5 Things / Micro Inclusion
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This week I was a panelist at an internal event hosted by one of my clients. I arrived early and caught the previous fireside chat with the CEO, during which one of the employees in the audience encouraged everyone in the room to say something to every single person they make eye contact with on a daily basis.
People in the hallway, in the elevator, waiting in line… Saying something doesn’t have to be long or complicated. It can be a simple “hi” – a micro act of inclusion. If this isn’t the norm at your workplace, and I bet it might not be, consider what it would have been like your first week at work if everyone you made eye contact actually said something. What would the impact have been on your day last Friday? Imagine how this can help create a culture of belonging.
I’ll admit I can be very guilty of finding distractions on my phone – sometimes specifically to avoid eye contact and interaction! I also I know that I crave connection and those micro acts of inclusion give me a mini oxytocin hit. And the cool thing is, I have control over it. It can start with me. It can start with you.
This Week's Good Vibes:
A Navy Ship Named for a Confederate Victory Now Honors a Black Union Hero
The U.S. Navy renamed a supply ship previously named after a Confederate victory to honor a black Union hero, Robert Smalls. The ship is now the USNS Robert Smalls, named after the former enslaved person who commandeered a Confederate vessel to escape slavery and later became a U.S. congressman. While there are still military bases and warships that honor the Confederacy within the U.S. military, the renaming reflects a shift in how the U.S. military is reckoning with its past.
Alaska Airlines’ First Class Gets Upgrade With Black Sisters’ Wine
Alaska Airlines has partnered with a Black-owned winery, McBride Sisters Wine Company, the largest Black-owned winery in the country, to offer their wines on flights. What I love about this is that it expands the brand recognition of this winery and will hopefully put pressure on other airlines to do the same. One of the most significant things any company can do to increase equity and reduce the racial wealth gap is to do business with businesses owned by historically marginalized people.
Disability Activists Grace Cover Of British Vogue
British Vogue is promoting inclusion in the fashion industry by featuring disability activists on the cover of their May issue. The issue, titled "Reframing Fashion", will feature 19 different people with disabilities throughout the magazine. Sinéad Burke, one of the cover stars, owns a consultancy called “Tilting the Lens” and worked with British Vogue on the issue and other accessible updates like alt text on the website and social media, and improved audio description in videos. This promotes the “normalization” of people with disabilities in fashion and matters to the 20-25% of people who have a disability and seldom see themselves represented in media, especially in fashion media.
Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule Boosted LGBTQ Policies
Nasdaq's new board diversity rule, which requires companies listed on the exchange to have at least one woman director and one director from an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+ community, led to a 1,556% increase in LGBTQ+ inclusive board diversity policies – in one year. The number of Fortune 500 board seats held by LGBTQ+ individuals also rose from 26 to 39…a tiny fragment of what it should be, but we celebrate progress here in 5 Things! The board diversity rule can have a profound ripple effect, benefiting not only LGBTQ+ employees but also shareholders and customers. Corporate support matters greatly as the community is increasingly under attack from conservative politicians.
Beaches Resorts Grows Program For Guests On The Spectrum
The employees at each of Beaches’ three Caribbean resorts have received specific training from IBCCES, making them all Advanced Certified Autism Centers. Beaches is the first all-inclusive resort to do this, and the first in the Caribbean to offer advanced autism-friendly kids camps. The resorts now also have sensory guides which rate each public area within each resort on a scale of 1-10, depending on how sensory stimulating the spaces are. This matters because it demonstrates the importance of accommodating and supporting individuals with autism and their families in the hospitality industry.
This Week’s Call to Action:
If you don’t already get Karen Catlin’s fantastic 5 Ally Actions newsletter each Friday morning, I’d encourage you to subscribe. It’s an excellent summary of bite-sized actions (with concrete examples) that we ALL take to promote inclusion at work.
Watch here: