Organizations, institutions, and businesses have become increasingly global. Building meaningful partnerships and relationships with people who may speak a different language, celebrate different holidays, or have different ideologies can not only help us thrive but help us build diverse and inclusive communities. As the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Success at North Carolina Central, Ontario Wooden understands how impactful diversity and inclusion can be to resiliency. Passionate about helping low income and first-generation college students, Ontario Wooden wants to start a conversation about diversity and inclusion as a response to the current social climate.

Defining Diversity

Diversity and inclusion are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but Ontario Wooden stresses the importance of defining them individually. Diversity refers to the individuals in a space — who are recruited, hired, attending, involved, etc. Diversity is a range of traits and experience’s in an organization or institution. These characteristics include race, gender, physical ability, religion, age, socioeconomic status and others. Inclusion, on the other hand, refers to how people feel in a space. While individuals at an organization or institution may be diverse, they may not feel welcome, valued, or safe. Ontario Wooden explains that true inclusion should make people feel valued, respected, accepted, and encouraged. …