Communication Style that promotes diversity & inclusion

Charlotte Ashlock Posted by Charlotte Ashlock, Executive Editor, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.

Charlotte Ashlock is a crazy idealist trying to make the world a better place! 


At BK's diversity committee meeting, different staff members volunteered to take leadership on different "Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks.

At BK's diversity committee meeting, different staff members volunteered to take leadership on different "Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks."   I volunteered to steward the following benchmark:

D&I Communications:  Describes how D&I is articulated, promoted, and embedded into the organization’s internal and external communication strategy.

Steps I have thought of taking:

  • Try to decrease the amount of jargon and academic terminology on our website
  • Draw more diverse traffic to the website by posting materials & videos from different cultures.  (For example, I love Spoken Word poetry, and I think videos of Spoken Word performances that address the same themes as our books would be really interesting things to have on our website.)
  • Reading Linda Stout's book Bridging the Class Divide for ideas on how to communicate more inclusively.  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1107925.Bridging_the_Class_Divide.   I feel like we are focusing overly on race as the most visible sign of diversity, when really class is the bigger issue in terms of inclusiveness.   A lot of the "diverse" authors we trumpet are middle-class or wealthy.  We have a bit of racial diversity but almost no class diversity.

This is just initial brainstorming.  Please offer reactions to my ideas and any additional ideas you have, particularly recommended reading.