Lessons From A Volunteer Board Position
Contribution is one of my core values, so I’ve struggled with volunteer positions in the past. You know the ones—you sign up excited to give your time or thoughts or helping hands, only to discover there are 50 other people there and you’re just a warm body, or the organization is so set in their ways, your fresh ideas aren’t welcome. The worst, right?
I’m on the national Board of the Association for Women in Communications (AWC) and I’ve often wondered if I contribute enough. But I’ve come across some dilemmas on the Board recently that translate into lessons about running a purposeful business. And to Diversity Month, which we’re celebrating all this month!
*Of course, these are my personal experiences and interpretations of the situations, not “official” AWC statements.
Let’s Talk About Pronouns
Like many organizations, AWC is on a mission to evaluate how we can be more inclusive and diverse in our leadership, programming, and membership. We recently added an optional pronoun field to our member portal and got a disgruntled email from a member.
While our organization is for women by women, we don’t discriminate against non-women joining, as long as they adhere to our mission and values. We want all of our members to be comfortable, which is why we list pronouns as an *optional* addition. For those who don’t want to share their pronouns, there is no obligation to do so, but for those who want to confirm how they’d like to be addressed, we want to give them the space to do so. If our organization is committed to making AWC a welcoming organization that takes diversity, equity, and inclusion into account for all our members, then we need to consider all the ways someone might bring a diverse background or perspective.
Plus, asking pronouns is similar in a lot of ways to asking which “traditional” title members prefer (Miss, Ms, Mrs). And many businesses and organizations across industries allow people to list their pronouns as a way to foster community and transparency. For example, LinkedIn now includes an optional addition of pronouns to profiles. Adding this field is not only in alignment with our values, it’s also a way to stay on par with modern best practices.
Time Zone Inclusivity
In a less polarizing example, many AWC chapters and the agency that supports the membership backend are based in the Midwest (like me!), so most events are listed in Central time. However, this creates a lot of confusion—especially if the time zone isn’t clearly marked since some tech platforms automatically update to your location and others don’t. A simple way to be inclusive of all our [Continental US] members is to list every national event in all 4 primary time zones. It’s not quite as neat and concise, but it’s a lot clearer and more inclusive.
When Exclusivity Is Actually More Equitable
With all this talk of DEI, it’s important to note that diversity isn’t an end-all-be-all goal or value. There’s space for *exclusivity* in social impact. For example, if you run a membership, offer services, or create products for a very nuanced group of people, sometimes it’s best to put a stake in the ground and really protect that specific identity. This is especially true if that group has been marginalized in any way and their shared experience is what connects them to you and your offer. In this case, creating a safe space where everyone “gets it” is much more important than having a wide array of perspectives and voices.
DEI In Your Business
So, how do you incorporate DEI (or not!) into your business? Is it the clients you work with, the service providers you refer, the people you interview on your podcast, the vendors you outsource to, the causes you support, the communities you join or create? Do you consider all types of identities (immigration status, religion, native language, gender, sexuality, location, neurodivergence, race, ethnicity, criminal background status, trauma survival, etc.)? I’d love to know!
Toward purpose and progress,
Ashlee
This is an excerpt from Toward Purpose & Progress, my newsletter where I share business tips, good news, shoutouts to Founder Friends, and other juicy snippets. Subscribe here for more rants, reflections, and resources.