5 Things / Obsessed
This week we launched a really cool DEI web app (and the feedback has been 🔥). Creating the Inclusive 360 Assessment and Roadmap has been my obsession for 10 months as I sought to solve a recurring challenge our clients share - a need to cut through the overwhelm and get crystal clear direction about the next steps forward with DEI.
To be perfectly honest, I was also dissatisfied with the custom DEI analysis and strategic plan we were providing to consulting clients. I felt that the analysis was great but the plan was too general. In my own experience, when I don’t have specifics, I often get stuck and don’t take action. I like specifics. The tool is very specific.
Anyway, I promise we’ll chill out with the emails about the web app, but I want to share how proud I am of what we built, and how much I believe it can help organizations accelerate their DEI and accessibility goals.
Try it out with the Inclusive 360 Quiz.
Here are the good vibes I found this week:
A Black History & Culture Collection Was Created to Provide Access to Historical & Cultural Images of the African/Black Diaspora in the US & UK
Getty Images curated a Black History and Culture Collection that’s available for free to those working on educational projects for non-commercial use. The collection includes historical and cultural images of the African/Black Diaspora in the US and UK. The idea here is to tell more Black stories, without them being framed by the white gaze. This matters because diverse primary-level educational content is under attack – and there’s an urgency to tell these stories to build empathy in younger generations.
Nintendo Has Enchanted Video Game Players With Titles Like Super Mario Brothers and the Legend of Zelda, but Now It’s Helping Bring LGBTQ Equality to Its Home Country of Japan
Nintendo, a Japanese-based company, is now offering marriage benefits to its LGBTQ employees in domestic partnerships/common law marriages. Same-sex marriage is not legal in Japan. The company also plans to create anti-harassment policies to ban things such as outings by co-workers. This matters because the company took a stand…these benefits set a precedent in a country where many LGBTQ people remain in the closet and don’t have equal rights.
Educator and Civil Rights Activist Mary McLeod Bethune Makes History as the First Black Person to Have a State-Commissioned Statue in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall, Replacing a Confederate Statue
A Confederate statue has come down in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall – and it’s been replaced with a statue of Mary McLeod, a Black educator, activist, and founder of Bethune-Cookman University, a Historically Black college in Florida. The statue was designed by a Latina sculptor. This is the first time a Black person has had a state-commissioned statue in this hall and is also the first sculpture by a Latina sculptor. This matters because Black visibility matters. Black stories matter. Black lives matter.
4. & 5. ADP Created a Preferred Name Policy to Foster an Inclusive Workplace
ADP has rolled out a Preferred or Chosen Name enhancement to its employee product systems. Now, ADP clients whose own employees go by a different name than the one on their legal forms can add that name to their record. This chosen name can be viewed by managers, team members, etc. The legal name is only visible to administrators. H/T to Julie Hoffman for this story. Betterment did something similar - users of this financial app have more than two genders to choose from when registering. Account holders can also add their preferred names. These stories matter because there’s a lot of gender diversity – and inclusion means everyone.
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