal justice system biased against people of color? Is our health system? Education system? Sponsor online educational experiences where the content engages and solicits feedback relating to these issues so we can gather and analyze the data to identify all the blockers. Once we’ve identified the blockers, we can proactively and strategically remove the blockers.

5. Stop relegating diversity responsibilities to just diversity professionals. People at the helm of our major institutions need to be educated on different perspectives, managing bias, and diversity and inclusion so that it’s not just a siloed initiative. Inclusion skills need to be integrated into every level of the organization. It’s great that more businesses have Diversity and Inclusion officers. But that shouldn’t preclude everyone else from paying attention to it. This needs to be a core competency of business leaders and institutions. All leaders in all systems need to be working on managing their biases and their ability to switch perspectives and understand the experiences of different demographics.-Janine Yancey

Make Small Improvements

Assess where you’re at, honestly

The first step is often the hardest, because it requires each person to take a step back and assess where they’re at on this journey. I was once in a friend’s wedding, and in a giant bridal party of 24 people, I was the only LGBT person and person of color. I remember asking my friend, half-joking, half-serious, “how did this happen to you?” — how is it that you went through 30 years of life in a diverse city and multicultural society and of the 24 people whom you consider closest to you, only one is someone who has lived a truly different life from you? (I didn’t bring this up during the wedding, by the way — I’m not a monster.) I recall my friend spending some time thinking about it and when she and I talked next, she really began to understand how her own upbringing, way of making friends and cultivating relationships was really blocking her from experiencing growth in this area. She made the choice to join a very homogeneous sorority in college, she chose to work for a company that lacked diversity in an industry that is well known for lacking diversity, and ultimately, that impacted the way her inner circle looked. Ultimately, she or anyone else shouldn’t feel bad about choices she’s made, but I know this has caused her to think and really modify her behavior so she can make more informed decisions in the future.

Seek out the opinion of others

On a corporate level, think of how many conversations are had in conference rooms where the same group of white leaders are trying to guess the reaction of minority communities to certain things. Is this ad campaign problematic? Does this new product line have the same appeal to everyone? The answer is simple. Seek out those voices. They exist. And instead of using BIPOC as tools to help you ensure you’re doing due diligence, use this as an opportunity to amplify their voices.

Stop using yourself as a benchmark

This is something that happens inadvertently. When I used to be a sales leader managing a large organization of salespeople, I remember sometimes I would get caught in this thinking. If there was ever a time for a promotion, I would find myself gravitating toward people whose journeys to success were similar to mine. Maybe Person X navigated complex conversations the same way I would, Maybe Person Y seems to persevere through the same learning challenges I faced. Luckily, I had a great boss who helped me understand that it’s not about me. Just because my road to success was paved with certain bricks doesn’t mean that everyone else’s is. I shouldn’t mistake someone not facing the same struggles and conquering them in the way I did as making them less qualified for a new role or responsibility.

Make small improvements

When trying to create a diverse and equitable space, so many people on an individual level have the ability to impact change. A graphic designer can choose to only use artwork and images sourced to BIPOC creators. A manager can choose to ensure that they are only looking at diverse candidate pools for the next role they open. A blogger can choose to feature guest columns from individuals with different backgrounds and experiences. Each of us, within the spectrum of our roles, has some liberty and license which we can use to amplify the voices of those who have been silenced for far too long. Sure, none of the things listed above fix this problem, but if we all use the little bit of power and privilege we each have for good, the cumulative impact will be so much more than the sum of its parts.

Put yourself on the line

When committing to fixing this massive issue, it’s really a matter of show, not tell. It’s very easy to put out a perfectly crafted statement committing to your stance on this matter, but marginalized communities are tired of lip service. I can think of so many companies that use pride month as an opportunity to release new rainbow-colored products, donate 5% of the profits to a vaguely LGBT-focused charity, and then nothing else. While I suppose this is better than nothing, true change comes from big commitment. If you really care about diversity and equity, commit to making a certain % of your workforce diverse by a certain date. This is so scary to companies because they don’t want to be on the hook- plain and simple. But putting yourself on the hook is a great thing, because it means you’ll never let this issue slip down your priority list as it so often does. It means that you might be forced to sacrifice business goals to achieve the objective. By making a commitment to diversity a ‘do or die’ instead of a ‘nice to have’, not only are you committing to BIPOC communities that you’re not merely virtue signalling, but you are also actually fixing the problem. In the same way that there are people within every company that are responsible for meeting revenue goals, keeping the workforce safe, and driving productivity — make sure someone in the building’s job is tied to diversity goals. It’s the only way to ensure the work is done speedily and comprehensively. -Ali Fazal

Admit Your Ignorance

Admit your ignorance

The first step was to acknowledge that I have a limited understanding of people in other socioeconomic groups. I have always supported the Black Lives Matter movement. After George Floyd’s murder, I realized I didn’t have enough context to explain Black Lives Matter to others. I wanted this to change, and first, I had to admit that I don’t know a lot about Black history.

Do your research

We now live in a world where we have access to resources to learn almost anything. I started searching about the LA Race Riots of 1992 because I have heard stories of Korea Town burnt down from my friends. After watching a few documentaries, I realized that the riots didn’t just start overnight, and there was a long history of police abuse. It also changed my mind to understand how the media played a role in creating conflict between racial minorities.

Connect with people you want to understand

I believe the best way to understand is to listen to what one has to say. I wanted to hear from Black people in America, and I started looking around.

One memorable discussion I had was with John, who works in our office building. Through the conversation, I learned about his family history, how his grandparents were abused and separated from their children. I also learned about the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 and how he feels that history is repeating itself again and again. John also talked about an Asian American standup comedian who has explained why Asians should support Black Lives Matter and what that means to Black people. The discussion I had with John was a life-changing experience.

Empathize with their story

After learning about Black history, I was surprised how similar the sufferings of Black people were to what happened to Koreans under Japanese colonization from 1910–1945. As a Korean growing up, we learn about the 35 years of brutality under the Japanese. We learn about how they tried to take away the Korean language and heritage. We learn about the comfort women the Japanese kidnapped to abuse as sex slaves. As we learn, we grow to become angry at the Imperialist government that ruled and abused us.

If 35 years of history has made Koreans that angry, I couldn’t imagine what 400 years of accumulated pain would feel like for Black people. Whenever I think about the Black Lives Matter movement, I remind myself to start from there.

Share what you have learned

Whenever I learn something new, I run it by the people I trust the most. I do that to make sure I have a solid foundation to deliver what I think. My wife was the first to hear what I learned about Black history, how it is similar to Korean history, and how I empathize with their pain. I have been actively talking about the Black Lives Matter movement whenever the issue comes up, correcting misconceptions, and many times learning a new perspective. I am looking forward to learning more about diversity, equality, and inclusion these steps I took for Black Lives Matter movement -Kyum Kim

We Must Evaluate

Look within: Do the deep work — change starts with developing our own awareness at an individual and then collective level, simply because we can’t fix what we don’t know is broken. In order to be part of a driving force towards a more inclusive, representative and equitable world, we must look at ourselves. We must evaluate our deep-seated beliefs, assumptions and values, our levels of inherited privilege, our earned power and our blind ignorance. This can be ugly and difficult, but only when we’ve identified our individual starting point can we start the ongoing journey. In our teams and social groups, we should also seek to assess the homogeneity of beliefs, thoughts and perspectives and where they might stem from. Recently, I facilitated a leadership team assessment for one of our portfolio companies which highlighted the uncomfortable level of ‘same-ness’ that existed across the executive team. The team used this awareness to make an imminent hiring decision for the next executive who would bring social and cognitive diversity to the table.

Look around: Understand the paradox of meritocracy — meritocracy, though it may seem like a positive societal value, can be a disguise for perpetuating an inequitable society. Research shows that in companies that have merit-based systems in place, gender and race bias may be more prevalent due to complacency. Businesses that bring more transparency to their talent management can build a meritocratic process for progression and development, which is fairer for all without lowering the bar. For example, clear information on how performance is measured and a performance management framework that prioritizes objective over subjective data can ensure merit, rather than favouritism or likeness, is rewarded.

Listen: Engage with underrepresented perspectives — in order to reach a better, more respectful and fairer society we need to develop greater levels of empathy. By paying attention and listening to the marginalised voices and perspectives not normally in our social news feeds, we can better understand the barriers which prevent opportunity from being distributed. Businesses looking to attract and hire more diverse groups of talent will do well to first understand how attractive and known their employer brand is to target underrepresented groups and proactively design for their inclusion, before looking at the metrics in the hiring pipeline. Organisational psychologist Laura Morgan Roberts has produced a great book compiling perspectives on the Black experience in work and leadership.

Act: Focus on creating opportunities within your zone of control — Once we have better understood the barriers that exist through looking at ourselves, our systems and hearing the stories of the underrepresented, we can decide and commit to action. We should focus on what’s directly or indirectly within our zone of control and on what we will have the greatest impact, even if it’s small. For example, VCs play important roles as early gatekeepers in the chain of company creation and leadership selection. At EQT Ventures, we’re moving further away from the idea that our own network will warmly introduce to us the best founders. We’ve built our own proprietary AI platform, Motherbrain, to move to a more blind and proactive method of sourcing companies based on objective company performance signals, giving us a greater chance of increasing company diversity and reducing bias in our founder selection.

Share: there is no playbook — Lastly, as we’re trying and testing new ways to build a fairer, more representative society we need to share stories and examples with other members of our social and professional groups. In the tech world, we’re obsessed with finding playbooks (a standard plug-and-play set of best practices), but the honest answer is there’s no playbook for mastering diversity and inclusion. It’s a highly situational, contextual and nuanced topic, and so we must be sophisticated in our approach to implementing and iterating activities which drive the right kind of change for the situation. At EQT Ventures, we have dedicated Slack groups for portfolio CEOs and their People leaders to share insights, what’s working, what’s not and support one another on our journey towards inclusion. - Zoe Jervier Hewitt

Start With Yourself

Step number one, start with yourself. Recognize your own biases, acknowledge them, and learn about them. Pledge to yourself that you are going to learn and grow. For instance, me as a black woman, I have to learn as a multicultural black woman where my blind spots are.

Step two is to define your purpose and identify your lane. What part of society can you serve? What are your talents? Go for those! Work tirelessly on those.

Three: include diverse voices in your mission. So whatever it is, you’ve worked on that you’ve identified for yourself, what you’re passionate about. Where you think you can be a part of change, bring unique voices and diverse perspectives in to help further that. Whether you are starting a community, leading a Fortune 500 or operating a small business.

Four, is being civic-minded and politically active. Beyond voting, which should be not even an questions — it’s just what you do. You should engage with and understand that your representatives work for you and are supposed to be representing you. So make sure you approach them, which now is virtual, but they still have office hours. Ask the questions you have. Don’t wait for somebody else to ask them because somebody else may not ask your question and your question may help a hundred thousand people. So reach out to your representatives, make them work, and lobby as an individual. Lobbyists have all the money and the voices out there, lobby as an individual. If enough individuals are lobbying for the same thing, you create your own lobby group where they can’t deny that 10,000 of their constituents are asking about the same issue. Because the leaders of black lives matter were bold and stayed their course, they now have this voice, this incredible message, and the experience.

Then five, promote it in your family & friend groups and on your social media and be bold and trust your instincts. Tell that personal story that may be embarrassing or it may be beautiful and uplifting. Share your perspective. Everyone can access social media now. Say you have a hundred followers, if your hundred followers hear from you, a perspective that they didn’t think of, it may help them look at a candidate or look at an issue in a way they didn’t see. It may not happen overnight but you plant that seed and have someone think “maybe there’s a different way to think about that issue because I really respect this person and they shared a really personal story.” Then together with all of those, we are all planting our seeds and we grow a beautiful forest of inclusivity and representation in a global society. -Bridgid Coulter

Make A Plan

I’ll keep my steps specific to the workplace:

Articulate why you care. Habits form best when they’re internally motivated. Get clear about why your organization values equity: Does equity tie directly to your mission or values? Do you have a moral imperative? Is it about your customers and clients? The communities you serve? Innovation? Creativity?…

Identify your goals. Organizational equity should be treated like any other company strategy. This means tangible representation targets should be set and communicated.

Pinpoint where your organization is falling short. Examine your people data to understand where you should focus. Most organizations spread themselves too thin. By following the data, you can effectively concentrate your scarcest resources: time and attention.

Investigate why you’re falling short. Leverage quantitative and qualitative (employees’ stories and experiences) data to get critical about the mechanisms underlying your outcomes. You may discover that you need to tighten the inputs to talent decisions. You may also discover that you need more employee accountability for utilizing your processes as designed.

Make a plan. Organizational equity requires collective action. No one person, team or function can do all the work. A plan outlines everyone’s unique role in building an equitable workplace. -Dr. Erin L. Thomas

Act Now

1. The time to act is now. Organizations have begun to prioritize D&I in the last decade, but the progress has been slow. COVID-19 and the recent protests for racial equality and social justice require that corporations act with greater speed and clarity.

2. Close the gap between diversity initiatives and creating true inclusion. Employees feel the gap between solely increasing diversity “by the numbers” without also seeing focused efforts on creating truly inclusive cultures at work. Many people are responding to the current moment, speaking up and demanding change. Heidrick & Struggles’ research from some of corporate America’s top organizations shows that 86% say their company leaders clearly define D&I, yet only 27% say their company is inclusive “to a large extent.”

3. Corporate leaders must measure their effectiveness, with a three-part plan: define both diversity and inclusion, link D&I to business strategy (not just social imperatives), and measure D&I efforts on a regular basis.

4. Build for the future. The numbers speak for themselves here: among the Fortune 100 Companies, only 16 companies have a non-white CEO (3 of those are Black). Stanford recently conducted research into the diversity of Fortune 100 senior leaders and their teams and found that the lack of diverse representation is not just in the top jobs in the C-suite, but also the P&L and CFO roles that most often lead to the corner office and boardroom. Companies must look strategically at their succession planning and a CEO’s direct reports and their direct reports to start building diversity into the future leadership of the company.

5. Creating an inclusive culture starts with being a great leader. We can look across corporate America and see the companies who are leading on these issues, now. These organizations have had the difficult conversations and decided to invest in human capital to tie inclusion to their business metrics, and they are leading by example and emulating open, inclusive behaviors.-Lyndon Taylor

Embrace Equality

Have a real and honest national conversation on what we stand for as a society and country. The key word here is honest. Our conversations around human rights, and racial and gender equality must be mirrored by our actions. This isn’t about saying the right things. This is about respecting people and their choices. We need to have an honest conversation about whether any of this is important to us as a society and country. If it is, then we need to be deliberate about doing something about it.

Embrace equality as the cornerstone of humanity There is more work that needs to be done to ensure racial and gender equality. We must focus on what we have in common rather than our differences. I think when we shift the focus, we will find that we’re more alike than we thought.

Teach our kids the value of empathy. We must teach our kids that at the end of the day we are all one. Empathy is a win-win where we can be there for another person, while feeling good about ourselves. Every single one of us is fundamentally good, and empathy for others helps feed that inherent goodness.

Deliberately practice compassion as a society. Society is a living, breathing organism like humans. Society has muscle memory as well and responds positively to deliberate practice. Deliberately practicing compassion and fairness will help start the shift towards a more accepting society.

Getting the media together for a common cause. We continue to be on media overdrive and there’s enough evidence that our perspectives can be altered by continual exposure to a set of content. What if the media collaborated on the importance of an inclusive, representative and equitable society? What could that kind of exposure and resulting mental stimulus do to the psyche of our society and country at large? One would think, it would be really good.-Karthik Ganesh

Be Brave

Develop an insatiable appetite for the rich, colorful experiences of others. Those stories and experiences can become the foundation of a decision, relationship or disruptive thought you have in the future.

I was working on a campaign recently that included the experience of African American small business owners and a black colleague suggested that we change the director and editor on our project so that we were not telling the story through the eyes of a white team. The notion that a story that was rich in culture could only be told through an empathetic lens speaks for itself. The idea of giving the power to edit a story to an inauthentic author is a repugnant thought.

Do good, rinse, repeat. Your learning experience around diversity, equity and inclusion is a lifelong journey. It isn’t a program, project or committee.

If I hadn’t worked at Wellspring House and learned that empowerment and positive intent produced results, I wouldn’t have been able to extrapolate that information to inject what works into IPG’s Women’s Leadership Network programming. Insight into the 10x more difficult plight of women of color at IPG produced the powerful work that became The Advertising Club’s Women’s Fellowship program, and on and on. Your work is never done, and if you stop, the universe loses the multiplier effect of the great work you are doing. Jump in. Don’t stop.

Be brave. Be the champion.

Today, it’s easy to jump on the DE&I bandwagon for political reasons. But, don’t frown on that. Jump on the bandwagon even if you’re not inclined to invent some new ideas of your own. DE&I needs all the champions it can get. Whether you are being the champion or a willing participant, engage. Engagement is the key to success among any group.

I’ve been working to build a spectacular board of directors for Creative Spirit. Disability inclusion is largely unexplored and unless you can relate directly, the topic is a little bit obtuse. Our board members who are engaged in the topic make bold brave recommendations even when they don’t know the subject matter. They are embraced and produce lively and productive board meetings that always take us someplace we no one’s ever been before.

Facts are your friend. Quotas work.

I am often engaged in discussions about how to get more representation to the table. In case you haven’t gleaned this from this article already, numbers, facts, and setting goals works. Many more people lean into our conversation about inclusion of people with IDD’s in the workforce when we talk about the unprecedented 85% unemployment figure. Companies begin to perk up when we tell them that there are 10 million young adults with another 1 million coming by 2021 without jobs and that Creative Spirit is on a mission to employ and retain 1 million people in this decade.

Empathy works. Empathy training. Did I say empathy?

When something is happening to a friend or family member it takes on all new meaning. Empathy and empathy training are something that we should be baked into professional development in businesses and in schools. Empathy turns an observation into an experience, empathy allows us to temporarily live in another person’s perceptual world without making judgments. Having the ability to sense meaning in a situation before acting is central to moving forward. When we built an executive team that was truly diverse, we began to eliminate hours of unwinding perceptions of the dozens of situations that happen in the workplace every day. Assuming positive intent, fostering empathy and diverse cultures reduce bullying, prejudice and increases the will of individuals to help others.-Laurel Rossi

Never Tolerate Racism

As the leader, acknowledge and build awareness around the many ways we have fallen short as a company and make the necessary changes to course correct, commit to your own edification and journey, and acknowledge this is not a moment in time, this is a movement we are forever part of for real and meaningful change.

Engage an employee council, bring together your people to help decide what steps they want to make to ensure we are all on the same page about the issue and how we will change ourselves and the company together.

Have your HR team create real proactive steps to help build a business committed to inclusivity and anti-racism. Outwardly commit to this and make yourself accountable with measurable results.

Put your money where your mouth is. Particularly for people with the means to do so, giving back and providing financial support for the organizations that are doing this work every single day is a must. Philanthropy has been part of my personal philosophy since well before my business was a success. While my giving has always supported underserved communities, I am now reassessing how to redirect resources to organizations grounded in advocacy that are working to change policy. As I am becoming more aware and educated, I am understanding how critical this work is in order to enact meaningful change.

It becomes part of the company, brand ethos. We must not tolerate any level of racism within our company or there are consequences that are actionable.-Anisa Telwar Kaicker

Be Genuine

Surround yourself with diverse people: Since childhood, I have surrounded myself with people from all walks of life. I’ve had African American friends, mentors, and have kept this philosophy when it comes to my company. I view the world as everyone being equal and this informs how I run my business.

Put your values first: Raised by a mother who was the head of our household, I naturally believed in women as leaders. In my company, 45% of leadership roles are filled by women. Having grown up with strong female representation has enabled me to recognize the contributions the women in my life make to the world around them.

Be genuine in your efforts: It doesn’t seem genuine to me when people have to put processes in place, it seems a bit like the Rooney Rule in the NFL. Don’t do it just for the sake of doing it — really believe in creating a diverse and representative team.

Consciousness is key: You have to consciously have intent until it becomes a habit. It won’t just come to you one day; I have spent my whole life with diverse and inclusive groups of people and have gotten to the point where it is natural and genuine for me, and I surround myself with a staff that is the same way.

Weave these principles into every aspect of your work: If it’s not a consideration in everything you’re doing, you’re going to fall short. My company is dedicated to creating a more equitable society and it is a key part of our mission. This guides all our initiatives and ensures that it is always top of mind. -Craig Cecilio

Implicit Biases

I will focus on what companies can do since that is my area of work and also as I just noted, I believe more needs to be done to bring attention to how business can help create a more just, equitable, diverse and inclusive society:

The first thing is to systematically measure, track and report how the business is doing in regards to DEI issues. Like I mentioned above, even many companies that are very socially responsible on many dimensions learn they fall short when they actually look at the data. Because of the systematic nature of discrimination, differences can arise through very innocent reasons and then become magnified over time. Every company is different and so such work will allow them to better understand what solutions are necessary for their organization.

Second is to commit to structural changes in management and leadership. Executive suites throughout the USA are overwhelmingly white and male. Businesses need to be proactive in getting more women and people of color into the executive ranks. This cannot be done with wishful thinking and talk alone but there must be specific plans and goals, such as committing to adding diverse leaders to positions of importance.

Companies need to also help employees learn about implicit biases, and what is acceptable behavior in the workplace v. not. Work along these lines could be reading and discussing important books like those by Ibram X. Kendi and Tiffany Jana mentioned above, and also bringing in training resources. There are many companies providing DEI awareness training these days.

Companies can also prioritize businesses with women or people of color ownership in their purchasing and procurement processes. While there has been some attention to buying from Black-owned businesses following the George Floyd murder, I have not seen any companies roll out systematic programs. Many governments have such programs and companies should do so as well.

Companies should also use their platform to bring awareness and attention to these important issues in society and the political realm. For example Ben & Jerry’s has done this to much success, creating ice cream flavors such as Justice ReMix’d which draws attention to issues of racial injustices in the criminal system, and the company also has issued statements calling on politicians to address white supremacy.- Christopher Marquis

Work of Learning

The first step is to reject this false notion that one group of people is superior to another that has been used for centuries to justify unequal treatment.

The second step is to embrace the notion that the worldview (the culture, history, and value system) of a particular racial or ethnic group of people is just one among many. None is better or universal. While there is certainly significant overlap, each is unique and is not entitled to supersede the variety of other perspectives that people proudly center themselves in.

Then, let’s do the work of learning how policies and practices (like school funding) perpetuate racism, and feed our own biases.

We all have biases. The promising news, however, is that training and other tools to help identify our biases has proven to change behavior. Start by taking an Implicit Association Test (implicit.hardvard.edu).

Then, once we understand how policies and biases are working in the lives of people, we can move to action. Think about how we can leverage our strengths and abilities to make changes in our sphere of influence. Racial equity requires work at every level and in every space. We need as much proficiency in the board room as among young people demonstrating in the street. - Valerie Harrison

Understand The Problem

Understand the problem: Our world is only increasing in diversity, so we need to prioritize fostering inclusivity so that the next generation can thrive.

We need more kindness, empathy and tolerance, but we can only get there if we acknowledge the histories and transitions that have led us to this inequitable world. We need to talk about it and ask questions.

Educate ourselves and others: We have to create a better school system to educate the young. Once older, it directly translates into a group of more empathetic and educated adults who will enter our workforce.

We put a lot on the school systems to teach our children but let’s not forget it is our responsibility as parents to help navigate our children to be more accepting of others. At home I have introduced books, food, clothes and games that help them understand diversity. This will lead them to understand and shift their behavior towards making sure they evolve and create more significant opportunities.

Ambassadors/Experts: Leaning on excerpts and ambassadors who have written and created resources for us to speak with our children and employees about and how we should converse or even react to discussing diversity inclusion.

I am not talking about racial prejudice but rather the opposite, actively teaching and learning about how to accept one another. Specifically the psychology behind how to react.

Systems: Creating systems in the workplace to step forward and feel an employee can suggest and implement change. Have employees bring up questions in team meetings or as team leaders, you bring them up to make sure we can understand the problem.

Let them take these ideas home to work in their homes to implement change. We change within ourselves when we have a system in place, and then it trickles down in all parts of our lives.

Building for the Future: Inclusive and diverse organizations need to make sure all the pieces are in place to achieve and sustain an inclusive, representative, and equitable society.

To do this we need to think forward and be more active in change. Committing to the right partnerships, staying authentic to your vision and staying open to opportunities will advance your organization. Building towards a large inclusive culture will ensure the heart of your organization.-Dr. Zabina Bhasin of

Do Not Discriminate

The five steps to make more of an inclusive society include:

You always have to have representation from different backgrounds

Be mindful to look at the merit of talent for all candidates and what they bring to the table

Be respectful and do not discriminate on age. Age is power and knowledge. Do not discriminate on religion or the color of your skin. You are who you are.

Listen. Get quiet and educate yourself. Be mindful. Take a breath and listen.

Be willing to listen and appreciate someone else’s life experiences

For example, my co-founder, Umi McGuckin is a beautiful, SriLankan woman. When we first were building our company, people would describe us as an “Oreo cookie.” This was somewhat extraordinary because both of us were coming in from completely different walks of life and each of our unique experiences helped us create a successful company. We learned to listen to each other every day.-Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin