5 Things / Covert
I was on a sales call this week for a company with many client-facing employees. And I felt a jolt of excitement from the possibility of "covert inclusion." That's my favorite kind of work.
Back when I spoke to wedding and hospitality professionals, I didn't lead with inclusion. I led with: "Here's how you earn the loyalty of the LGBTQ wedding market." Same stories. Same content. Different door.
It worked then. It works now. Client-facing audiences, especially. They're already motivated. They don't want to mess up in front of a client who's different from them. They don't want to lose the sale. I meet them right there, and then we do the work.
Although I call this covert inclusion, it's just good communication. Know your audience's motivation. Speak to that first. The rest follows.
Where in your work are you still leading with the wrong door?
This Week's Good Vibes:
The Community College of Baltimore County launched the country's first virtual reality lab for dental hygiene education. Program director Brionna Watson led with accessibility at the center. The platform includes closed captioning and haptic feedback, expanding access for Deaf and hard-of-hearing learners while supporting diverse learning styles across the board. With a national shortage of dental hygienists, this model directly expands pathways into healthcare for people who have historically faced barriers in clinical training settings. ♐️ Accessibility isn't a feature you add at the end — it's a design principle you build from the start.
Tommy Tutone singer Tommy Heath, 78, has partnered with the Cancer Support Community to repurpose the number 867-5309 (dial 272-867-5309) as a free cancer support helpline. Staffed by trained professionals, the line offers guidance, resources, and emotional support for anyone affected by cancer. The helpline removes cost as a barrier to cancer support and meets people in a moment of fear with something familiar, even playful. ♐️Accessibility is creative work. When support is disguised as something people already know and love, the barriers to reaching out get a whole lot lower.
The World's First Women's Mosque
The Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women, named after the Quranic figure meaning "She Who Discourses," opened in Doha, Qatar, as the first mosque in the world designed specifically for women. The space was shaped by extensive surveys of Muslim women: there is one entrance for all (no side doors), and one unified prayer mat rather than individual ones that executive director Dr. Sohaira Siddiqui described as "divisive." This mosque centers the voices of Muslim women in shaping the physical and spiritual spaces they inhabit, a radical and overdue act of inclusion. ♐️ Inclusion isn’t just policy…it's architecture.
Boulder's "Elevate Boulder" program gave 200 low-income residents $500 per month in unconditional payments for two years (fall 2023 to fall 2025), funded through pandemic recovery dollars. City data showed sharp drops in food insecurity, improved mental and physical health, and more stable housing. More than 90% of funds were spent locally, cycling money back into Boulder's economy. Now a photo and sculpture exhibit at Boulder's Main Library open through this weekend, puts faces to those numbers. ♐️This approach models how organizations can make equity data emotionally resonant and fundable.
Disability History Finally Has a Home
After closing in Buffalo in 2020 due to the pandemic, the Museum of Disability History has been revived by The Viscardi Center in Albertson, N.Y., in a new 4,500-square-foot gallery space within its Kornreich Institute for Disability Studies. The collection includes more than 8,000 artifacts, among them a Hall Braille Typewriter, a three-wheel Invacar mobility vehicle, and a video of the 1990 Capitol Crawl — when people with disabilities left their wheelchairs to crawl up the Capitol steps to push for passage of the ADA. Officials hope it builds momentum for a national disability museum on the National Mall. ♐️ You cannot advocate for a future you don't know the history of. Disability rights are civil rights.
Good Vibes to Go:
Transgender Day of Visibility is Tuesday. Legislation is making it incredibly tough to be visible and live authentically as a transgender person. There’s so much mis-information being shared that vilifies good, kind people. The Campaign for Southern Equality is a lifeline, especially for trans youth. Check out the trans joy generator with messages of support, then add your own.