The University of Michigan defined Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as the following:
General diversity broadly covers race and ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, (dis)ability status, and political perspective. We understand this as ensuring that all people are being properly represented within an organization and the organization is committed to a diverse environment that reflects our diverse nation.
General equity broadly covers race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status. We understand equity, as it depends on every person being represented, is being treated fairly and having access and availability to all the same opportunities across organizations.
General inclusion is broadly defined as differences being welcomed, different perspectives are respectfully heard and every individual feels a sense of belonging and inclusion. We understand inclusion as creating workplace environments that are built on healthy relationships among all the members of the organization no matter what their differences may be.
Our advocacy in the diversity, equity, and inclusion area comes from the realization that we must intentionally focus firms on pushing for corporations to achieve DE&I numbers and policies as it relates to their Black and African American employees specifically. With such broad job descriptions to handle, it subsequently requires robust and exceptionally diverse DE&I departments within major corporations to properly tackle all these issues. The notion of hiring one DE&I executive, or Chief Diversity Officer and tasking them with tackling national diversity numbers across 18 different basic factors points to a lack of serious commitment in achieving true diversity, equity, and inclusion.
We offer and advocate for a specific and intentional focus within a company’s current and future DE&I policies and initiatives on Black and African American employee interests. We believe this is necessary to have successful, effective, and efficient diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environments.
