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- Trans allyship during Pride, building religious inclusion at work, and how the NFL is addressing anti-DEI attacks.
Trans allyship during Pride, building religious inclusion at work, and how the NFL is addressing anti-DEI attacks.
Plus – how language around DEI is shifting in education.
Nicole Cardoza
June 04, 2024
Work Weekly No. 93
Trans allyship during Pride, building religious inclusion at work, and how the NFL is addressing anti-DEI attacks.
Happy Tuesday and welcome back. Here at Reclamation Ventures (the parent company to Anti-Racism Daily, Banned Books Book Club, and Learn – our learning and development platform), it’s the busiest month we’ve ever had.
Between our robust series of workshops, work with clients old and new, and a couple of new projects launching, our team has our hands full. How about you? Reply to this email with something that’s bringing you fulfillment in your work.
Today’s newsletter highlights the role of the conflict in interpersonal tension, offers insight into how executives are responding to the backlash, and provides tools for building more equitable spaces.
In case you missed it, review our recommendations for honoring Juneteenth later this month.
Any other sessions you’d like to see, or topics you’re curious about learning? Let me know by replying to this email or any email with your thoughts.
Take care,
Nicole
 | Nicole Cardoza |
GUIDE
How to foster religious inclusion in the workplace.
“When we create space for religious diversity to thrive, we invite employees to bring their full selves to work. Further, we create important space for employees to connect their work life to a broader sense of purpose and belonging.”
From building an interreligious holiday calendar to curating the space, read how you can create more meaningful and intentional spaces for employees of all religious backgrounds.
This article was written by Ciarra Jones, who will lead our Religious Inclusion at Work workshop later this month!
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
NEW: Trans Allyship 101
Photo of an employee with short hair and a checkered blazer typing on a computer. Photo Source: Allgo on Unsplash.
Tuesday, June 18 | 3-5p EST
Join us for this two-hour training on tangible steps to creating more inclusive spaces for trans people, whether it’s your workplace, classroom, or community organization.
In this workshop, we will:
Create shared language to discuss trans issues
Discuss key terminology used to discuss trans rights
Review the latest on anti-trans legislation and other political and social threats to trans lives
Outline actionable ways to build inclusivity in your workplace or community space
Share tangible ways you can be a trans ally as an individual or organization
Other Upcoming Sessions
 | Power and Privilege in the Workplace |
 | Effective Facilitation Series |
 | Decenter Whiteness |
 | The Power of Neurodiversity |
IN THE NEWS
A photo of a football sitting on a football field. Photo by Dave Adamson on Unsplash
The NFL is juggling anti-DEI attacks. Here’s how the league aims to honor their commitments. The NFL, whose games have been a platform for protest against racism, says it remains committed to DEI programs despite being tested by political backlash. USA Today >
Caterpillar to pay $800K discrimination settlement. The U.S. Department of Labor found the manufacturer discriminated against 60 Black applicants who applied for fabrication specialist and welder roles. HR Dive >
He made a PowerPoint on mothers starving in Gaza. Then he lost his government job. A senior USAID adviser said he was pressured to resign days after the agency censored his presentation. The Intercept >
Ohio court dismissed an anti-DEI lawsuit against Hello Alice. An Ohio judge has dismissed a case against one of Hello Alice's grant programs for Black entrepreneurs. The company's co-founder calls it a victory for small businesses. Inc >
Read an interview with the founder about the drama. Fortune >
“Palestine led my coworkers and me to unionize.” A barista shares how censorship around the conflict led them and their colleagues to unionize. Jacobin >
How nine leaders think about diversity, equity, and inclusion in their schools. District and school leaders share their take on DEI and what it means for all students to experience inclusion and belonging. EdWeek >
Harvard eliminates DEI requirement for some tenure-track professors. Harvard University's largest faculty division on Monday announced it would no longer require applicants for tenure-track positions to submit DEI statements.
How to communicate your organization’s corporate strategy. This three-step approach is likely helpful in most scenarios, but especially resonant with implementing policies for our collective wellbeing. Harvard Business Review >
Leading with Equity: In conversation with Viva Asmelash
Viva! So lovely to have you here. Let’s start off learning a bit more about your work.
I'm most passionate about helping our clients find concrete ways to incorporate equitable and inclusive practices into their work lives. That’s why I co-founded Liberation Labs with my friend and business partner, Michael Gregor.
This work is often challenging to sustain within organizations because leaders aren't aligned on the needs and struggle to see the relationship to their daily work. We help them integrate equitable and inclusive principles at the outset of internal efforts like manager training and development, employee onboarding, retreats and employee engagement, and org-wide strategic planning. This aids leaders in seeing the connection out of the gate, versus viewing equity as an afterthought or "pet project" of a select few.
Our work most often also includes beginning-to-end design and delivery of high-impact experiences, either in person or virtually. Ideally, clients work with us alongside their broader internal DEI and antiracism journeys.
It’s such a powerful practice, and I love the name! How does your lived experience inform your work, if at all?
As a first-generation Eritrean American, I leverage a unique, lifelong perspective on race, gender, culture, belonging, privilege, and education access. I'm the youngest of four siblings, and the ONLY one born in the United States. The intersection of being both Black and from an immigrant family shapes my lens on everything! I've also had the unique responsibility of supporting multiple immediate family members on health journeys, which has illuminated the dire need for antiracism work in our healthcare and legal systems. It's what's led me to become an active mental health advocate and former member of the Sacramento County Mental Health Board.
It’s clear that wellness and wellbeing is deeply ingrained in your current work, too. What hopes do you have for the future of our industry?
My hope is that we can stay focused on the big picture; that we can remind each other and ourselves that, at the end of the day, we are just trying to make our purported values (whether those are personal values, org values, etc) more true for more people—ideally, for everyone, right? I also believe that we are closer to liberation than we think we are, which is why we are seeing the type of pushback we are. When we stay focused and lean on each other for inspiration and concrete support, we show naysayers we can't be deterred. I'm like the world's oldest millennial so I also have so much hope and anticipation for what Gen Z is about to do! I'm watching closely as they come even more into their own as adults, and gain greater organizational power within the workplace.
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