Do you want to achieve greater DEIB – short for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging – in some area of your personal or professional life?
I do, and in my quest, I gained a deeper understanding of DEIB and discovered 3 keys to successfully achieving greater DEIB.
In my last post, I shared how defining what DEIB meant was a critical first step in achieving diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. In this post I will share the 3 keys I identified are essential for success.
A DEIB Grant Requirement Led to Identifying the Keys to Success
As described in the previous post, I serve as VP of the board for the Delphi Opera House and seek grants to support our work. We were awarded a $10,000 DEIB grant from the League of Historic American Theatres and were charged with presenting our project at their annual conference on July 9, 2024.
In preparation for sharing our progress and lessons learned, with the direction to help other theatres replicate our successes and avoid our challenges, I kept careful track of the steps we took and reflected regularly on the keys to achieving success.
Simultaneously, I was working on a Toastmasters project to create a communication plan for an audience and used this grant presentation as the subject. This led me to consider what to highlight as the keys to a successful event and the steps to take to achieve greater DEIB.
As a proponent of record-keeping and reflection, this task reinforced their benefits to solidify your thinking and prompt taking appropriate actions.
3 Keys to Achieving DEIB
The keys to achieving greater diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are connecting, communicating, and collaborating. These three C's can be the means to achieving your goal:
creating connections,
achieving meaningful two-way communication, and
collaborating with the target audience you wish to serve as well as with the wider community in which further support can be secured.
Creating Connections
From the inception of ideas through writing the proposal to planning and now implementing the project, we connected, communicated, and collaborated with members of our local Latino/Hispanic community.
We connected with key representatives of this target audience through the outreach director of a local family health clinic. Four women from our local Latino/Hispanic community were instrumental in achieving success. If not for Nora, Reynalda, Diana, and Sister Yurany, we would have fallen on our faces.
These community representatives helped us achieve success and connected us with other members of their community in ways we would never have achieved without their involvement.
Connections we currently have with our greater community were also instrumental in orchestrating and supporting our events.
Create connections to achieve DEIB.
Cultivating Communication
Once connections have been created, the next step is cultivating meaningful two-way communication. Ask good questions. Listen well. Keep everyone informed about progress and request help when needed.
Communicate in multiple ways. Meet in person. Meet via Zoom. Host hybrid meetings. Send emails and texts. Make phone calls. Send notes. Provide agendas and meeting summaries on paper and electronically. Keep track of your communication.
Allow everyone a voice. The DEIB initiative we applied for said it this way… “We seek to meet the needs of an underserved population within our community whose voices need to be amplified. Our stage could be their megaphone.”
Cultivate communication to achieve DEIB.
Collaborating with Community
Work with the community you seek to serve and accept assistance and support from the wider community that wants to be involved.
Allow the target audience to be equal partners in the planning and implementation of your DEIB efforts. Make sure their ideas are front and center.
Accept offers of help and involvement from other organizations and individuals to the extent possible. These additional supporters will not only provide essential help and resources, but they will also help spread the word about your work.
Collaborate with the community to achieve DEIB.
Are you seeking ways to enhance DEIB?
Answer this question: How can I build connections, communicate effectively, and collaborate with the audiences I wish to serve as well as my wider community?
“A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussion, decisions, and outcomes for everyone.” ~ Sundar Pichai
If you like this content, please share it:
Comments