Gathering to Connect Equity Facilitators & Consultants
Over the course of the significant barriers from the pandemic and the racial awakening resulting from the murder of George Floyd, co-founders Nadia DuBose and Susan McCormack became really clear about the trajectory of The Creative Discourse Group’s associate team approach to providing community and equity building services. At the same time, Nadia, Sue, and many associates and colleagues in equity work were being faced with many inequities in Request For Proposal (RFP) processes. RFP processes demand an exorbitant amount of unpaid labor and position power dynamics in favor of the people with the most power and privilege within an organization, continuing to perpetuate white supremacy and white comfort in organizational change work.
Nadia and Sue invited Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) facilitators and consultants to connect and discuss the landscape of DEIB work. In June 2022, several TCDG associates gathered together with colleagues from Abundant Sun, CQ Strategies, EJH Futures, EmpowR Transformation, NuWave, The Vermont State Office for Racial Equity, and a few independent consultants.
Facilitated by Nadia, the gathering gave everyone in attendance the opportunity to get to know each other and dialogue about what folks are seeing in the DEIB landscape in Vermont. Both opportunities and capacity challenges were addressed which invited deeper conversation about how to support each other and build coalition in DEIB work. Many ideas and perspectives were generated and centered around a common theme to strengthen relationships, association, and support with one another. Everyone recognized the need to build capacity and opportunity for DEIB facilitators and consultants to share language, practices, and learning that can collectively influence the trajectory of this emerging industry in Vermont. And doing so in a way that does not perpetuate the existing power structures of organizations and institutions.
Several participants from the DEIB gathering are planning for ways to continue and expand this conversation. A mapping project to collect data about people working on DEIB efforts and organizations in Vermont may provide additional information to support coalition building in equity work. The mapping project is being conducted by The Vermont State Office for Racial Equity and is being facilitated by Shalini Suryanarayana, also a TCDG associate.
