Moving Beyond Checklists and Into Deep EDI Work – ECVO’s Journey
“The door to human rights doesn’t shut behind you when you walk through,” Rhianna Charchuk says, reflecting on her own privilege and the responsibility she feels to be active in creating an equitable society. Which is why Rhianna, our Manager of Strategy and Innovation here at the Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (ECVO), jumped at the chance to be the Co-Chair of our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee.
Over the last several years, EDI has become something of a buzz phrase in many workplaces. But what do these concepts actually mean in practice, and how can organizations move beyond checklists and into deep work? These were the questions that led us to reevaluate and advance our own EDI efforts.
Baking EDI into our values
“EDI acknowledges the fact that our population is diverse — in age, ability, ethnicity, gender, race, sexuality and other identities — and that diversity should be reflected in decision-making, which inherently benefits from the inclusion of different viewpoints and experiences,” Rhianna says.
As a capacity-building organization in the non-profit sector, we strive for engaged, inclusive and resilient communities. As such, EDI is baked into our values, but with that knowledge comes the awareness that the work is never done.
Wanting to go deeper, we pulled together a committee of staff and Board members to continue our EDI journey and share our learnings with other groups.
When the EDI committee first gathered a couple of years ago, we had “a bit of a laundry list” of EDI goals, says Roya Damabi, Co-Chair of the EDI committee and Secretary of the ECVO Board of Directors.
We decided the first task was to create an EDI strategic plan, which we did with the help of a consultant. This helped us see how we could continue to incorporate EDI into our operations, from bylaws to policies to programming.
Changing from the ground up
We knew that we needed to change how we were working from the ground up, rather than layering our new ways of doing onto old foundations.
Starting within the committee, we took time to understand each other and our different perspectives as individuals. To facilitate our work together, we developed dialogue
principles and explored how to put our values into practice. We created new ways of showing up and working that we could then carry over into the broader organization.
In keeping with the collaborative nature of our work, we have been consulting with folks outside of the organization to hear about the EDI work they’ve done.
“I think ECVO is approaching it with a lot of healthy hesitation and has been tapping some really excellent brains in the community to contribute to our conversations around it,” says Erin O’Neil, Chair of the ECVO Board of Directors.
Not just a checklist
One concern that often arises in EDI work is how to ensure that it isn’t implemented shallowly, as something an organization checks off its list with the creation of a few documents, then forgets about.
Many funders, such as granting organizations, also look for signs of deeper implementation, while acknowledging that it’s a learning process.
“Funders should clearly communicate their commitment to EDI,” says Nneka Otogbolu, former Director of Strategic Initiatives for Edmonton Community Foundation.
She suggests that organizations incorporate EDI into their mission and integrate it into their policies and practices. But she adds that funders can and should support EDI journeys in others with funding for capacity-building, training and workshops.
“If we’re holding organizations accountable for it, we should be able to support them to get there,” Nneka says. Funders can also support organizations on their EDI journeys by offering accountability measures, such as regular reporting to show advancement in the area.
“What are future plans? How do they hope to build upon their learning? Are the plans measurable, are they time-bound, are they specific? You tie it into the accountability piece,” Nneka explains.
Holistic approach
Our approach to the work is holistic, in both seeking input from others and documenting our own journey, in order to be shareable. Rather than promoting a specific way of doing EDI, we encourage folks to be inquisitive and try different approaches to see what works in their context.
Smaller, diverse organizations often have EDI woven into their work from the start, while more mainstream organizations like ours often need to take more time and go deeper in
order to incorporate EDI throughout our work and the organizational culture. In doing so, we are considering how our work can be an example for others’ journeys.
“What we’re doing is more considering ECVO’s position in the network. How can we be demonstrating the work that we’re doing as an aspirational example?” Erin says.
Incorporating EDI into operations
We have incorporated EDI into our operations when it comes to hiring, removing barriers by including salaries in job postings and paying students for their time to interview. We are committed to paying employees a living wage and creating a more accessible space for staff and guests.
And we apply EDI in many day-to-day ways, such as in event accessibility. At this point in our EDI journey, we now consider not only a venue’s physical accessibility, but also whether it is accessible by transit, and whether cost is a barrier to attendance.
Organizers consider whether interpreters are needed and if PowerPoint presentations are visually accessible and ensure that recordings with captions and transcripts are provided afterward for individuals with English as an additional language or those who are hard of hearing or Deaf.
The same work that’s happening in external capacities, such as with events, is also happening internally, by extending flexibility to staff for childcare needs, and offering unlimited paid vacation for full-time staff to ensure autonomy in the significant days they wish to commemorate.
“I feel like we’ve moved from doing the workshops on anti-racism and unconscious bias into ‘How do we think about that every day?’” Rhianna says. “A few years ago, we started by acknowledging we had a lot of learning to do, so we were soaking up those opportunities. Now we’re thinking more about how we can put those learnings into action, and where we still need a deeper understanding.”
Truth and Reconciliation journey
Like many organizations, we developed a land acknowledgment template available for staff use. But Rhianna notes that each team member has further reflected on their own relationship with Truth and Reconciliation and developed personalized acknowledgments.
Throughout 2024, we have worked with Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society to continue our Truth and Reconciliation journey and learn how we can support Truth and Reconciliation in the non-profit sector.
“We’re trying to be accountable to the community,” Rhianna says, thoughtfully. “There’s no right path. We just have to take steps forward in Reconciliation.”
Future work
While getting down to EDI work can be intimidating — what if you get it “wrong”? — committee Co-Chair Roya notes that it’s okay to take it one step at a time. Everyone starts somewhere.
“You don’t have to know everything,” she says. “You can just start, and learning is an easy place to do that.”
“We’re all just learning as we go,” Rhianna adds.
Want to learn more about our journey with EDI? Please don’t hesitate to reach out!