To scale social impact, focus on belonging
“And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.” — Amanda Gorman
What stands before us is the task of unravelling the harm caused by discrimination, disenfranchisement and oppression in the world. And inside our workplaces, since these are the spaces in which we spend a significant portion of our time. What stands before us is the call to change the way we work, such that every human can feel that their voice is heard and matters, and their authentic expression is welcome and valued.
The lens of belonging moves us past the fragmented ways in which we are currently thinking of and acting for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. By focusing on co-creating belonging, we can ensure the scaling of the impact of our social justice efforts in the workplace and the world.
Especially in Europe, what we see most often is fragmentation and siloing of efforts to further the inclusion of a specific sub-set of humans:
- Women in Leadership
- Women in Tech
- LGBTQ+ Inclusion
- BIPoC inclusion
- Disability advocacy
… you name it
Worse still, single issues seem to be the only ones to gain traction, without a clear strategy or larger picture behind them.
- Recruiting more “diverse talent” (who is diverse talent?!)
- Rolling out “Unconscious Bias” training, in the hope that they will magically alleviate everything wrong in the workplace
Focusing on co-creating belonging with and for all humans that make up your space allows for a more integrated, holistic lens and an acceleration of the impact you are making. That includes fostering belonging with the people working within your company — down to the cleaning staff, the folx delivering your lunches, and the technicians maintaining your infrastructure.
But also those working throughout your supply chain.
And the customers who end up using your products.
(→ Read on: A Practical Guide to Inclusive Research)
This does not mean abandoning those most vulnerable and most often targeted by inequality and oppression. On the contrary. Because more often than not, the mechanisms of othering and exclusion work in similar ways. Keeping folx who are not part of the dominant culture from accessing resources, positions of power, and — worse case — human dignity and respect.
(→ See our Glossary if you are unfamiliar with the definitions in italics.)
If we want to be able to make significant progress towards truly equitable social change, we cannot afford to fragment our efforts in the way that we’ve been doing.
We cannot afford to focus on the advancement of (cisgender) women while telling trans — & non-binary individuals to take a back seat and wait their turn until women’s equality has been achieved.
We cannot ask Indigenous peoples to continue experiencing oppression, exclusion, and annihilation until every White person has gotten a chance to own land or find financial freedom.
We cannot focus our business efforts on hyper-growth and exploitation of land and workers until the ecological systems of our planet have moved well and truly past the tipping point.
(This list is obviously not exhaustive. But I think you get my point.)
Our paths to liberation are interwoven.
With a lens on belonging, we can still address the mechanisms of othering that are keeping so many of us from truly and equitably participating in every part of society. In fact, we can do so more because we are combining our efforts rather than fighting in our separate silos.
Let us focus on combatting all forms of oppression and othering; Every barrier to belonging. With a larger, more expansive view. A view that allows every human being in all their diversity to show up and be part of the solution.
We cannot afford to continue the way that we’ve been going.
This task needs all of us. This dying planet needs all of us. We need all of us.
And we need each other.
