Progress of DEI: Determining the Next Steps when the Workplace Fails to Rearview Mirror?
In the midst of DEI being shoved to the sidelines, the Future of DEI Virtual Summit is aiming to reignite the conversation. This summit, brainchild of identity and belonging coach Erin Corine Johnson, isn't your typical corporate conference. Instead, Johnson has put together something that many in the DEI community have been searching for: open conversations, diverse perspectives, and a network of changemakers all working towards a collective freedom.
For Johnson, an artist, community organizer, and coach, the summit wasn't born out of the political moment, but rather from recognizing that DEI's performative practices were letting down those they were intended to protect. "While a lot of the socio-political upheaval we're experiencing right now has been pushed by the current administration," she said, "it's not the root cause. The real root cause is years of performative policymaking without a sustainable, accountable practice to back those policies." The summit is designed to help those with and without a DEI title answer the question, "What can I do now?"
The summit runs for five days, features discussions, panels, and fireside chats, all centered around one question: What is the future of DEI and how do we initiate change outside of unstable institutions? The summit showcases a wide variety of speakers - from digital educators to antiracist scholars - each feeling the tremors of the DEI backlash and finding new ways to forge ahead. Blair Imani, creator of the popular Smarter in Seconds series, will talk about creative methods for inclusive education. "Despite these harsh policies turning their backs on equity," Imani said, "we do not have to succumb. We can innovate."
Across the ocean, anti-racism educator and author Desirée Bela-Lobedde will shed light on the often-invisible racism in Spain and challenge the notion that DEI is only an American issue. "In Spain... many believe antiracist work is only necessary elsewhere," she said. "I hope to inspire attendees to reflect on their own contexts, question what they've been taught, and feel empowered to contribute actively to antiracist transformation wherever they are." Bela-Lobedde's Laboratorio de Deconstrucción, a virtual learning space, serves as a model for what the future of DEI might look like: grounded in lived experiences and sustained by the community.
For entrepreneurs, parents, and summit panelists Louis and Arlene Byrd, their mission and lived reality as parents of Black children are inextricably linked. They'll share insights on talking to children about racism in a session called "How to Talk to Kids About Racism." They've been vocal about their parenting journey, discussing on social media their efforts to raise emotionally intelligent, open-minded children. When asked about the future of DEI, Louis didn't mince words, "I believe the future of DEI is about ownership. Ownership of businesses, infrastructure, neighborhoods, and communities."
What sets the Future of DEI Summit apart is its focus on bringing in the everyday person. "I began noticing about a year and a half ago that the chasm between the people practicing DEI, especially at the organizational level, and those that DEI was meant to serve, was growing deeper," Johnson explained. "Not only were people finding it difficult to understand what DEI is actually doing in their companies... but everyday people didn't understand how they themselves could make a difference from right where they were standing, right from their own zones of genius." The summit, she said, aims to bridge that gap by making the work relatable and decentralizing power.
In the eyes of Johnson, the backlash against DEI isn't a reason to retreat, but an invitation to rebuild something stronger. "Anti-DEI activists will come for us regardless of what we call it," she said. "What happens when we care for one another, build our own tables, and feed our own communities in spite of them?" This embodiment of Johnson's mission - radical empathy, community building, and sustained resistance - is reflected in every speaker. Whether it's Imani's enthusiasm for transnational solidarity, Bela-Lobedde's call for a greater racial reckoning in Europe, or the Byrds' commitment to raising conscious and aware children, the message is clear: DEI isn't gone; it's being reinvented - beyond corporations, beyond catchphrases, and in the hands of the community, who never needed permission to do the work in the first place.
- Erin Corine Johnson, the identity and belonging coach, promises an open conversation and diverse perspectives at the Future of DEI Virtual Summit, aiming to revive the DEI discussion.
- Unlike typical corporate conferences, the summit's goal is to address the question that many in the DEI community grapple with: "What can I do now?"
- The summit, which spans five days, offers discussions, panels, and fireside chats, all focusing on the future of DEI and how to initiate change outside of unstable institutions.
- Speakers at the summit come from various disciplines, including digital educators and antiracist scholars, each figuring out ways to move forward amid the DEI backlash.
- Blair Imani, creator of the popular Smarter in Seconds series, will discuss creative methods for inclusive education, emphasizing that despite harsh policies, innovation is possible.
- In a panel called "How to Talk to Kids About Racism," Louis and Arlene Byrd, entrepreneurs and parents, will share insights about raising open-minded children, advocating for ownership of businesses, infrastructure, neighborhoods, and communities in the future of DEI.
- Anti-racism educator and author Desirée Bela-Lobedde will highlight the invisible racism in Spain and argue that DEI isn't an issue exclusive to America.
- Bela-Lobedde's Laboratorio de Deconstrucción, a virtual learning space, serves as a model for the future of DEI, grounded in lived experiences and sustained by the community.
- Entrepreneurs, parents, and panelists Louis and Arlene Byrd believe the future of DEI lies in ownership, advocating for ownership of businesses, infrastructure, neighborhoods, and communities.
- What makes the Future of DEI Summit distinctive is its emphasis on involving the everyday person, aiming to bridge the gap between DEI practitioners and those the practice is intended to serve.
- Johnson views the backlash against DEI as an opportunity to rebuild something stronger, suggesting that when communities care for one another, build their own tables, and feed their own communities, DEI transformation will persist, regardless of external opposition.
