You can use these resources to improve your own understanding, as discussion starters, and for training your staff. We encourage you to be curious and find other resources that you think work well for your organization. The resource guides are not intended to be complete, but to make it easier for you to get started.
Table of Contents
Time Savers
Read:
- 5 Things We Learned About Creating a Successful Workplace Diversity Program, 7 minutes from the Harvard Business Review. Learn how unconscious bias or diversity trainings can sometimes backfire. Discover an alternative developed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).
- 6 Mistakes Employers Make while Battling the ‘Diversity Paradox’, 5 minutes. DEI strategist Jackye Clayton offers 6 valuable points for human resources and leadership for recruiting for diversity and intersectionality.
- Mind the Accessibility Gap, 4 minutes. Meredith Peruzzi, Director, National Deaf Life Museum at Gallaudet University says, “There is a good way to remember to center accessibility for disabled members of our community: hire more disabled people.”
- Leadership Principles, 14 minutes, from the Inclusive Historian’s Handbook.
- If Your Board Looked Like Your Community, 16 minutes. Overcome some common hurdles and why it’s worth diversifying your board.
- A Fresh Look at Diversity and Boards, 9 minutes. A post from Blue Avocado (the blog of the National Nonprofit Insurance Alliance) that includes a variety of different approaches to board diversity, disability, race, and sexuality with discussion questions to use to plan how and why to diversify your nonprofit board.
Watch/Listen:
- Nothing About Us Without Us – Disability, inclusivity, and engagement. Convened by Tony Heaton, 1 hour and 45 minutes, from the British Art Network.
Tookits and Training
Online toolkit(s):
- Accessibility Planning and Resource Guide for Cultural Administrators, 236 pages from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). A guide to accessible practices such as opening existing programs, services, facilities, and activities to individuals with disabilities and older adults. Note this is only available in PDF format, but has the option to be downloaded in sections or in full.
- Design for Accessibility: A Cultural Administrator’s Handbook, from the NEA was printed before the 2010 and still offers good information.
- Funding Accessibility Projects, about 5 minutes from from the National Center for Accessibility with tips on how to budget for and fund accessibility projects. This is a good resource for small organizations. Includes links to other resources.
- Board Matrix Worksheet from Build a Better Board. A downloadable Excel spreadsheet of a sample board matrix.
- Board Development Matrix: The Pros and Cons, about 7 minutes from Board Effect can help you prepare to build a board matrix. It also reminds you of shortcomings to be aware of in using this tool.
- National Council of Nonprofits Toolkit: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, about 3-5 minutes per article. A collection of articles focusing on promoting and supporting board diversity. Linked articles include resources from around the web, including state nonprofit councils.
- Find Your State Associations from the National Council of Nonprofits can also have resources available for free or low cost, and they may be available even if you are not a member. For example, the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO) offers their Standards for Excellence Educational Resource Packets, including one focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, for $25 each to nonmembers, and free for members.
- 501 Commons Tools and Best Practices
- The Inclusive Historian’s Handbook, cosponsored by the American Association for State and Local History and the National Council for Public History
- Accessibility Toolkit from the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. An accessibility toolkit using the National Museum of Asian Art as a case study.
Webinars:
- Embracing Accessibility in the Whole Organization: New Approaches and Resources, 30 minutes form the Mid-Atlantic ADA.
National, State, and Regional Organizations
- The Diversity Collegium: A think tank of diversity practitioners, posting news and articles.
- National Council of Nonprofits Find Your State Association Directory
- National Council of Independent Living helps people with disabilities be more involved with their local communities. Your local and regional center for independent living (CIL) is a valuable resource for networking with people with disabilities to serve on your board and to build lasting partnerships.
- Find your nearest statewide and local CIL organization.
Additional Resources
- Accessible Information Exchange: Meeting on a Level Playing Field from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to learn how to conduct accessible meetings. Think about how the DOJ’s guide is also useful for programs and events.
- What Historic Sites Have Learned After 25 Years with ADA, about 10 minutes from the Engaging Places blog.
- Are Your Nonprofit Organization’s Stories Dishonoring the Families You Serve? – Blue Avocado, about 9 minutes. This article looks at the wide view of representation in leadership and how an “us and them” mentality is a problem to be solved in nonprofit culture.
- Diversity Without Intersectionality is a Cart Without a Horse, about 4 minutes from Joan Baldwin’s Leadership Matters blog.
- Nonprofit AF from Vu Le focuses on community-engaged practices. Vu Le often uses humor. This blog is a good example of how to use image descriptions and alt-text.
- Nonprofit Quarterly: Compiles a daily digest of news and emerging practices in the nonprofit field, many of these have a DEAI/social justice angle.
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