The 3 C’s to creating ongoing—and meaningful—DE&I events

Whenever the topic of cultural moments comes up in conversations with clients, inevitably, the conversation veers into one of two directions:

Often, communicators will spend the most energy on “what” to do for Black History Month or Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month. Rarely do we stop and have the conversation on “why” we need to acknowledge Asian Heritage Month or Pride Month.

The root of performative communications and cultural moments is the “why” question going unanswered. It makes sense because it’s a harder and more introspective conversation that needs to happen. So, we tend to opt for the “what” we do and call it a day… or month.

Here are a few things to consider as you schedule the work session with your Employee Resource Group (ERG) leads, DE&I team members/council and communications team:

Then, follow the lead of the community, and collaborate on the content they recommend. These moments are about them, and they must take the lead in what the content should cover. Communicators are the support teams, the ones who own the channels and can help the community share the content and engage colleagues to drive education, awareness and action.