Community engagement supports DEI

If you’ve started on a Diversity Equity and Inclusion journey for your organization, you have most likely set goals. This commentary by local Black leaders in the Berkshires makes a strong call to action to our organizations to do the hard work to create real impact and hold ourselves accountable. The call is to track the data and show the results publicly. And when you’re struggling to see results, community engagement can be an effective catalyst.

Community Engagement and systems change strategies are key to successful DEI initiatives. Until we decenter ourselves and our own experiences as white leaders, or people in power and center on the lives of those who are excluded or devalued (i.e. not showing up in our data), we cannot create the changes we seek. It can be an uncomfortable process for those in power. Building relationships with people who have very different life experiences is no easy task. But when we actively pursue those relationships in authentic ways and engage in true listening and conversations, we can learn exactly how to create the impact we seek.

Community engagement strategies allow you and your organization to learn so much about the barriers we’ve unknowingly created in the systems we use every day. And the knowledge and relationships allow us to analyze our systems and identify what needs to change so we can all thrive.

Systems change is an ongoing process. Like undoing racism (also a system), it is a journey with no end point. We must constantly re-evaluate and adapt as we learn new things, embrace new people, and grow. If we want to continue to be successful in our goals, the conversations, new relationships, learning, and co-creating has to continue or we stagnate. I’m here for this journey, and I hope you are too.