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An exquisitely illustrated celebration of animals who live in packs, herds, pods, and more—including humans. Vivid art and exuberant vocabulary are perfect for emerging readers and parents looking for nonfiction picture books for home learning. Packs shows how togetherness and teamwork are the keys to survival of any species, and the many ways we rely on one another.

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A celebration of solidarity, allyship, and community...A welcoming resource for conversations about equality and social justice that shows readers how identities are made up of myriad influences.

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Listen, Learn, & Speak Up - Allyship & Activism | Chiara Lea | TEDxBrentwoodCollegeSchool

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How to Be an Ally - Beyond Engaged | Ep. 3

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Lesson Plans to Welcome All Families in Schools

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Lesson Plans to Welcome All Families in Schools

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Welcoming Schools teacher-friendly lesson plans were designed to help educators create classrooms and schools that foster a sense of belonging for all of your students and their families and caregivers.

A key focus of our program is to provide comprehensive resources for educators to teach about all kinds of families inclusive of LGBTQ+ families and to affirm all identities across the gender spectrum.

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Lesson Plans to Embrace All Families in Your Elementary School

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Welcoming Schools teacher-friendly lesson plans were designed to help educators create classrooms and schools that foster a sense of belonging for all of your students and their families and caregivers. A key focus of our program is to provide comprehensive resources for educators to teach about all kinds of families inclusive of LGBTQ+ families and to affirm all identities across the gender spectrum.

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Lesson Plans to Create a LGBTQ Inclusive School

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Lesson Plans to Create a LGBTQ Inclusive School

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Welcoming Schools teacher-friendly lesson plans are designed to help educators create classrooms and schools that are affirming of all students and their families. A key focus of Welcoming Schools is to provide comprehensive resources for educators to teach about LGBTQ+ people and topics to foster equity and belonging in schools.

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Lesson Plans for LGBTQ+ Inclusive Elementary Schools

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Help kids talk about the real ways they are bullied or learn about family diversity including LGBTQ+ headed families. All are aligned with the Common Core Standards.

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Auggie was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school until 5th grade. Told from multiple perspectives that highlight different struggles with empathy and acceptance.

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In 1972 in a small Virginia town, twelve-year-old Red Porter learns the unsavory racial history of his own family and tries to remedy the past injustice.

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Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War

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Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War

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Two twelve-year-old friends, Native American Anikwa and European American James, are caught in the growing conflict between their communities during the War of 1812.

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In 1852 twelve-year-old Ray sets sail on his uncle’s ship and discovers he is part of the Underground Railroad.

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Three bullied seventh graders start an unofficial e-mail forum to publicize their experiences. Unexpectedly, many others come forward to confess their similar troubles.

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After Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm. Can Tyler and Mari find a way to be friends despite their differences? Full of hope, but no easy answers.

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In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.

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Four best friends try to survive seventh grade in the face of all-too-frequent taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence, and sexual orientation/gender expression. The characters though are not cast as victims, but as agents of change.

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As twelve-year-old Marlee starts middle school in 1958 Little Rock, it feels like her whole world is falling apart. Until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. But when Liz leaves school without a good-bye, the rumor is that Liz was caught passing for white.

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Gabriel King was a born chicken. He’s afraid of spiders, corpses, loose cows, and just about everything related to the fifth grade. Gabe’s best friend, Frita Wilson, thinks Gabe needs some liberating from his fears. Frita knows something about being brave— she’s the only black kid in school in a town with an active Ku Klux Klan. Together Gabe and Frita are going to spend the summer of 1976 facing down the fears on Gabe’s list. But it turns out that Frita has her own list, and while she’s helping Gabe confront his fears, she’s avoiding the thing that scares her the most.

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This powerful middle-grade novel from the Newberry Honor author of RULES explores a friendship between a small-town girl and the daughter of migrant workers.

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Grayson has been holding onto a secret for what seems like forever: "he" is a girl on the inside. Will new strength from an unexpected friendship and a caring teacher's wisdom be enough to help Grayson step into the spotlight she was born to inhabit?

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Ghost has a natural talent for running. But can he run fast enough to get away from his past or does he have to figure out how to deal with it and his raw emotions. Bullied at school, Ghost reacts in both bad and good ways. He gets help from his coach and his teammates. (First in a series of four)

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Take flight with Ikarus Jackson, the boy with wings who remains true to his dreams despite taunts. One girl realizes he must be lonely and resolves to stop the hurtful words.

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The moving story of how Jackie Robinson became the first black player on a major league baseball team and how, on a fateful day, PeeWee Reese took a stand and declared Jackie his teammate.

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A blue crayon mistakenly labeled as "red" suffers an identity crisis. Almost everyone tries to "help" him be red until a friend offers a new perspective. He's blue! About finding the courage to be true to your inner self. This can be read on multiple levels.

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The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery

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The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery

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In 1856 John Price escaped to freedom in Oberlin, Ohio. When he was recaptured two years later, the town rallied to free him. A dramatization of the events illustrated with rich oil painting.

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Blue is a quiet color. Red’s a hothead who likes to pick on Blue. The other colors don't know what to do until One shows them how to stand up, stand together, and count.

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A young boy wrestles with his Muslim identify until a compassionate teacher helps him to understand more about his heritage.

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In this true and moving story, Alter Wiener, a teen Holocaust survivor of five Nazi prison camps during World War II, transports young readers back in time when an unexpected person demonstrated moral courage in repeated acts of kindness toward him.

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Set in the 1800s, this story about the friendship between a Choctaw girl and an enslaved African boy dramatically evolves into one about responsibility for others and their well-being.

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The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate

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The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate

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Based on real events that happened in Billings, Montana, in 1993. This powerful narrative tells how two children, two families--one Jewish, one Christian--and a community resolve to stand together against the shameful actions that have been happening in their home town.

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True friendship can cross any divide.

Abe and Willie live across the alley from each other. Willie is black and Abe is Jewish, and during the day, they don't talk. But at night they open their windows and are best friends. Willie shows Abe how to throw a real big-league slider, and Abe gives Willie his violin to try out. Then one night, Abe's grandfather catches them—will Abe and Willie have the courage to cross the alley and reveal their friendship during the day?

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Many Lessons to Prevent Bias-Based Bullying

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Many Lessons to Prevent Bias-Based Bullying

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Welcoming Schools teacher-friendly lesson plans are designed to help educators create inclusive classrooms and schools using an anti-racist, intersectional lens. Most bullying is based on biases, stereotypes and prejudice.

These lessons help you lead your students in real conversations about the kinds of bullying they really see and hear at school, learning how they can be upstanders to help prevent bullying.

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Lesson Plans to Prevent Bias-Based Bullying

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Welcoming Schools teacher-friendly lesson plans are designed to help educators create inclusive classrooms and schools using an anti-racist, intersectional lens. Most bullying is based on biases, stereotypes and prejudice. These lessons help you lead your students in real conversations about the kinds of bullying they really see and hear at school, learning how they can be upstanders to help prevent bullying.

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Do Something performance tasks ask students to demonstrate their anti-bias awareness and civic competency by applying their literacy and social justice knowledge in an authentic real-world context.

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Do Something performance tasks ask students to demonstrate their anti-bias awareness and civic competency by applying their literacy and social justice knowledge in an authentic real-world context.

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Estimated time

Why?

Arts encourage deeper levels of thinking, exploration, discovery, creativity, choice and engagement. Diverse learners and students of all ability levels can communicate expressively via the arts. In addition to skills learned and practiced through the creation of the artwork, students also gain valuable collaborative and leadership skills planning the event.

How?

Get Ready

1. Share examples of art that has inspired you, or share visual texts from the Perspectives Text Library. Use the anti-bias themes to illustrate the way art has been used to raise awareness and promote social change.

2. Connect and plan with colleagues in the art and drama departments.

3. Assess whose help and what resources you need to host the showcase. Where will you get supplies? What venue will you use?

4. Determine if students will work individually or in groups.

1. Provide students with information about supplies, work schedules and due dates. Use the rubric to define expectations and project components and to clarify how you will assess student work.

2. Introduce students to the Do Something Student Planning Guide and use it to help students plan their artwork. Allow a spectrum of student choice-poetry, dance, monologue, painting, musical performance or multimedia compositions. The planned artwork should directly connect to student understanding of the anti-bias and social justice themes in the central text.

3. Encourage students to conduct additional research using searches such as "social justice art," "folk art," or "multicultural art."

4. Provide students with ample time to think, brainstorm, collaborate and create. Students have a lot of freedom to interpret this task. A great arts showcase will include performance as well as visual art.

5. Spend time as a class determining roles and responsibilities for the showcase by completing the Community Arts Showcase Planning Guide.

Go!

1. Students finalize their art and prepare for the showcase.

2. Decide the time and location for the showcase. It might take place during class, on an alternate schedule day, after school, in the evening or on the weekend.

3. Throughout the showcase, tie student art back to the work being done in class and the social justice themes highlighted by your students.

4. Take photographs of the showcase and use them in a digital or paper scrapbook that celebrates the event.

Reflection

Use journal writing or Talking Circles to facilitate student reflection. Suggested reflection questions:

What was your favorite piece in the showcase? What were its strengths? How was the piece effective in conveying the theme?

Discuss the effectiveness of using art for social justice change.

What did you learn from this experience? What about the process stands out for you?

How did the showcase relate back to the central text?

What did you learn about social justice art from outside resources?

English language learners

Integrating the arts gives English language learners the opportunity to engage in new and varied approaches to learning, understanding others and communicating their own ideas. ² English language learners have choice in this task; students can select culturally familiar artistic mediums or branch out and try something new.

Connection to anti-bias education

Visual and performance arts can be a highly effective medium for teaching social justice. ³ The arts have historically communicated ideas about oppression and provide a way to re-envision the world free from injustice. An arts showcase can be a powerful, hands-on way to see that art can both educate and instigate change. The task can prompt wider discussions about social justice and allow students to reflect on the experience of sharing anti-bias messages with an audience. The reflection, and your guidance within the process, can nurture student growth, talent and self-expression.

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Arts encourage deeper levels of thinking, exploration, discovery, creativity, choice and engagement. Diverse learners and students of all ability levels can communicate expressively via the arts. In addition to skills learned and practiced through the creation of the artwork, students also gain valuable collaborative and leadership skills planning the event.

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Our searchable library of short texts offers a diverse mix of stories and perspectives. This multigenre, multimedia collection aligns with the Common Core's recommendations for text complexity and the Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards. Choose from informational and literary nonfiction texts, literature, photographs, political cartoons, interviews, infographics and more.

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Estimated time

One week

Younger students are still developing early literacy skills and the ability to communicate through writing. Collage is a powerful visual artistic medium through which they can express their ideas, understandings and feelings.

Get Ready

1. Gather magazines, newspapers, catalogs and other recycled images to use.

2. Share examples of and define collages with students.

3. Adapt the sample rubric into a visual checklist. Refer to the rubric to define expectations and components of effective collages before students begin working.

Get Set

1. Verbally introduce students to the preparatory steps included in the Do Something Planning Guide. Instruct them in the process of mapping the steps necessary to prepare their collages.

2. As a class, brainstorm possible content for the collages. Review topics, themes or messages from the text library. List students' concerns and ideas in a location visible to the whole class.

3. Share materials with students. Encourage them to experiment with combining different images based around a text-based theme of their choosing. Help very young students cut out desired images.

4. In addition to recycled materials, students can also add in their own illustrations, words and phrases to emphasize social justice, anti-bias or diversity issues from the central text. Students can also include possible solutions or imagined changes that relate to their concerns.

Go!

1. Instruct students to write a description to accompany their collage and the concern and ideas represented. Alternative, younger students can orally describe their work.

2. Invite visitors to a gallery walk to view the collages. Consider including:

Families

Other classes

Other grades

Members of greater school community

3. Invite visitors to leave comments, connections and questions for the artists on sticky notes.

4. If students feel comfortable, consider displaying the portraits outside of the classroom so other members of the school community can observe students' work.

Reflection

Facilitate a class discussion or assign students to write a journal entry. Possible topics include:

Reflecting on the process of creating the collage;

Describing how their collage connects to central text themes;

Considering how their collage can impact the community;

Envisioning possible solutions to concerns.

English language learners

Collage gives students the opportunity to express issues in a visual appealing format that does not have a heavy language component. The learning modalities of this task are mainly spatial/artistic, intrapersonal, and linguistic.

Connection to anti-bias education

This task allows young students to express their thoughts and feelings about important social justice issues. The visual component of the task allows each student to explore the powerful combination of images and ideas. Students and members of the school community can gain deeper insight into issues students care about by observing each other's work.

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Students create visual artwork combining various images to convey diversity or social justice issues, concerns or themes related to the central text.

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Transgender boys in a Wisconsin school are given detention after using the boys' restroom. Male students in a California high school create a "slut page" on Instagram featuring embarrassing photographs of their female peers.
In schools across the United States, students experience oppression based on their race, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, ability and other identities. Most educators care about the well-being of these students, but when young people are being targeted, caring isn't enough. Ensuring all students feel respected and protected at school requires educators to become allies: partners in empowerment who speak out against injustice and support marginalized groups and individuals on their own terms. How can educators navigate the complexities of allyship in and out of the classroom? What does it take to become an effective ally?

Allyship Starts With Identity

In the past, being an ally in an educational setting was a role associated with white teachers doing anti-racism work. But allies exist across identity lines: Being an ally means recognizing oppression broadly and standing in solidarity with anyone who experiences oppression-whether or not the ally also belongs to a targeted group.

While any educator can become an ally, the journey might look different depending on identity, experience and familiarity with issues of power and privilege. This means there's no blueprint; being effective requires significant self-reflection, according to Ali Michael of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education. "A teacher ally is someone who has a strong sense of their own identity, as well as the ways in which their own identities are either privileged or oppressed," she says.

For Billy Travis, a second-year teacher at Center for Inquiry #27 in Indianapolis, becoming a teacher after leaving his first career in finance has been a journey of both professional and personal reflection. "In my old life, I never thought about privilege. But I knew I wasn't making a difference in the world. I became a teacher because I wanted to do something that mattered," he says.

Travis learned almost immediately that developing a sense of his own identity was vital to the process. "Whether or not I wanted it to be the case, my identity as a white male was present in the curriculum. There was a lot of tension in the relationship [with my students] early on, and sometimes there still is," Travis says. "My students come from an experience that is totally different from mine. And even bigger than that, they were distrusting of me at first, which could make things really difficult. One day they were right next to me, and then, the next day, they shoved me away."

Travis began the slow process of exploring who he was as an individual and how his identity differed from his students'. "The teacher's identity journey is crucial in how he or she establishes relationships with students in the classroom," says Sonia Nieto, professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "Investigating your identity through exploring your values, biases and blind spots helps establish who you are as a cultural being. Knowing these things about yourself will help you connect with your students. The more you can connect with students on a personal level, the better your students will see you as a person instead of someone with no real experiences."

Travis' commitment to learning about himself and his privilege has allowed him to better connect with students and positions him to be an effective ally. It still isn't easy, but he feels optimistic about the process. "When you are trying to connect with students, there is a lot of work to be done," he says. "You just have to dig in and be ready for it to be bumpy."

Allyship Requires Commitment

Becoming an ally is a complex and ongoing process that requires courage and commitment. Whether advocating for marginalized students or supporting their fellow educators, teacher allies must accept the responsibility to focus unwaveringly on how power and privilege function in the school environment and beyond.

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Be there-for kids and colleagues-when caring just isn't enough.

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What do we mean when we say someone is an ally? At NLI, we define an ally as someone who realizes their advantaged position in a particular context and intentionally leverages that advantage to help people in less-advantaged positions.

Being an ally means being an active and consistent advocate for minimizing bias, increasing inclusion, and advancing equity in situations where they can directly impact people. Allies are important because corporate policies, however well-intentioned, can only go so far. In the end, the workplace is shaped by the ways people interact with other people. That's where allies come in. An individual has the ability to do what organizational policies may not.

Why promote equity?

When people feel that circumstances at work are more equitable, they are more likely to feel that they belong. Research reveals that a sense of belonging positively affects job performance, absenteeism, and attrition.

So what does allyship look like in everyday life?

Acts of allyship generally fall into one of three categories: speaking up, extending opportunities, and challenging the status quo.

Allies can speak up for someone who's being treated unfairly or dismissively by advocating for them or by amplifying underappreciated perspectives and contributions.

Allies also can give people opportunities by helping them access learning, leadership roles, or professional or social networks.

Finally, allyship can mean working to make your team's everyday systems and processes-its decisions, meetings, and communications-fairer and more equitable.

Let's look at some examples of people standing up as allies.

Speak Up: Adam and Maria

Adam was a project manager at a nonprofit organization that helps people living with a certain challenging medical condition. Adam's organization typically worked directly with medical professionals to support those patients. Adam had an idea: his organization should start supporting not just medical professionals, but also the caregivers-the family members and friends who care for patients on a day-to-day basis.

But the other people at the organization didn't seem interested in Adam's idea. "I brought up the idea of serving this group in weekly huddles and monthly all-team meetings over several months. Every time, individuals more senior than myself would shut down my suggestion."

After months of proposing the same idea, one of those more senior team members, Bob, offered an idea suspiciously similar to the one Adam had been suggesting and this time, everyone loved it. Adam was stunned. This was his idea-and here was Bob, taking credit for it. Just as Adam was thinking about updating his resume, another senior team member, Maria, spoke up. "That's what Adam has been talking about all year, right? We all got into this work to make a difference. Adam's idea could help us make a bigger difference."

Maria was speaking up as an ally, amplifying Adam's idea and giving him credit for being the first to suggest it. So why did it take Maria so long to speak up as an ally to advocate for Adam?

Because she was afraid of being regarded as an outsider. Maria said, "I liked his idea, but I didn't want to be the only one agreeing with Adam. I had been through that low-key hazing before they started taking me seriously, so now it was his turn. When you first start there, you're this outsider who has to fall in line. Adam was definitely an outsider, being pretty new, and a person of color. His persistence kinda proved he was an outsider, so agreeing with him would make me an outsider too."

Research has shown that newcomers to an organization often try to calculate whether it is safe to speak up.

It can be scary to be an ally. For months, Maria's worry about losing her insider position prevented her from speaking out. Once she realized she could actually show that Adam was also an insider, she was able to recognize the right time to speak out. "It makes sense for us to find ways to better serve patients, and Adam deserves the credit for finding one way. Plus, if the idea was good enough for Bob to try to claim it, I wasn't the only one who thought Adam's idea was a good one." Bob's agreement made speaking out less risky.

When Maria eventually did act as an ally, the way she went about it was smart.

People have an innate tendency to divide others into us and them. By pointing out that Adam's idea fit right into the organization's mission, she showed that Adam was one of us, not an outsider. And by treating Bob's remarks as a reminder, not stolen property, she helped ensure Bob's status wasn't threatened.

Extend Opportunity: Donna and Michelle

Michelle was "an educator of educators" in a suburban public school district, assigned to assess whether Donna, a new teacher, was a bad hire. Donna was new to the school, but a very experienced teacher. She'd had a long career in another school system, and relocated to be closer to family.

Michelle was confused about the reason she was asked to assess Donna. "I didn't see a problem. Donna was great in the classroom. She wasn't familiar with the software we used, but her plans and instruction were solid."

When Michelle asked why the school leadership thought Donna might have been a bad hire, they told her their reasoning. "They doubted Donna's computer skills could be improved. Since she had taught for so long in a rural, under-resourced school district, and was older, they figured she wasn't capable of learning the technical skills she needed."

Michelle wasn't sure Donna was being regarded fairly. So she took a stand in a non-confrontational way: she proposed they provide Donna the training she needed before making an official assessment. The school's leadership agreed.

In a model of allyship, Michelle used her advantaged position to help ensure Donna had the opportunity to be evaluated fairly and equitably. "When someone hasn't learned something, it doesn't mean they can't learn it. We had to see whether she could learn it, not assume she couldn't." Michelle wanted the school's leadership to evaluate Donna with a growth mindset about her abilities.

Change Systems: Nicholas and Mark

When a marketing company's higher-ups let each team choose for themselves where to work, Mark was proud that his team found the right mix of in-office time and remote-work time. For the most part, people could work wherever and whenever they worked best, and the team seemed stronger for it.

Mark was happy to see Nicholas in the office, and greeted him warmly. "Good to see you! This flexibility is really working out, isn't it?" Mark was surprised Nicholas disagreed. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. The people who are not physically at the conference table feel like they don't get to contribute. In meetings where some are in person and some are on screen, the on-screen people feel like spectators."

Mark had to think about that. He'd been so happy to finally work with people face-to-face, he hadn't really thought about people who weren't face-to-face with him. That was exactly the point Nicholas was making.

Nicholas was part of a message group of remote workers. " Out of sight, out of mind " had become a theme of their conversations, so Nicholas asked the group how to bring it up to Mark. Since it seemed on-screen participants were forgotten after the initial greetings, they decided to ask whether they could follow the Hellos.

Nicholas was glad Mark agreed to make it a practice to include remote workers. Mark wrote in his notebook the new system: "In meetings, call on remote attendees first. Let them present first. Ask for their feedback first."

Having Mark agree to implement a new system may not seem like an act of allyship. But among his remote colleagues, Nicholas had an advantaged position: his was a voice Mark really valued. They'd worked together for a very long time.

Leveraging advantage to change systems and increase equity is indeed allyship.

Equitable ever after?

Maybe. Allyship requires sustained practice. We can't know whether the organization in the first story made a practice of including new voices, but Adam did secure funding to expand his organization's outreach. Neither do we know whether the school in the second example made a practice of evaluating prospects and employees equitably, but we do know Donna received the technical training, and a positive assessment.

We do know Mark at the marketing company adopted the system of starting meetings with remote workers first, a practice that has made the team more inclusive, cohesive, and productive. We also know they're in uncharted territory and they must be vigilant to remain equitable.

Working to build and maintain an equitable workplace, where employees have a strong sense of belonging, is a worthwhile pursuit. Research shows that a sense of belonging pays off in improved job performance and potentially reduced absenteeism and attrition.

Allyship is not a badge earned after one action. Allyship is a practice of using your advantage to increase equity. But practices have to start somewhere. Where can you start?

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A Tale of Three Allies: What Does Allyship Look Like in Real Life?

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What do we mean when we say someone is an ally? At NLI, we define an ally as someone who realizes their advantaged position in a particular context and intentionally leverages that advantage to help people in less-advantaged positions.

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Forbes Magazine-Unlocking the Power of Diversity

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Forbes Magazine-Unlocking the Power of Diversity

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It is no secret that the tech industry has reshaped how society lives - from ordering weekly groceries online, recording fitness goals, revolutionizing healthcare and everything in between. Technology is intrinsic to almost every single thing people do. With this in mind, the industry creating these ground-breaking solutions must represent the society which uses it so readily - currently, it does not.
Representation in technology
In a report released by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2016, it was outlined that white people are represented in industry at a higher rate in the tech sector's executive category than the rest of the private sector, at 83%-more than 15% higher than their representation in the professional category, which includes jobs like computer programming. Other groups are represented at significantly lower rates in the executive category than in the professional category, including African Americans (2% to 5.3%), Hispanics (3.1% to 5.3%), and Asian Americans (10.6% to 19.5%).Additionally, if we focus on gender, less than 7% of tech professionals in Europe are female.

The representation of those in intersectional communities is even lower. For example, between 2007 and 2015 there has been a 13% decrease in the number of black women professionals. Even though white women are now substantially more successful in reaching the executive level than all minority men or women, white men are still 47% more likely than white women to be executives.

To have the most successful and well-rounded tech industry, representation of marginalized groups in industry must improve. To invoke this change, the majority must help, support and advocate for the minority. If engaged correctly, allies hold the power and the key to stimulate positive change.
What is an ally?
An ally is any person that actively promotes and aspires to advance the culture of inclusion through intentional, positive and conscious efforts that benefit people as a whole.

Everyone has the ability to be an ally as privilege is intersectional - white women can be actionable allies to people of color, men can be allies to women, cis people can be allies to members of the LGBTQI+ community, able-bodied people can be allies to those with different abilities, economically privileged people can be allies to those who are not and so on.
What is allyship?

a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people.

not self-defined-work and efforts must be recognized by those you are seeking to ally with.

an opportunity to grow and learn about ourselves, whilst building confidence in others.

Becoming actionable allies
To be allies, words and action must be in sync. Words without actions are detrimental and work against changing the culture in technology.

To be a true ally, you should:

Lift others up by advocating,

Share growth opportunities with others,

Not view venting as a personal attack,

Recognize systematic inequalities and realize impact of micro-aggressions,

Believe underrepresented people's experiences, and

Most importantly - listen, support, self-reflect & change.

Small actions, big impact
Allyship is a continual investment of time in supporting others, holding ourselves accountable when mistakes are made, apologizing and being prepared to rework the approach towards allyship as needs change.

Through personal actions, a more inclusive environment can be fostered by:

Becoming a sponsor - champion someone from an underrepresented community to support career growth and increase company retention.Being a sponsor is different to being a mentor- sponsoring is being actively involved in aiding someone's career progression, mentoring is providing advice.

Calling out inappropriate behavior - People in privileged positions have the ability to call out unacceptable behavior towards underrepresented people and be heard. Underrepresented people may not be comfortable raising issues due to a fear of backlash or risk of jeopardizing professional relationships.

Tasking all employees with getting involved with diversity and inclusion related tasks -embracing diversity & fostering an environment of inclusion is good for business. Everyone should be involved. Do not assign this daunting task to underrepresented people only.

Using inclusive language - Be aware of gendered terms, and use language which embraces all walks of people. For example,using "partner"instead of gendered terms such as "girl/boyfriend" or "husband/wife" to be more inclusive of those in the LGBTQI+ community.

Rolling out unconscious bias training regularly - Understand that unconscious, unchecked bias cannot and will not be fixed after one unconscious bias training session. This is a growing process and continued challenging of ourselves and peers must happen to aid growth and learning in this space.

Trying different recruitment methods - To attract and retain different kinds of people, use different recruitment methods. Partner with organisations which actively push for equality in that space, be present at conferences, and reach out to underrepresented people for their honest feedback on where they would look for roles - listen to the people you are trying to reach.

Recognizing privilege and use it to amplify underrepresented voices - Understanding andrecognizing privilegecan be a daunting and uncomfortable task. Having uncomfortable conversations with yourself, understanding the systematic and societal issues which may have played in your favor is eye opening and allows you to use this privilege to amplify those who do not have it.

Following an array of voices - Learning and growth will not happen without being challenged. Follow different people and listen to them. Challenge yourself to cross-examine your bias after learning from different voices.

In conclusion, a true ally must regularly listen to those around them, adapt their thinking, rework what they believe to be correct & become comfortable being uncomfortable.

Itcan be a unique and challenging journey becoming and remaining an ally, but certainly one worth taking.

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Allyship - The Key To Unlocking The Power Of Diversity

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To have the most successful and well-rounded tech industry, representation in industry must improve. To invoke this change, the majority must help, support and advocate for the minority. If engaged correctly, allies hold the power and the key to stimulate positive change.

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Working to create a more equitable and inclusive school, community and society starts by looking inward. The "tools" described in this section provide guidelines and a general direction for this lifelong process that can bring about a fundamental change in our perspectives and attitudes.

These tools are intended for all members of the school community. They recognize that everyone has a part to play in creating an equitable and inclusive culture. Everyone has the capacity to be an ally to those who have been marginalized and excluded.

It is important to accept that there is no magic bullet. Change that leads to equity and inclusion occurs as a result of a continuous process of learning, asking, exchanging, listening, explaining and trying. It requires patience, determination, and the knowledge that the work will never be finished and we will make mistakes. Compassion for ourselves, our colleagues and our students is absolutely essential as we move forward together.

It is important to acknowledge the particular challenge faced by teachers who, from a position of authority, try to discuss issues of societal power imbalances with their students. There is a dynamic tension inherent in this situation that teachers resolve when we use our power responsibly in ways that communicate our perception of children and youth as whole people.

Children and youth can learn important lessons about being an ally when teachers, parents and other adults act as their allies.

For tools and resources to stimulate discussion on these issues with students, click here.

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Working to create a more equitable and inclusive school, community and society starts by looking inward. The "tools" described in this section provide guidelines and a general direction for this lifelong process that can bring about a fundamental change in our perspectives and attitudes. These tools are intended for all members of the school community.

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The following exercises encourage personal reflection on equity issues for each of us as an individual, a citizen, and a teacher. We can do the exercises in many ways. For example, we can:

Take a few minutes to read through and reflect upon each question.

Jot down our answers to the questions after reading the section of the Teacher Training Module on Equity and Inclusive Education where they are found.

Keep a journal and respond to the questions over a period of a few weeks or months as we observe our daily life and interactions in our classroom, school or community.

Increasing equity and inclusion in classrooms, schools and society starts with individual reflection leading to action. Ultimately, real change can only occur when changes take place in the whole school, involving all members of the school community (students, parents, teachers, support staff, administrators). These simple exercises can help us launch that process.

Reflecting on equity and inclusive education in schools

In my school, who needs to be included and why?

What measures and practices are currently in place to support their inclusion?

What measures and practices are needed and how would they benefit my school?

Reflecting on ethnocultural inclusion

In my school, what ethnocultural groups can I identify?

In what ways are these groups (students, parents and staff) included and how can I tell?

In what ways are they (we) excluded and how can I tell?

How can (or how does) my school benefit from ethnocultural inclusion?

Reflecting on equity across the sexes

In my school, how are girls and women (students, parents, staff) included and how can I tell?

In what ways are they (we) excluded and how can I tell?

How can (or how does) my school benefit from promoting equality between men and women and between girls and boys?

Reflecting on gender and sexual diversity

In my school, how are members of the school community (students, parents, staff) with diverse sexual orientations included and how can I tell?

In what ways are they (we) excluded and how can I tell?

How can (or how does) my school benefit from the promotion of inclusive education for students with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities?

Reflecting on power and identity in our lives:

What differences can I see among my students?

What differences do I know about, even though I cannot see them?

What differences might there be, even though I cannot see them and do not know about them?

What do I know about identities that are important to individual students in my class?

Have I made any assumptions about my students' identities?

Reflecting on the use of power

Take a few moments to jot down answers to the following questions:

Who am I? Describe yourself and the different components of your social identity. With which social groups do you share things in common?

How do I identify? What aspects of yourself are important to you and why? Which are not so important and why?

What are my privileges? Imagine yourself outside of the group (or groups) where you currently belong. What would you lose if you no longer belonged to that group (those groups)? What would you gain?

Reflecting on what I have learned about being a man or a woman

What have I learned about being a woman/man?

What do I expect from others about being a woman/man?

What happens when I act according to those expectations?

What happens when I do not act according to those expectations?

Reflecting on sexism

What other consequences of sexism can I identify?

What manifestations of sexism have I seen (or experienced) in my school?

How have sexism and misogyny had an impact on my personal development and my life?

If I am a woman, what are some small steps I could take in my own life to question any gender roles that may have limited me in the past?

If I am a man, what are some small steps I could take in my own life (e.g. personal and professional interactions) to more evenly share my power and privilege with women (can include friends, colleagues, family members or intimate partners)?

What kinds of strategies can I identify (or have I implemented in my school) that can facilitate the healthy development of girls' and young women's gender identity?

Reflecting on what I have learned about people from racialized ethnocultural groups

Pay attention to some of your immediate, unfiltered reactions to people from different ethnocultural backgrounds that you encounter (either in your personal life, the school environment or through the media).

What are some of the things I have learned about people from ethnocultural groups that are different from my own?

What are some of the things I have learned about people from my own ethnocultural group?

Where do I remember learning those ideas? (media, books, family, school, etc.)

How do those ideas affect others and myself?

What have I done, or what could I do, to unlearn those ideas?

Reflecting on racism

What other consequences of racism can I identify?

What manifestations of racism have I seen (or experienced) in my school?

What are some small steps I could take in my own life (e.g. personal and professional interactions) to share more evenly my power and privilege as a white person (if that is my identity)?

What kinds of strategies can I identify (or have I implemented in my school) that can facilitate the development of young people's ethnocultural identity?

Reflecting on what I have learned about LGBTQ people

What are some of the things I have learned about people with marginalized sexual orientations and gender identities?

Where do I remember learning those ideas (media, books, family, school, etc.)?

How do those ideas affect others and me?

What have I done, or what could I do, to unlearn those ideas?

Reflecting on homophobia

What other consequences of homophobia can I identify?

How has homophobia had an impact on my personal development and my life?

What manifestations of homophobia have I seen (or experienced) in my school?

What are some small steps I could take in my own life (e.g. personal and professional interactions) to more evenly share my power and privilege as a straight person (if that is my identity)?

What kinds of strategies can I identify (or have I implemented in my school) that can facilitate the healthy development of young people's sexual orientation and gender identity?

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The following exercises encourage personal reflection on equity issues for each of us as an individual, a citizen, and a teacher. We can do the exercises in many ways. For example, we can: Take a few minutes to read through and reflect upon each question.

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As part of the Safe@School initiative, COPA and OTF have created an original powerful documentary about equity and inclusive education, called Hear Me Out. This film includes unscripted testimonies from youth who share their views on sexism, gender inequity, homophobia and racism. Along with students, adults in the field weigh in about their perspectives on the subject and strategies for change.

The film is also available on DVD in our boxed set, along with Taking Bullying Seriously and a discussion guide. The DVD version is available with closed-captioning.

To order a copy and other components of our S@S multimedia toolkit, go to our eBoutique on COPA's website: infocopa.com.

NB: Those watching this film sometimes feel disturbed by the material presented. Please consult community supports if so required. We recommend that the film be screened and vetted before showing to others, and in particular to younger people.

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As part of the Safe@School initiative, COPA and OTF have created an original powerful documentary about equity and inclusive education, called Hear Me Out. This film includes unscripted testimonies from youth who share their views on sexism, gender inequity, homophobia and racism.