 Note: Deborah Hudson, my fellow IABCLA board member, wrote this overview of our chapter’s first DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion) seminar on August 5 for our group's blog. I'm the vice president/president-elect, and I often post news of IABCLA happenings. With Farida Habeeb’s provocative blog entry, “Time to do the (Internal) Work,” IABCLA announced our focus campaign on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) as a call to learning and action. On August 5, we launched the campaign with a webinar, “The Race is On: Talking about Identity in the Corporate Workplace.” Joining DE&I expert Farida Habeeb, Ph.D was Beverly Durham, principal of BLD Communications and member of the Los Angeles Diversity Council Advisory Board of ColorComm, a business community for women of color in communications. The time is now After briefly reviewing the current reckoning on unequal justice in social and professional life, the leaders called for communicators to lead brave conversations on diversity. They reminded participants of the powerful business case for diversity as a driver of performance. They also pointed out that the clock is ticking down on diversity – as the U.S. moves to a majority minority nation in 2045. Cultural terms and identifiers The webinars explored cultural identifiers, our overlapping visible and invisible identities – who we are in terms of age, disability, sex, gender, class, race, religion, nationality, education and more – that define us and control how we see the world. To prepare for and build effective community, we have to lead conversations that honors and bridges these identities. With an interactive small group exercise, where each participant built a 360-degree identity wheel based on personal identifiers and their relative weight, we explored how our multiple identities overlap, in some cases leaving people vulnerable to multiple levels of discrimination. Conversations in color At this inflection point, how do we as communications professionals start and advance conversation about identity with customers, employees and corporate leaders? Based on their experience and expertise, Beverly Durham and Faridah Habeeb left us with practical tips for leading the conversation about DE&I. With employees:
With customers:
This is just the first of IABCLA’s programs to meet the day’s challenge of DE&I. If you have a suggestion for a webinar or panel discussion, let us know. Reach out to IABCLA’s president at president@iabcla.com.
IABC says: We see you. We hear you. We are with you. IABCLA adds: Let’s get together and have conversations that matter.
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 Thank you to Jeff Willinger for hosting IABCLA’s Happy Hour on July 30! Jeff led an energetic conversation on managing online teams.
The chapter is committed to helping communications professionals stay connected and build their careers during these challenging times. The group will continue to host online events in the weeks and months to come, including additional happy hours. Please stay up to date on happenings by visiting the organization’s website — IABCLA.com — and by following the group on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. (Note: I’m IABCLA's vice president/president-elect, and I often post updates on chapter happenings.)
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AuthorI'm Eli Natinsky and I'm a communicator. This blog explores my work and professional interests. I also delve into other topics, including media, marketing, pop culture, and technology. Archives
September 2020
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