Elena Joy Thurston, Founder and Director of Elena Joy Experience, and I will recap the latest 5 Things (good vibes in DEI) in just 15 minutes. This week our conversation is about the first Barbie with Scoliosis, closing the racial wealth gap with Project Black, and more!
This week I spoke with a few clients to discuss the workshop series for 2023. What impressed me most was the care to ensure a variety of diverse identities were represented in the content and presenters. In fact, on one call, I was joined by leaders from the LGBTQ+, Women’s, and Black Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to discuss a series of workshops that thoughtfully included all identities.
The Human Rights Campaign recently released their criteria for the 2023 Corporate Equality Index (CEI). Part of the revised criteria is about ensuring that employee training is intersectional. Intersectionality is a big word and was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, who describes it as, “We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality or immigrant status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts.”
I really do believe that intersectionality has become more than a buzzword. Equitable programs, policies, processes, and partnerships must be intentionally intersectional. That means asking questions like “What can we do to make this a great [hiring process, onboarding process, customer experience, conference… etc] for a Black, transgender woman with a disability?” Because if you can make the organization a great place for her, it will be a great place for everyone. (This concept is adapted from the book Unleashed)
Keep intersectionality in mind when you’re booking speakers for events (DEI or non-DEI events). We have some great folks on our team with fascinating stories to tell, and I can personally refer you to some fantastic speaker friends.
Here are the good vibes I found this week:
This week’s call to action:
More Black History Month resources – check out this Black American History Crash Course, a series of short (~12 minutes each) animated videos on YouTube: Black American History Playlist
To learn more about Elena, visit her website at: https://www.elenajoyexperience.com/
Read the full blog here: https://www.theequalityinstitute.com/equality-insights-blog/5-things-always-intersectional