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Contents
Introduction What is Social Justice? Communal Agreements Icebreaker: Respect Activity
Activities:
Introducing Identity: "My Fullest Name"Systems of Power and Privilege: "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"Gender and Sexuality Workshop: Creating Gender-Free Nouns Race and Ethnicity: Diversity Profile Class and Historical Disadvantage: Crossing the Line Recap and Closing Activity Closing and Recommended Resources
Introduction

This toolkit is meant for anyone who feels there is a lack of productive discourse around issues of diversity and the role of identity in social relationships, both on a micro (individual) and macro (communal) level. Perhaps you are a teacher, youth group facilitator, student affairs personnel or manage a team that works with an underserved population. Training of this kind can provide historical context about the politics of identity and the dynamics of power and privilege or help build greater self-awareness.

The following activities are intended for groups of 10 to 60 people. For larger groups, you can break into multiple sessions with additional facilitators to ensure the conversations and activities remain focused. The diversity toolkit outlined here may be used as a guideline and can be modified to better fit your group's unique needs.

A note on facilitators: Facilitators should be well versed in the topics and themes we will be discussing, but they do not need to be experts. This workshop is organized as a popular education activity where the majority of the outcomes are learned from the experiences and knowledge of the individuals participating rather than a teacher/student relationship.

Facilitator Sensitivity

Facilitators will be experiencing and addressing the feelings that come with confronting participants' notions of identity, privilege, race and sexuality. Some participants may be required to attend this workshop (through work or school, etc.), so facilitators should be clear that participants are there because these are issues that affect everyone and that there will not be personal judgment of anyone's feelings about a particular issue. Facilitators should remind participants that:

They will not be lectured or told what to believe.

This is not an indoctrination.

This is a participatory workshop that is intended to help guide all participants to better understanding and to address difficult issues.

Privacy

Facilitators should emphasize that what is shared during the workshop is private and confidential. Participants can talk about how the workshop affected them personally and what they learned generally, but they should respect the privacy of the personal information of the other participants.

What is Social Justice? Setting a Stage for Discussion

Before beginning, it's important that everyone have a basic understanding of two core concepts related to privilege and identity. This will allow everyone to start the conversations on the same page and ensure that the participants have a foundation upon which to build future knowledge.

The first core concept is culture, which is:

The integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations.

A set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes a group of individuals or an institution or organization.

The second core concept is identity, which is:

Distinguishing characteristics.

The condition of being the same with something described or asserted.

Everyone Has Many Identities

Age, gender, religious or spiritual affiliation, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status are all identities. Some identities are things people can see easily (like race or assumed gender), while other identities are internalized and are not always easy to see (like a disability, socioeconomic status or education level). There are two types of identities that need to be defined in order to spark a discussion on social justice. The first type deals with identities that are part of a majority status - or "agent" - while the second includes identities that are part of the minority status - or "target."

Agent: Members of dominant social groups privileged by birth or acquisition who knowingly or unknowingly exploit and reap unfair advantage over members of the target groups.

Target: Members of social identity groups who are discriminated against, marginalized, disenfranchised, oppressed, exploited by an oppressor and oppressor's system of institutions without identity apart from the target group, and compartmentalized in defined roles.

After participants understand the difference between agent and target groups, the facilitator can begin a discussion on oppression. The key features of oppression are:

An agent group has the power to define and name reality, and determine what is normal, real and correct.

Differential and unequal treatment is institutionalized and systematic.

Psychological colonization of the target group occurs through socializing the oppressed to internalize their oppressed condition.

The target group's culture, language and history is misrepresented, discounted or eradicated, and the dominant group culture is imposed.

Oppression (the "ism's") happens at all levels, reinforced by societal norms, institutional biases, interpersonal interactions and individual beliefs.

Individual - feelings, beliefs, values.

Interpersonal - actions, behaviors and language.

Institutional - legal system, education system, public policy, hiring practices, media images.

Societal/Cultural - collective ideas about what is "right."

But remember:

Most individuals are both a target and an agent of oppression, due to:

Internalized subordination.

Internalized domination.

Because of these internalized factors, individuals have "unearned privilege."

When the facilitator talks about these concepts with the group, it is helpful to start with an understanding that everyone experienced being a target or agent at some point in their lives. This helps create a dialogue of understanding. This is not to say that some target statuses are more salient (for example, people can see I am a woman, or a black woman, before they even speak with me) and others may be easier to conceal (for example, if I am lesbian). But each creates a burden on the individual and each has its own set of challenges to overcome.

Communal Agreements

Before initiating any activity, it is critical that the group builds communal agreements. Rather than naming these "rules" that are then placed upon the group, we will call these "agreements" because these are the guidelines built by the group that all members agree to follow during the course of the workshop. Once an agreement has been put forward, the facilitator should then ask for a definition of what that agreement means to ensure that there is a communal language. Below are several suggested agreements.

Respect. Though this term is used widely, "respect" means different things to different people. Facilitators should ask their team what respect means to them.

"I" Statements. It is critical to draw a line between individual experience and communal experience to prevent alienating someone whose experience may be different. When a member of the community speaks of personal experience or feelings, it is of utmost importance that he/she uses the "I" statement. Facilitators should encourage the participant to take responsibility for his/her own experience rather than projecting it onto fellow participants.

One voice, all ears. When one person speaks, everyone else listens.

Confidentiality. Each participant within the community needs to feel that he/she can trust that what is shared with peers will not be shared outside of the group. Though participants are encouraged to discuss what they have learned and share reflections on conversations, it is important to keep names and individual experiences private.

Icebreaker: Respect Activity

Source: Critical Multicultural Pavilion

Ask participants to find someone in the room they don't know and make an introduction. Talk for five to 10 minutes about respect. What does it mean to you to "show respect?" How do you show respect to others? After the allotted time, ask all participants to sit and open the discussion. How did people define respect? What were some of the core concepts discussed?

Common responses will likely include:

The "Golden Rule."

Looking people in the eyes.

Honesty.

Accepting/appreciating someone's ideas, even when you don't agree with them.

All responses are worthy of reflection in terms of their cultural and hegemonic influences. Ask participants where their ideas of respect come from and whom they are meant to protect. If the group raises any of the common responses above, challenge them to answer the following questions:

Does everyone really want to be treated the same way you want to be treated?

Is eye contact during conversation respectful in every culture?

If someone's ideas are oppressive, should we still respect them?

The point of the discussion is to reflect critically on assumptions and socializations regarding respect. The point is not to agree and to learn from each other's differences.

This activity helps to establish a basis of respect within the group, helping the participants take the first steps toward creating and maintaining a constructive discussion of social justice and equity. At the very least, participants meet someone new and exchange ideas with that person. The group also gets its first look at the similarities and differences between participants, potentially in ways that reflect privilege and power.

Activity One: Introduction Identity

Definition
Everyone has a personal and social identity. Personal identities include an individual's name, unique characteristics, history, personality and other traits that make one different from others. Social identity includes affinities one has with other people, values and norms that one accepts, and the ways one has learned to behave in social settings.

Objective
The following activity is particularly useful when working with participants who don't know one another very well. The goal of this activity is to warm up participants to sharing about themselves and start revealing a bit about each participant's background.

Materials
Markers and 8-by-10-inch sheets of paper folded horizontally.

Instructions
Write out your fullest name and tell your story. On the back of the piece of paper write the top three identities you feel closest to. The facilitator encourages participants to go around the circle to share any meanings, significance, culture, significant ancestors and the top three identities they hold dearest. Everyone will have a chance to share and be heard by the group.

Suggested questions if participants need help getting started:

Who gave you your name? Why that name?

Do you know the ethnic origin of your name?

Do you have any nicknames? If so, how did you get them?

What is your preferred name?

Facilitators should encourage students to be creative. Make it clear that it is acceptable to write poetry, list adjectives that describe them, include humor, etc.

If your group is large, break into diverse small groups of five or six to make sure everyone has an opportunity to share her or his story. Ask for volunteers to get the group started and tell participants they can share their stories from memory, or read them.
Facilitator Notes

Some individuals will include personal information in their stories and may be reticent to read them. Sometimes it is most effective for facilitators to share their stories first - making yourself vulnerable will make others more comfortable doing the same.

Allow time for every participant to share (whether it be with the whole group or with their small group).

Discussion
When everyone has shared, ask participants how it felt to share their stories. Why is this activity important? What did you learn?

Activity Two: Systems of Power and Privilege

Activity
"Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"

Objective
The objective of this activity is to confront entrenched systems of power and privilege, and identify common situations when privilege is not acknowledged, to the detriment of the disadvantaged and oppressed.

Check off all of the statements that apply to you. Consider whether or not this would apply should your race be different.

Discussion
What is privilege? We all have privileges. What are yours? Were you surprised by any of the privileges you found in your invisible knapsack?

Activity Three: Gender and Sexuality

Group Definition
Have the group describe what they believe to be the definition of the terms "gender" and "sexuality."

Objective
The objective of this activity is to reconsider male-gendered nouns that we consider "generic." Generating gender-free nouns and pronouns will help participants incorporate more inclusive language in their daily speech and writing.

Instructions
Break participants into small groups and give them a printout of the chart below. Instruct participants to convert the suffixes of the nouns into gender-free, inclusive terms by changing the noun root word or substituting a non-gender-specific root word from another language. Tell participants that since male endings are so pervasive, it is OK to invent new words by replacing the endings of existing words with something non-gendered.

Discussion Questions

How do the changes in the words' structures change the connotation?

How does familiarity affect our perception of a word's correctness? For example, do we think the words "teachman" or "runman" are more correct than "teacher" or "runner"?

The facilitator should ask the following questions of the group while also encouraging them to share personal experiences that speak to their point. What are characteristics of what society believes a [woman/man/girl/boy] should be? What are the norms for appearance/behavior? What happens when someone falls outside of this norm? How do the words we use influence the way we think about certain professions?

Activity Four: Race and Ethnicity

Definition
Race is a social construction that has real consequences and effects. Race is colloquially used to refer to a person's skin color, religion or area of origin (e.g., black, Jewish or African). Technically, however, race is based on national origin, sociocultural groups and self-identification. The U.S. government, including the Census Bureau and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, does not attempt to identify race according to biology, anthropology or genetics. Religious belief is not considered a race, but can be a factor in identifying one's sociocultural group. (For a full explanation of how each racial category is defined, refer to the U.S. Census About Race page). In a historical context, race has played a large part in how our society has evolved, and it shapes the way we see others and how we experience our lives. (For more on race from a historical perspective, read " A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America," by Ronald Takaki.)

Objective
The objective of this activity is to help participants take stock of the multicultural diversity in their lives. It should help participants get a clear image of how diverse or homogenous their surroundings are and identify ways to improve their exposure to multiculturalism on a daily basis.

Instructions
Fill in the appropriate boxes:

Activity Five: Class and Historical Disadvantage

Activity
Crossing The Line

Objective
The purpose of this activity is to explore the diversity among the members of our community. How a person identifies can affect many facets of his or her life. We will use this activity to get to know one another on a deeper level. What are our values, backgrounds, and visible and invisible labels? This activity requires everyone to step outside of his or her comfort zone. Participants being vulnerable can help the group learn more about the identities they do not share.

Instructions
Have all participants line up in a straight line facing the facilitator. If the room is too small to have each participant standing shoulder to shoulder, an alternative is to have the group stand in a circle and step into the circle. The facilitator should explain that he or she will read a statement. If the statement describes you, then silently step across the line. Everyone should quietly notice who stepped across the line and who did not. After a moment, the facilitator will thank those who stepped forward and will then have everyone step back in line.

1. I am a woman.

2. I am a man.

3. I identify as transgender.

4. I am close with most of my family.

5. I identify myself as Jewish.

6. I identify myself as Buddhist.

7. I identify myself as Christian.

8. I identify myself as Muslim.

9. I identify myself as Hindu, Sikh.

10. I identify myself as Mormon.

11. I identify myself as Baha'i'.

12. I identify myself as agnostic or atheist.

13. I identify myself as spiritual, but not religious.

14. I have attended a religious or spiritual service that is not of my own religious and spiritual identity.

15. I identify as a citizen.

16. I identify as an immigrant.

17. I identify as undocumented or have a close family member who is.

18. I had "enough" growing up as a child (however you define "enough").

19. I had "more than enough" growing up as a child (however you define "enough").

20. I had "less than enough" growing up as a child (however you define "enough").

21. I have felt guilty by the amount of money my family has or by the size of my house or by what resources or belongings my family has (either too much or too little).

22. I have experienced the death of a close family member or close friend.

23. I have or someone in my family has a physical disability.

24. I have a hidden disability (physical or learning).

25. I am comfortable with my body.

26. I have felt ashamed of myself because of my body, my intellect or education, or my family.

27. I identify myself as black or African-American.

28. I identify myself as Asian or Asian-American.

29. I identify myself as white or European.

30. I identify myself as Pacific Islander.

31. I identify myself as biracial, triracial, mixed-race or of combined heritage.

32. I have had to check "other" on forms that ask my race or ethnicity.

33. I have a close friend who is a person of color.

34. I feel comfortable talking about race and ethnicity with people who are not of my race.

35. Someone in my extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) lives in my house with my family.

36. I or someone in my family is LGBTQ.

37. I know someone who is LGBTQ.

38. I am an ally to LGBTQ people.

39. I or someone in my family has had a problem with alcoholism or drug abuse.

40. I have felt discriminated against on the basis of my gender; race or ethnicity; religion; ability or disability; sexual orientation; or socio-economic status.

41. I have felt guilt because of my gender; race or ethnicity; religion; ability or disability; sexual orientation; or socioeconomic status.

Discussion

What was your reaction to this exercise? How did you feel afterward?

What did it feel like to step into the circle? What was it like not to be in the circle?

What did you discover about those around you?

Were you surprised about anything? Did anyone break a stereotype for you?

Were there questions you were hoping would not be asked? Any you wish had been asked?

How might such issues/factors affect your relationships?

What did you learn about yourself or what did you think about that you've never thought about before?

What role does privilege play in this? What role do pride and shame play?

Activity Six: Recap and Closing Activity

This toolkit was designed to address human issues that everyone faces and help participants recognize how they can better understand and work toward solving, or at least improving, these issues. Participants were often forced to confront socialized and entrenched notions of privilege, identity and social justice. Anything that was difficult to confront during the training will be even more difficult to confront in practice, but if these were easily solvable issues, they wouldn't be issues for long. Participants should feel better equipped with newfound knowledge and empathy, and prepared to apply the lessons they learned in their own lives and communities.

Objective
To practice giving positive feedback and to have participants leave the workshop feeling energized.

Instructions
Have participants mingle randomly in a large group and then instruct them to stop and share with the person in front of them one way in which that person "shined" during the workshop. Repeat several times so that each person gets feedback and support from different people in the group. If there are an odd number of participants, the facilitator should address the odd person out each time.

Closing

Completing this training is not the end, but merely the beginning. Hopefully, this toolkit has helped to create new understanding among your participants. Individuals should have learned about their own identity and of those around them, as well as the implications of socially constructed labels and stereotypes of an individual's experience. Those interested in this type of work may be interested in a career in social work, facilitation, advocacy or sociology. At the end of the training, facilitators should be prepared to provide additional resources for participants who want to learn more about issues of identity, power and privilege. Below we cite several resources to help you get started.

Recommended Resources

Resources for Additional Activities

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Citation for this content: The MSW@USC, theonline Master of Social Work programat the University of Southern California.

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Diversity Workshop: A Guide to Discussing Identity, Power and Privilege

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Introduction What is Social Justice? Communal Agreements Icebreaker: Respect Activity Activities: Introducing Identity: "My Fullest Name" Systems of Power and Privilege: "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" Gender and Sexuality Workshop: Creating Gender-Free Nouns Race and Ethnicity: Diversity Profile Class and Historical Disadvantage: Crossing the Line Recap and Closing Activity Closing and Recommended Resources This toolkit is meant for anyone who feels there is a lack of productive discourse around issues of diversity and the role of identity in social relationships, both on a micro (individual) and macro (communal) level.

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All Mississippi Theatre Association event participants, attendees, and members are encouraged to complete this anonymous survey so MTA's EDI committee can better meet the needs and voices of everyone in our theatre community.

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MTA Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Survey

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All Mississippi Theatre Association event participants, attendees, and members are encouraged to complete this anonymous survey so MTA's EDI committee can better meet the needs and voices of everyone in our theatre community.

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Organizational Assessment Tools and Resources

Organizational assessments aim to understand internal processes as much as outcomes. For example, it is useful to look deeply at decision-making: What information do decision-makers get and from whom? Which voices or sources of information have credence? What gets discounted or devalued in the process? How are decisions communicated? What are the impacts of current decision-making processes on different racial/ethnic groups?

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Organizational Assessment Tools and Resources

Organizational assessments aim to understand internal processes as much as outcomes. For example, it is useful to look deeply at decision-making: What information do decision-makers get and from whom? Which voices or sources of information have credence? What gets discounted or devalued in the process? How are decisions communicated? What are the impacts of current decision-making processes on different racial/ethnic groups?

In doing these assessments, it is very useful to look at the existence and influence of white dominant culture. People with different roles and identities within the organization should review each area of an organization's internal and external practices.

This section includes resources, tools, and examples of organizational assessments.

"To reverse the colonized, white supremacist culture of 'knowing,' where only the mind-knowing way is valued and maintains power dynamics that accrue value based on white dominant culture, we must actively value and integrate ways of knowing that are deeply ingrained from our ancestors: prioritize connections and relationships, emergence, belonging, the mystery of things that are not 'knowable,' and our own being.

We are valuators, not evaluators. Valuation is integration of all the ways of knowing."

~ Audrey Jordan, Measuring Love in the Journey For Justice

A political movement to address systemic and state violence against African Americans. Per the Black Lives Matter organizers: "In 2013, three radical Black organizers-Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi-created a Black-centered political will and movement building project called #BlackLivesMatter. It was in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin's murderer, George Zimmerman. The project is now a member-led global network of more than 40 chapters. [Black Lives Matter] members organize and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks' humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression."

Institutional racism refers specifically to the ways in which institutional policies and practices create different outcomes for different racial groups. The institutional policies may never mention any racial group, but their effect is to create advantages for whites and oppression and disadvantage for people from groups classified as people of color.

Examples:

Government policies that explicitly restricted the ability of people to get loans to buy or improve their homes in neighborhoods with high concentrations of African Americans (also known as "red-lining").

City sanitation department policies that concentrate trash transfer stations and other environmental hazards disproportionately in communities of color.

SOURCE: Flipping the Script: White Privilege and Community Buildingby Maggie Potapchuk, Sally Leiderman, Donna Bivens, and Barbara Major (2005).

Related Resources: (scroll down alphabetically to the box for " Institutional Racism ")

Location: FUNDAMENTALS / Core Concepts

Movement building is the effort of social change agents to engage power holders and the broader society in addressing a systemic problem or injustice while promoting an alternative vision or solution. Movement building requires a range of intersecting approaches through a set of distinct stages over a long-term period of time. Through movement building, organizers can:

Propose solutions to the root causes of social problems.

Enable people to exercise their collective power.

Humanize groups that have been denied basic human rights and improve conditions for the groups affected.

Create structural change by building something larger than a particular organization or campaign.

Promote visions and values for society based on fairness, justice, and democracy.

SOURCE: Julie Quiroz-Martinez, From the Roots: Building the Power of Communities of Color to Challenge Structural Racism (Akonadi Foundation, 2010), citing the Movement Strategy Center, which offers these further definitions.

Location: PLAN / Change Process

The systematic subjugation of one social group by a more powerful social group for the social, economic, and political benefit of the more powerful social group. Rita Hardiman and Bailey Jackson state that oppression exists when the following 4 conditions are found:

the oppressor group has the power to define reality for themselves and others,

the target groups take in and internalize the negative messages about them and end up cooperating with the oppressors (thinking and acting like them),

genocide, harassment, and discrimination are systematic and institutionalized, so that individuals are not necessary to keep it going, and

members of both the oppressor and target groups are socialized to play their roles as normal and correct.

Oppression = Power + Prejudice

SOURCE: "What Is Racism?" − Dismantling Racism Works (dRworks) web workbook.

Racial inequity is when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing, such as the percentages of each ethnic group in terms of dropout rates, single family home ownership, access to healthcare, etc.

SOURCE: Ibram X. Kendi, , Random House, 2019.

1. The normalization and legitimization of an array of dynamics - historical, cultural, institutional, and interpersonal - that routinely advantage Whites while producing cumulative and chronic adverse outcomes for people of color. Structural racism encompasses the entire system of White domination, diffused and infused in all aspects of society including its history, culture, politics, economics, and entire social fabric. Structural racism is more difficult to locate in a particular institution because it involves the reinforcing effects of multiple institutions and cultural norms, past and present, continually reproducing old and producing new forms of racism. Structural racism is the most profound and pervasive form of racism - all other forms of racism emerge from structural racism.

2. For example, we can see structural racism in the many institutional, cultural, and structural factors that contribute to lower life expectancy for African American and Native American men, compared to white men. These include higher exposure to environmental toxins, dangerous jobs and unhealthy housing stock, higher exposure to and more lethal consequences for reacting to violence, stress, and racism, lower rates of health care coverage, access, and quality of care, and systematic refusal by the nation to fix these things.

SOURCE:

1. Chronic Disparity: Strong and Pervasive Evidence of Racial Inequalities by Keith Lawrence, Aspen Institute on Community Change, and Terry Keleher, Applied Research Center, for the Race and Public Policy Conference (2004).

2. Flipping the Script: White Privilege and Community Building by Maggie Potapchuk, Sally Leiderman, Donna Bivens, and Barbara Major (2005).

Location: FUNDAMENTALS / Core Concepts

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Plan, Informing the Plan, Organizational Assessment Tools and Resources

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Organizational assessments aim to understand internal processes as much as outcomes. For example, it is useful to look deeply at decision-making: What information do decision-makers get and from whom? Which voices or sources of information have credence? What gets discounted or devalued in the process? How are decisions communicated?

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Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture

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Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture

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We were challenged to identify what aspects of White Supremacy Culture we find in ourselves and our organization, as well as what we lose when we prioritize these characteristics.

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"“Society” isn’t something that only exists in our time off, so the challenges, barriers, and social injustices people face at work are a reflection of those that exist in other parts of our lives. The difference is, while the systems that contribute to discrimination, invisibility, and other injustices in our lives may be more opaque and sprawling, the systems of our workplaces are microcosms with more defined boundaries and identifiable decision-makers at the controls.

With that higher level of power on the part of organizational leaders comes a greater responsibility for tackling the sources of oppression at work and creating organizational cultures where all employees are safe, welcome, connected, and able to advance."

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Part One

Intersectionality affects every aspect of our lives both within and beyond the realm of work, but it's not always considered as a framework for meaningful change within organizations. In this series, we'll walk you through some of the basics of intersectionality: What is it? Why does it matter for organizations? What can we do with this information? In each issue we'll leave you with questions to help you apply these concepts to your work; we'll also share all of our sources so you can use this information as a gateway to further learning, questioning, and action. Ready? Let's go!

A cursory review of Google search trends shows a significant increase in searches for the term intersectionality over the past decade, and it's not just individual interest driving this upward trend; companies have been jumping on board as well. A custom search of Harvard Business Review alone turns up over 200 references to intersectionality since 1997, and well over half of those are from the past three years.

If you're a business leader, and you haven't encountered this idea in your work up to now, it will almost certainly come up soon. Luckily, you're in the right place for a brief introduction to the concept.

What is Intersectionality?

Intersectionality is a framework or lens used to analyze or discuss multiple aspects of individual identity (e.g., race, class, gender, sexuality, etc.) and the unique privileges and oppressions individuals may experience where those identities overlap.

Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw popularized the term through her decades of scholarly work on the unique forms of oppression Black women face in the US legal system. In her 2016 TED talk titled "The Urgency of Intersectionality," Dr. Crenshaw shares how her research revealed that intersections of race and gender, heterosexism, transphobia, xenophobia and other social dynamics create unique challenges for African American women and other socially marginalized people.

The concept of intersectional identities isn't only about race and gender. It encompasses any number of dimensions of identity, often represented in illustrations like the one above by Sylvia Duckworth or in examples like those below, which tend to illustrate both the overlapping dimensions of identity and related aspects of privilege and oppression.

Note: All of the examples above were created from US perspectives, and it's important to keep in mind that social norms, laws, policies, and associated privileges/oppressions differ significantly by region and context. Also, while these graphics depict many aspects of identity, they are not inclusive of all aspects. Some organizational adaptations also include dimensions of identity that may be uniquely relevant to the social/cultural norms of that specific organization.
Developing intersectional awareness in the workplace gives us a way to recognize the specific challenges people may face in our organizations as a result of multiple forms of marginalization. It allows us to move beyond the common strategy of focusing on singular identities to identify group needs and gives us access to a more nuanced understanding of our colleagues, which helps ensure that "important information about the unfair impacts of politics and policies is less likely to fall through the cracks" (Hankivsky, 2014).

Imagine you're responsible for getting a group of people across a large, hazardous river crossing (if you want to be nostalgic about it, imagine you're playing Oregon Trail).

Your goal is to get the entire group across the river safely, and you need everyone's skills and abilities to successfully make the rest of the journey after you reach the other side. Some folks are strong swimmers who can easily make their way across. Others are non-swimmers. To address this problem, you implement a plan to equally distribute floatation devices to all non-swimmers so they can float across. Unfortunately, the devices turn out to be too small for the larger members of the group, and they immediately begin to sink and have to scramble back to shore.

Obviously, this is a simplified and slightly tongue-in-cheek example, but imagine that you were in this same situation and applied a basic understanding of intersectionality! Instead of only considering singular dimensions of identity (swimmers and non-swimmers), you would have examined how everyone's swimming abilities interacted with other dimensions of identity like their size, need to carry small children on their backs, etc. You may have been able to solve the entire problem at once by providing larger floatation devices from the beginning.

Awesome 90's video games aside, one real-world example of how an intersectional lens can be applied to better understand a workplace challenge is around bullying. Anti-bullying initiatives have been on the rise in many companies, and research has demonstrated that intersectionality is an important consideration for any organization that hopes to reduce bullying in the workplace.

A 2018 study by Hollis showed that as an employee's intersectionality became more complex, they were more likely to experience workplace bullying. The impacts on employees with multiple marginalized identities were significant. For instance, Hollis found that because of workplace bullying, Black women faced unfair demotion, threats of job loss, or job changes due to bullying much more often than employees who were Black (but not women) or women (who were not Black). This intersectional understanding of the disparity matters because the unique situation employees in the study were experiencing at the intersection of gender and race could easily be missed if we were only looking at data related to singular identities of race or gender.

Take a moment to scroll back up to the Venn diagram at the beginning of this post, and consider different dimensions of your own complex, colorful identity. If you separated each circle (your gender identity, your culture(s), your caregiver status, etc.) into their own little self-contained spaces without any overlaps, what aspects of your experience in the world might be lost? When we learn to recognize our identities as a kaleidoscope of overlapping dimensions instead of as a collection of discrete parts, we gain access to more nuanced information about our opportunities and challenges at each intersection.

Part Two

Why does intersectionality matter for organizations?

"Society" isn't something that only exists in our time off, so the challenges, barriers, and social injustices people face at work are a reflection of those that exist in other parts of our lives. The difference is, while the systems that contribute to discrimination, invisibility, and other injustices in our lives may be more opaque and sprawling, the systems of our workplaces are microcosms with more defined boundaries and identifiable decision-makers at the controls.

With that higher level of power on the part of organizational leaders comes a greater responsibility for tackling the sources of oppression at work and creating organizational cultures where all employees are safe, welcome, connected, and able to advance. This is part of the reason why researchers in business, organizational development, and leadership have brought the conversation about intersectionality to bear on issues of power, privilege, and oppression at work in several ways. From increasing Employee Resource Group (ERG) engagement to analyzing upstream blockers for diverse talent pipelines, the lens of intersectionality can bring insights that leaders need in order to tackle the most critical issues impacting employee wellbeing, performance, and experience.

Avoid the perils of neglecting intersectionality

Neglecting intersectionality often leads to "unidentified needs, ignored values, unresolved conflicts, and unhelpful advice."
- Ryan and Briggs, 2019

Some of the research in this space has identified problems caused by the lack of an intersectional focus, including a 2019 study by Ryan and Briggs, who argue that neglecting intersectionality often leads to "unidentified needs, ignored values, unresolved conflicts, and unhelpful advice." Ryan and Briggs note that when organizational leaders talk about intersectionality in tandem with work-life balance, it leads to greater awareness, influencing the creation and implementation of more effective work-life balance policies.

In their 2019 analysis of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training at organizations including Google, Facebook, and Starbucks, researchers Steinfield et al. find that in cases where intersectionality is not considered, common DEI solutions often fail to create real change in the objective realities of workplace diversity. In one example, the researchers discuss the nearly ubiquitous expectation that minoritized employees (especially women) "lean in" to address workplace biases that impact them. Women are frequently presented with training around this expectation in order to adapt their behavior in response to the disproportionate challenges they face at work.

One of the problematic aspects of this approach to DEI training is that those challenges (in US corporations) are most often perpetuated by privileged white males who are not simultaneously trained to give up any of their inherent power. An additional problem the researchers discuss brings us back to intersectionality: since the idea of advising women to "lean in" is premised on the experiences of white women at work, the advice itself fails to grapple with the intersecting racial and cultural stereotypes applied to women of color. This ultimately leads to limited, if any, benefit of these DEI efforts for women who experience intersectional oppressions (Steinfield et al., 2019).

This example is just one illustration of how even good-faith DEI efforts can neglect the unique challenges and experiences of those at the intersection of multiple forms of oppression.

Recognize disparities in mental health (and countless other issues) at work

In addition to many organizations' desire to achieve goals like increasing diversity in the workforce or reducing workplace bias, many have also become aware of the importance of employees' mental health and the connections between mental health and diversity. In a recent HBR article, Greenwood and Anas share that their workplace mental health studies from both 2019 and 2021 showed that mental health challenges are "now the norm among employees across all organizational levels." One of the most significant business impacts they identify is increased attrition, especially among younger workers and historically underrepresented groups. An astonishing half of all respondents in their study have left work for mental health reasons, including issues caused by overwhelming and unsustainable work.

Examples of disproportionate impacts across multiple intersections of age, race, and sexuality abound in Greenwood and Anas' findings. Millennials, Gen Zers, caregivers, LGBTQ+, Black, and Latinx respondents were all significantly more likely to leave roles due to mental health issues. They also note that the pandemic has exacerbated many of these issues for employees at all levels, but especially for those who are multiply-oppressed. For example, Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) caregivers (often mothers) "have been hit especially hard by the trauma of systemic racism and violence" and "have faced school closures and the associated burnout" in addition to the overall mental health stresses of the past 19+ months (Greenwood & Anas, 2021).
Note: See part 1 for an example of disparities in bullying experiences for those who face multiple intersections of oppression.
Modernize ERG strategies

Young LGBTQ employees today are more diverse and are mobilizing for shared accountability and culture change. They are less likely to join an ERG to affirm their increasingly intersectional identities.
- Dupreelle et al., 2020

Research on intersectionality is also relevant to organizations that have embraced ERGs as DEI tools. For example, in a 2020 report on ERGs for LGBTQ employees, researchers Dupreelle et al. found that "young LGBTQ employees today are more diverse and are mobilizing for shared accountability and culture change. They are less likely to join an ERG to affirm their increasingly intersectional identities." They go on to describe a wide variety of meaningful intersections in the populations they studied, including: "their generation, caretaker status, and 'religiousness' (how important religion is to them). Other important identities are their managerial level, income, employment tenure, location, and immigration status" (Dupreelle et al., 2020). Without an awareness of intersectionality or an effort to build bridges between unidimensional identity groups, the trend of decreasing engagement with ERGs is likely to continue, to the detriment of organizations who have successfully empowered ERGs to impact both employees and the business.

Find new tools for discussing & addressing bias

Being exposed to the concept of intersectionality can also give employees new language and tools for sharing their own experiences and addressing issues of bias at work. Speaking about her experience leading a discussion for AAPI Heritage Month with her colleagues, Liza Boardman reflected on the value of intersectionality as a discussion tool: "By interrogating our own identities and recognizing places we hold or lack power, I feel that it began to introduce us to a new lens through which we can view our work holistically and inclusively" (Chen, 2021).

There is no question that effective DEI efforts are critical for organizations to be successful in a world of increasingly diverse workforces, changing social norms between generations, and large-scale, often unexpected, challenges to the status quo (pandemic, anyone?). It is also clear that most DEI solutions that have failed to account for intersectionality have not been particularly effective for achieving meaningful change in organizations. In fact, according to a 2017 McKinsey report, while "more than 75 percent of CEOs include gender equality in their top ten business priorities...gender outcomes across the largest companies are not changing."

Achieving the full potential of intersectionality to improve these outcomes in our organizations will require more than just awareness. Remember the Venn diagram we asked you to reflect on in Intersectionality: Part One? Take a moment to visualize one of those diagrams for each person who works inside of your organization. Whether you're visualizing seven sets of overlapping identities or 10,000 - the image in your mind's eye just got a lot more complex! So, it's no wonder that a single, blanket DEI approach can't quite hit the mark when it comes to effectively supporting each individual within an organization. It takes a much more dimensional approach, one that keeps the concept of intersectionality at the forefront.

Part Three

So, what can we do with this information?

Employees and organizational leaders at all levels can take a variety of actions to promote intersectional awareness, identify specific challenges faced at the intersections of different marginalized identities, and address inequities like those introduced in the first two parts of this series. At first, it may feel overwhelming to think of all of the things you could change in your organization by applying the lens of intersectionality to your work. So, instead of thinking about taking action through a complete and immediate overhaul, it can be helpful to think of this work as an ongoing and iterative process that requires everyone to cultivate a deeper understanding of the complexity of human experiences and needs.

To help you consider some of those iterative pathways forward for your own organization, we're going to break down some recommended actions from the intersectionality research into three groups: increasing awareness, finding and addressing inequities, and changing culture.

1) Increasing awareness

Dupreelle et al. argue that intersectionality should be central to all DEI efforts, including ERGs, which they believe can play a role in developing intersectional fluency in the workforce: "When crafting D&I strategy, organizations need to consider each of these identities and all the permutations of how they may overlap for an individual... [This approach] does not require creating countless subgroups for each possible intersection...Rather, D&I leaders and ERGs should equip their workforces with a fluency in intersectionality." That fluency can then be leveraged by ERG leaders to identify new opportunities for cross-ERG collaboration, new types of supportive programming to meet intersectional needs, and for using their influence to change policies and other practices that may be negatively impacting their members.

One way to begin building this kind of intersectional fluency is through learning & development programs. In their research into top companies' current DEI training efforts, Steinfield et al. found very few examples of intersectional awareness included in organizational training. As a result, they recommend "stretching diversity training to include understandings of more nuanced intersectional identity categories, and having conversations about privilege." Existing DEI-related programs could be adapted to include this type of content, and/or new programming could be developed to introduce the concept of intersectionality and help individuals explore ways to apply an intersectional lens to their work.

Based on their research into employee mental health, Greenwood and Anas also recommend increasing awareness and prioritizing transparent communication around employees' identities and related inequities. One way they suggest surfacing unseen inequities is by allowing employees to "discuss challenging social and political topics at work." An awareness of intersectionality can help organizations create safe spaces for these types of conversations, which could be facilitated by ERGs, incorporated into learning programs, or pursued through other channels depending on the ways employees commonly interact with one another in a given work environment.

2) Finding and addressing inequities

In a 2019 article focused on intersectionality and work-life balance, Ryan and Briggs demonstrate that "Unidentified needs of multiply-stigmatized groups can be brought to light with intersectional approaches to work-life research and practice." Basically, the researchers are proposing moving from an awareness of intersectionality as a concept to actually applying it as a framework in order to thoroughly investigate employee needs and experiences related to organizational policies, for instance.

If it seems intimidating to imagine creating policies that align with a nuanced understanding of employees' intersectional identities, Ryan and Briggs point out the reality that "most organizations already have a recognition of differential needs based on social categorization, such as providing senior employees with more support for eldercare responsibilities or single parents greater levels of flexibility." By applying an intersectional lens to our thinking about how policies and processes may be serving (or failing to serve) employees at the intersection of multiple identities, organizations can surface previously unidentified needs and make tweaks to policies and programs that build on the existing types of support available.

Greenwood and Anas return to ERGs as a mechanism for addressing inequities, recommending that employers can address the disparities around mental wellness by, in part, empowering employees to build workplace communities around this issue: "At the grassroots level, employees should be empowered to form mental health employee resource groups (ERGs) and other affinity groups." This type of grassroots empowerment can happen in parallel with changes at higher levels of organizational leadership as part of a comprehensive (top-down and bottom-up) strategy for improving DEI outcomes.

3) Changing culture

Ryan and Briggs argue that applying an intersectional lens to our work isn't only about calling greater attention to the needs of non-majority group members, but that "An intersectionality perspective highlights broader concerns about inclusive climates in organizations." The new perspective offered by intersectionality doesn't only highlight cultural concerns; it also helps achieve cultural goals. For instance, one of the common aspirations organizations have for their work culture is "authenticity," and the desire to create a more authentic culture is well-served by applying an understanding of intersectionality. According to Ryan and Briggs' research, "For individuals who feel they are categorized in ways that fail to reflect their identity, recognizing the unique needs and experiences of intersected identity groups indicates a more authentic workplace."

A 2017 study by Carberry and Meyers analyzed organizations in the Forbes "best places to work" list, and similar to Ryan and Briggs, these researchers also call attention to intersectionality's potential impact on culture. For example, they identify trust as the key metric that leads to companies being selected for the "best places to work" list and note that fairness and camaraderie are crucial components of trust-building. Based on that understanding, their article includes a call to action for managers: "Managers seeking to improve experiences of fairness and camaraderie should pay particular attention to how race/ethnicity and gender influence these experiences, and how they do so intersectionally."

At an even higher level, Steinfield et al. suggest that organizations should walk the talk when it comes to their DEI goals, ensuring, for example, that their panels, boards, and c-suites "reflect the diversity they wish to achieve." This kind of leadership modeling at the highest levels sets a strong example of dedication to diversity and inclusion for the entire organization, which makes it more likely that the kinds of positive changes to organizational policies, training, and other aspects of culture we've discussed so far will be prioritized throughout the company.

Part Four

You've reached the most important part of this series.

While it may be a tempting analogy, identifying intersections of injustice can't be represented as a simple addition problem. The unique contextual experiences of injustice that occur at a given intersection of identity can't be understood by simply adding up the injuries related to discrete aspects of those identities (e.g., race + gender + sexuality). As stated by Knights and Omanović in their 2016 meta-analysis of diversity management practices, "studies of intersectionality have shown clearly that disadvantage on one dimension (e.g., ethnicity) has multiple and not just incremental effects on the life chances of someone also disadvantaged on other dimensions such as age or gender."

This type of common misunderstanding is why we are calling part 4 "the most important part of the series"; the misunderstanding of intersectional experiences of injustice as additive vs. uniquely compounded is just one of the many pitfalls to be avoided when we adopt intersectionality into our workplace practices, and that's what this final installment in our series is focused on.

After reading four research-based, detailed posts on intersectionality and reflecting on your own experiences and practices, it would be easy to feel fairly well-versed in this concept, so it's important to stop and remember that we're really only scratching the surface here, folks! There is a huge body of research out there on this subject, and while we are happy to bring you this introduction to intersectionality at work, we all have to be cautious of the dangers of overconfidence in our adoption of the intersectional lens.

One of those dangers is the potential to exacerbate stereotypes through an "essentialist" understanding of identity. Ryan and Briggs note that, "One danger that can emerge in embracing an intersectionality lens is stereotyping those with a particular intersected identity...in seeking to recognize perspectives of ethnic minority women, the problem of stereotyping all individuals of an intersectional identity can also arise." To address this, Olson et al. (2013) suggested "examining cultural values rather than ethnicity," but this is just one mitigation strategy among many that may be valid depending on the particular intersections that exist within your own employee population.

Steinfield et al. echo the dangers of stereotyping and other dangers in their research, urging all of us to avoid losing sight of intersectionality's crucial relationship to social justice. When that connection is broken, they note that organizations may end up focusing on the headcount of specific demographic groups instead of on the larger systems that may be creating challenges for those groups. It's important to remember that the central focus of intersectionality research is to transform systems in order to achieve equity. As Steinfield et al. remind us, we should all keep the following three elements front-of-mind as we engage with intersectional work:

"i) a focus on oppressions or how people navigate oppressions

ii) the complex interactions of power dynamics and structures that create interlocking oppressions

iii) what needs to be transformed to achieve social justice"

What's next?

Let's wrap up by going back to where we began, with Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, whose advice on how to act on the information revealed through intersectionality remains crucial to anyone seeking to improve their workplaces through more effective DEI and anti-oppressive efforts. Rather than taking a "top-down approach to discrimination," Dr. Crenshaw reminds us that centering those who are most marginalized is the best way to improve conditions for everyone:

If...efforts instead began with addressing the needs and problems of those who are most disadvantaged and with restructuring and remaking the world where necessary, then others who are singularly disadvantaged would also benefit. (Crenshaw, 1989)

It's never a bad idea to end with some inspiration, so we'd highly recommend checking out our recent conversation with Coltrane Stansbury on topics including DEI, ERGs, and allyship. His advice for taking action as an ally to marginalized groups at work? Consider your sphere of influence as a starting point, and ask yourself: "Who are the people that I'm interacting with every day?... What could they possibly be experiencing that I am not?... How do I, as an ally, become aware of what their challenge and their pain is, and how do I do that in a way that doesn't rob the person of their dignity, their voice or their self-empowerment?"

The allyship initiative Coltrane talks about in this conversation is a great example of the type of work that is necessary to, in his words, "operationalize awareness" in an organization. He explains that DEI work is an "area where we really have to slow the organization down and create real intimate spaces. This work can't solely be done through 45 minute modules with a discussion group afterword or pre-work." Instead, the work is all about building relationships, and change often starts small, even with just a couple of people partnering to try to do more for their colleagues.

In Coltrane's experience, "It starts with two people deciding they have none of the answers in their head, but through vulnerability, transparency, and a framework of intimacy where people can share, we are going to start building a content driven conversation that gets to an empowerment model where a few people can start empowering others."

In a conversation about this intersectionality blog series, Coltrane offered some additional insights for anyone engaging in allyship work, and it comes down to this: Allyship isn't charity and should not be looked at as altruism. It is work that we are each responsible for and that benefits all of us. One way to keep that framing front-of-mind is to begin with the type of activity we asked you to try at the start of this series: by reflecting on the questions, "Who am I?" and "How did I get here?" Through reflecting on your own identities, experiences, traumas, supports, and obstacles, you'll be more equipped to find commonalities with your colleagues vs. only differences, and you'll be able to tap into the collective humanity and empathy necessary for effective intersectional work. Starting with empathy and an understanding that "my liberation is tied up in yours" is critical, and engaging with your colleagues as an ally should change you as much as it changes those you seek to better understand and support.

More Info

See the original series on the Cultivate blog: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Sources & Related Reading

Advancing African-American Women in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know. (2004). Catalyst. https://www.catalyst.org/research/advancing-african-american-women-in-the-workplace-what-managers-need-to-know/

Anti-oppression. (n.d.). Canadian Council for Refugees. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://ccrweb.ca/en/anti-oppression

Barton, D., & Yee, L. (2017). Time for a new gender-equality playbook. McKinsey. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/time-for-a-new-gender-equality-playbook

Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies. (n.d.). Columbia Law School. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://intersectionality.law.columbia.edu/

Chen, W. (2021, May 28). Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month at ECOSS. ECOSS. https://ecoss.org/aapi-heritage-month-intersectionality/

Crenshaw, K. (2016). The Urgency of Intersectionality. https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality

Duckworth, S. (2020a). Intersectionality. https://www.instagram.com/p/CDrJDbHBdaw/

Duckworth, S. (2020b). Types of privilege in our society. https://www.instagram.com/p/CDl41gIhCyI/

Duckworth, S. (2020c). Wheel of Power/Privilege. https://www.instagram.com/p/CEFiUShhpUT/

Greenwood, K., & Anas, J. (2021, October 4). It's a New Era for Mental Health at Work. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/10/its-a-new-era-for-mental-health-at-work

Hankivsky, O. (2014). Intersectionality 101. Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy. http://vawforum-cwr.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/intersectionallity_101.pdf

Martin, L. (2021, July 15). Intersectionality: Considering Identity When Working Towards a More Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Future. The Scholarly Kitchen. https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2021/07/15/guest-post-intersectionality-considering-identity-when-working-towards-a-more-diverse-equitable-and-inclusive-future/

Northwestern University. (2016). Diversity Wheel. https://www.ncu.edu/about-ncu/diversity/diversity-wheel

Ramos, C., & Brassel, S. (2020). Intersectionality: When Identities Converge. Catalyst. https://www.catalyst.org/research/intersectionality-when-identities-converge/

Simpson, J. (2009). Everyone Belongs: A toolkit for applying intersectionality. CRIAW - ICREF. http://also-chicago.org/also_site/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Everyone_Belongs-A-toolkit-for-applying-intersectionality.pdf

Smith, D., Frey, N., Pumpian, I., & Fisher, D. (2017). Building Equity: Policies and Practices to Empower All Learners. ASCD.

YMCA. (n.d.). Dimensions of Diversity Wheel. Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://www.ymcasf.org/sites/default/files/pictures/dimensions_of_diversity_glossary.pdf

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Intersectionality affects every aspect of our lives both within and beyond the realm of work, but it's not always considered as a framework for meaningful change within organizations. In this series, we'll walk you through some of the basics of intersectionality: What is it? Why does it matter for organizations?

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"That feeling of panic and the need to explain ourselves— where does that come from? I contend that it’s from the cognitive dissonance between our impact (racist words, actions, systems) and our perceived intent (non-racist or anti-racist)."

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Watch to learn about the history of racist tropes.

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Through our work with EJIC, MTA identified its organization at number 3. Symbolic Change, A Compliance Organization that is currently moving into number 4. Identity Change, An Affirming Institution. We hope organizational leaders will use this continuum to assess their own organizations.

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Continue learning about and practicing looking with an EDI lens. Bookmark this page to return and/or save/share the image above with our shortcut link to this Padlet - tinyURL.com/mtaEDIwork

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MTA's EDI committee members worked with Equity and Justice for Institutional Change to draft a blueprint for our continuing work. This process was enlightening and powerful, and we are thankful for the experience, framework, and direction these sessions provided.

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No Dream Deferred

presents

What Is EJIC?

Equity and Justice for Institutional Change [EJIC] is a service of No Dream Deferred NOLA that provides tools, resources, and training to support organizations and institutions who are wanting to cultivate meaningful shifts within their organizational culture as well as Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion analysis. We bring institutions from awareness to action through a lens of dismantling white supremacy and systemic racism.

We believe that organizations and institutions have the distinct responsibility to serve as change agents and treasured community assets by leading the process of deconstructing borders and barriers to understanding across difference and modeling systems that promote equity and inclusion for historically marginalized people. No Dream Deferred is here to help.

Ways we work with Organizations & Institutions:

Board meetings

Staff retreats

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We are proud of the progress our collaborators have made.
Past clients include WILMA, VOTE, Tulane's Summer Lyric Theater, and many more.

​

For more information about EJIC or to schedule a consultation, please email ejic@nodreamdeferrednola.com

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No Dream Deferred presents What Is EJIC? Equity and Justice for Institutional Change [EJIC] is a service of No Dream Deferred NOLA that provides tools, resources, and training to support organizations and institutions who are wanting to cultivate meaningful shifts within their organizational culture as well as Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion analysis.

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Click here to assess your own theatre practices through an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens. Your answers are private , and you will receive a copy of your answers.

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Answer the questions below to reflect on your own processes through an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens. All information given is private and will not be released outside of the MTA EDI committee. A copy of your answers will be sent to the email provided. We recommend returning to these quest…

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Do you know the names of the Indigenous People whose land you currently occupy?

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Mapping

We strive to map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages across the world in a way that goes beyond colonial ways of thinking in order to better represent how Indigenous people want to see themselves.

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Quoted from "EJIC"
Group Agreements:

• Try to listen for understanding, not in order to debate.
• Ask clarifying questions if something is not clear.
• Agree to disagree, but please do not disengage.
• Maintain confidentiality, what is said here stays here,
what is learned here may leave.
• Allow everyone to speak for themselves, not on behalf of
the entire group.
• Challenge yourself and your perceived right to be
comfortable.
• Recognize natural or imposed power dynamics and
imbalances.
• Acknowledge if you said something that was hurtful or
insensitive to someone else.
• Acknowledge that communication differences may
be cultural [or may not be] so your discomfort with a
communication style is not an excuse to disengage.
• Make Space/ Take Space- Ask yourself W.A.I.T. ( Why
am I talking?/ Why aren’t I talking?)