DEI Toolkit

Organizations need tools and resources to help them communicate with their colleagues, their supervisors and organization leadership, their volunteers, and their visitors and patrons about diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, antiracism, and justice (DEI).

Organizations must determine the audience for each communication they produce and tailor that communication to meet the needs of the intended or desired audience. Is the communication for an internal or external audience? Is the internal communication for frontline staff interacting with the public or is it for the organization’s Board or Advisory Committee? Is the external communication for Pre K-12 educators or for parents and caregivers of teens?

It is important that the audience for the communication will understand and internalize the message you are conveying. When considering communications about DEI consider:

• What does my audience already know about this?
• How do they talk and think about this topic?
• What is our common vocabulary?
• What assumptions am I making about this audience?
• What are the barriers or challenges I might face?
• What are the supports and interests in the community that can make this more successful?
• How will our organization respond to positive and negative feedback about this communication?

Preparing ourselves and our organizations to create and respond to meaningful communications is an important step to invite difficult but meaningful conversations.

Accessible by Design. Retrieved from: https://accessible-communications.com/

North Carolina Office on Disability and Health. (2002). Removing Barriers: Tips and Strategies to Promote Accessible Communications. Retrieved from: https://fpg.unc.edu/sites/fpg.unc.edu/files/resources/other- resources/NCODH_PromoteAccessibleCommunication.pdf

University of Oxford. Accessible Communication. Retrieved by: https://academic.admin.ox.ac.uk/accessible-communication#:~:text=INTRODUCTION,all%20users%20have%20equal%20access.