The war against DEI is almost as hilarious as the war against “woke”. Neither mean what the perpetrators of the war think they mean, but, unlike their annual wars on the Starbucks cup’s war against Christmas, the DEI slash woke wars are stupid and hilarious and extremely dangerous. Sort of like how we made fun of the tea baggers until they became the Tea Party and then MAGA and then Trump. Claims like “that boat ran into that bridge because of DEI” would be SNL fodder if they weren’t followed by headlines about states voting to ban DEI and woke education in state universities. And, of course they’re calling Kamala Harris a DEI candidate who Trump now infamously claimed just “turned black” a few years ago. Ok.
In an age when major corporations like Microsoft are firing their entire DEI teams, often one of the only places in a corporation in which black and brown employees reach executive levels, I thought it was important to get deeper into the fight, so I joined the board of IDEAS Generation, a brilliant and truly innovative organization that is fighting the DEI fight on multiple fronts: on one hand, they are consulting organizations and corporations across the country on how they can build truly equitable systems and cultures at every level. On the other hand, they run one of the nation’s highest rated fellowships, specifically for current and future DEI employees teaching them how to be leaders in their companies and their fields.
IDEAS is the bright side to this downward DEI spiral. Applications to the fellowship remain high, corporations continue to sign on as clients even as others are cutting DEI entirely, and new programming will ensure that IDEAS stays relevant and impactful long after this absurd, racist little war is over.
Why am I telling you this? One, because I’m really proud of the work IDEAS is doing and I think you should know. But also because we just launched a new monthly donor program and, as a person who’s career has mostly been begging people to donate money to my nonprofit, I know how significant monthly donations can be. They are the backbone of a nonprofit’s finances, funds that you can count on when you have no idea what else may come in that month. And, much like crowdfunding, every little bit helps the whole. So, if you’d like to join the fight against the fight against DEI, just click the little button below, become a monthly IDEAS Generation donor, and let’s keep fighting for equality at every level.
Thanks,
Kat