How to know when Diversity and Inclusion is working

In November 2019, I attended an event outside London called BaseCamp. At this event, attended by around 100 people from a number of countries, we each selected a group to work within where we would focus on a particular global issue. I chose to be part of the group (facilitated by my friend Kay Scorah, who can hear as a past guest on WhatComesNextLive here ). Our group focussed on Diversity and Inclusion.

It was a wonderful two days, within which the most powerful part was towards the start. We spent quite some time seeking to agree on the definition of the words Diversity and Inclusion, until the resident artist in the group, a dancer, spoke up. She noted that she is dyslexic. Yes, she can work with words, but, as she described, it typically took her about five times as long to process words. As a result, she felt very much excluded by the conversation so full of words around fine-tuning of language definitions.

To fast forward, the next day we did our presentation to the broader group in the form of interpretative movement. Each of the ten of us felt we had played a full part in our collective process and, more than anything, we felt a sense of belonging.

This was a great culmination of the two days focussed on being part of a more diverse and inclusive world (which also means one there is equity of…