Along this Unique Journey:
Exploring Equity Frameworks
FINDING COMMON GROUND FOR
COLLABORATIVE ACTION
SHARON DOUGLAS
REGIONAL DIVERSITY ROUNDTABLE
Question?...
WHAT IS THE EQUITY FRAMEWORK THAT
THE RDR OPERATES FROM/WITHIN?
What is the Regional Diversity Roundtable?
Our Mission
The Regional Diversity Roundtable is committed to being a leader in
supporting organizations and institutions to be diverse and equitable in
order to provide services that are fair, inclusive, respectful and
culturally competent.
Our Vision
To promote respect and equity within organizations and institutions for
an inclusive and harmonious community.
We Value
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Respect, Social Justice
Who We are Cont’d
 The Regional Diversity Roundtable is a network of organizations and
institutions committed to building inclusion and diversity competence
that results in the institutionalization of equity in their core values,
structures, workforce, policies and services.
 We are a group of individuals and organizations with a commitment to
inclusion, equity, and diversity competence.
Process for today – ‘A Deliberative Dialogue’
Equity
Diversity
Antioppression
The goal of this presentation is to inspire thought, openness,
reflection, ask questions and to explore all options about an RDR
operating framework. To see the intersectionalities
This is not a debate
‘Deliberative Dialogue’ versus ‘Debate’
Deliberative Dialogue
Debate
Collaborative
Oppositional
Common ground
Points of divergence
Listening to find meaning
Listening to find flaws
Listening to find agreement
Listening to find points to argue
Openness to being wrong
Determination to be right
Weighing alternatives
Winning
Assumes that others have pieces of the
answer and all can find it together
Assumes there is a right answer and
someone has it
Involves concern for the other person
Involves countering others
Seeks not to offend or alienate
Belittles or deprecates others
Setting the Stage
BEFORE WE BEGIN TO TALK ABOUT
FRAMEWORKS, WE NEED TO IDENTIFY
OUR CONTEXT
RDR Context
Consider this…
The RDR currently operates from a diversity framework,
understanding and accepting that people /organizations
with differing viewpoints can work together if their ‘core
values’ and goals are the same
Definitions - CRRF
 Diversity – a term used to encompass all the various differences
among people including race, religion, gender, sexual orientation,
disability, socio-economic status, etc. and commonly used in the United
States and increasingly in Canada to describe workplace programs
aimed at reducing discrimination promoting equality of opportunity
and outcome for all groups.
 Concern has been expressed by anti-racism and race relations
practitioners that diversity programs may water down efforts to combat
racism in all its forms.
Definitions Cont’d
 Anti-oppression – Strategies, theories and actions that challenge
socially and historically built inequities and injustices that re ingrained
in our system and institutions by policies and practices that allow
certain groups to dominate over other groups.
 Anti-racism – An active and consistent process of change to eliminate
individual, institutional and systemic racism as well as the oppression
and injustice racism causes.
Learning from the Experts
 Approach Diversity Initiative/Project: 6 basic models:

Intercultural

Legal Compliance

Managing Diversity

Prejudice Reduction

Valuing Differences

Anti-racism
ChangeWorks Consulting: Social Change or Status Quo?
Intercultural Approach (IC)
 Primary focus - is the development of cross-cultural understanding and
communication between people and nations
 It examines the ways humans speak, reason, gesture, act, think and believe
 It tries to help people develop sensitivity/awareness to the cultural roots of
their own behaviour as well as other people’s culture….values, assumptions
 Common language - worldviews, cultural relativism, value orientation,
verbal/non-verbal communication
 In the IC approach ignorance, cultural misunderstanding and value clashes
are seen as the problem and increased cultural awareness, knowledge and
tolerance are the solution
 Cultural identity and ethnicity are the focus while racial identity is not often
examined
Legal Compliance Approach
 Primary focus – based in legal theory, civil rights law, and human
resource development strategies
 It is primarily concerned with monitoring, recruitment, hiring &
promotional procedures affecting women and people of colour to
increase representation in the organization & to comply with antidiscrimination laws
 In the legal perspective the optimal state of race relations is
‘colorblindness’ – people are just people and differences are not taken
into account
 Common language – affirmative action, equal opportunity, qualified
minorities
Legal Compliance cont’d
 Organizational problem defined as individual biases, lack of
compliance with civil rights law, and exclusionary procedures within
the organization
 Main driver is often avoidance of discrimination lawsuits
 Training is designed from a legal compliance perspective – focus on
laws, regulations and requirements. The emphasis is on statistical
representation not on what happens to women and people of color once
they are hired
Managing Diversity
 Primary focus – diversity as a business issue rather than a legal,
political, or moral one
 Managing diversity has a strong presence in corporations & receives a
lot of media attention
 The driving force is survive and thrive in the 21st century – tap into
diverse labour pool
 Common language – competitive edge, changing demographics
 Diversity training targets managers of the organization. Some
experiential activities may be included..exam personal attitudes and
behaviour within a business context
 Conflict resolution techniques may also be included
Prejudice Reduction Approach
 Primary focus - is rooted in the ‘Re-evaluation counselling movement
 The approaches teaches people to help free one another from the effects
of past hurts – Prejudice reduction approach applies the re-evaluation
counselling framework to explore and heal past hurts caused by
prejudice and bigotry
 Common language – “guilt is the glue that holds prejudice together”,
healing past hurts, emotional healing
 Training relies heavily on activities that promote emotional release;
Sharing personal stories, holding hands, crying, exchanging painful
lessons
 The focus on the personal can be frustrating for some
Valuing Differences Approach
 Primary focus – recognizes and celebrates differences as the fuel of
creativity and innovation. Core value is recognition of individual
uniqueness while acknowledging different group identities
 See conflict as the result of an inability to recognize and value human
differences..implication that the solution lies in learning about
ourselves and one another
 Shares some aspects with other models – building relationships across
lines of difference, recognizing the importance & value of a diverse
work team; explores stereotypes, cultural differences, race, gender…
 Common language – people with differences, diverse people
 Training tends to be apolitical – issues of privilege and entitlement of
dominant group members may not be critically examined
Anti-Racism Approach
 Primary focus – firmly rooted in the civil & human rights struggles in
the U.S. and internationally
 Based on the historical understanding of racism & oppression –
expressly political approach emphasizes a distinction <> personal
prejudice and institutional racism; core culture & institutional
structures must fundamentally change
 Goals include a total restructuring of power relations–analysis of power
 Common language – liberation theory, anti-oppression work
 Training draws from the knowledge of the other approaches and adds
in an analysis of power and oppression
Scenario
 The SDouglas et al Foundation is a non-profit organization which
recently ran a open competition to select a new ED. A few weeks later
an unsuccessful candidate charged the SDF with unfair interview and
selection process. That the process was biased in favour of white, male
candidates. The organizational composition is primarily female with
approx. one tenth of staff comprised of visible minorities plus, 2-3
represented on the Bd. Of Dir. The organization considered itself
progressive and sensitive to issues of equality and inclusion.
 Consider each of the approaches presented and apply to the above
situation.
 What would the review process for this organization look like based on
the various approaches? What are the differences?
Thank You!
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