From leaving the workforce to homeschooling kids during shelter in place, to pay inequities, to the great resignation, to formula shortages to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, it’s not far fetched to arrive (quickly) at the conclusion that women are just done. We are just done. Recent conversations surrounding inclusive communications about reproductive rights, though, raise an important lesson:

Women as well as experiences of gender outside of the binary are also capable of reproduction. Do your communications highlight only the reproductive rights of women? I commend you for speaking up on an important topic, and centering the experience of a population not always represented, I also want to encourage you not to (inadvertently) miss representing the wide variety of other identities also impacted by recent events. Women, non-binary folks and transgender men are all impacted by Roe overturned.

This is another way we can be inclusive by designing a sense and a space of belonging in our workplaces. 

July 14th is International Non-Binary People’s Day — a day to raise awareness about the challenges faced by non-binary people. By definition, the non-binary community is rich in diversity. DEI asks us to learn that others are having different experiences than we are. Take this opportunity to learn how non-binary people and their families have been impacted by the threat to reproductive rights.

PS: I’ve spoken to many women, in particular, who are upset that their organization didn’t say something when Roe was overturned or since and are considering leaving because they don’t want to work for a company that wouldn’t say and do something. Many communicators have said their drafts got stalled or denied at the leadership level. We have to figure this out. That’s why we have this community. Let’s keep going.

To conscious communication,

Kim

Belonging is a popular term within DEI efforts. Sometimes we miss the opportunity to see that it’s an outcome that involves a sense, as well as a space, to get to that outcome. Janet M. Stovall explains more in this video.

• What is PINK tax and what can we do about it?
• DEI Communications must be in processes, systems, and practices or else it will give the “illusion of inclusion.”

What is non-binary?

Definition Non-binary: a gender identity which falls outside of the gender binary, meaning an individual does not identify as strictly female or male. A non-binary person can identify as both or neither male and female, or sometimes one or the other. There are several other terms used to describe gender identities outside of the male and female binary such as genderqueer, gender nonconforming, agender, and bigender. Though these terms have slightly different meanings, they refer to an experience of gender outside of the binary.

Learn more about the non-binary community and inclusive language that benefits non-binary folks and beyond with this guide from Out & Equal Workplace Advocates: https://outandequal.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/OE-Non-Binary-Best-Practices.pdf

I write custom Inclusive Language Guides for organizations that include definitions, microaggressions, inclusive alternatives, what to do when we mess up and so much more. Book time with me for more information.

Coming at the end of July:

Live webinar with my teacher and mentor, Rev. Dr. Deborah L. Johnson. We’ll talk about key mistakes we’re making in DEI and how to uplevel our communications so that we take the opportunity that pain has been pushing so we can get pulled by vision. Stay tuned for date and time.

Save the date: Free webinar on Aug 24th

The practice of DEI Kim will be partnering with a DEI practitioner focused on strategy and assessment to offer the marketing and communications lens to the practice of DEI.

As you know, we are teaming up to co-author a book called The Conscious Communicator: The fine art of not saying stupid sh*t. It’s now available for pre-order.

It’s a guide for organizational communicators to help their communications have more DEPTH to avoid being performative and generating employee and social media backlash. D.E.P.T.H. is a 5-step model to ensure messaging and content are meaningfully and intentionally created through a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) lens. 

We bundle your pre-order of our book with a free live Zoom session with us on the last Thursday of each month.

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