Dear All,
We are writing to you in acknowledgement of the current pushback against Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives. It’s important that we stand together and reaffirm their importance.
As an equalities-led organisation working in this area for over 12 years, it is imperative that we acknowledge both the direction of the discourse and environment of the present moment. While the loudest of the negative discourse might be stemming from the US, we too are seeing an impact on our work in the UK.
What we are consistently finding when drilling down into the content of the backlash, is that most – if not all – of it is rooted in misinformation about what genuine EDI initiatives are, and what they are designed to do.
To challenge this misinformation and foster constructive, authentic conversations about inclusion, it is essential that the space needed to facilitate those conversations is not lost or defunded to the point of non-existence. There is an urgency to act now to protect these platforms and uplift these voices.
We invite you to stand with us in solidarity to publicly and loudly acknowledge the importance of inclusion initiatives, while taking action to put your support behind them. EDI is for and about everyone; it is core to the wellbeing of individuals and organisations.
We applaud organisations who’ve made public statements standing behind their EDI initiatives and encourage you to do so if you have not already. Not only is it the right thing to do, but, as research has shown time and time again, it is a good thing for business too.
Our mission is to influence social change to create a safer and fairer society, ensuring social justice prevails and human rights remain protected. Never has it been so critical a time as right now. Our work is about investing directly in communities through our work with organisations and community engagement. We work in partnership with aligned companies to deliver our equalities-led work. Working with us directly is one way of empowering and promoting inclusion. If you’re interested in our training, consultancy and partnership opportunities, or supporting us with a donation, please get in touch and take action today.
Thank you for your support.
Berkeley Wilde, CEO
and The Diversity Trust Team