Today, diversity and inclusion efforts are often underscored by the pursuit of equity and justice. However, how these values are applied is unique to every industry and organization. Furthermore, while “equity” and its application - in many cases- is fairly understood, “justice” is not so easily reconciled.

Our presentation will focus on the concept of justice in fundraising and how leading with that value can help to innovate the ways we develop a diverse and inclusive development shop. We will specifically discuss how this concept can be applied to:

· Supporting staff through difficult conversation with donors

· Hiring, internships and developing the talent pipeline for frontline fundraising jobs

· Accountability, metrics, and measures of success

Like many development shops, we established an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (I.D.E.A) in reaction to the harrowing events of last year. Accordingly, we will be unable to present particular case studies from our own work as many of our initiatives will still be in their pilot phase. Rather, our presentation is intented to provoke new thinking in how we recruit and retain diverse talent and how we hold ourselves accountable to our diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. The presentation will be given by Amy Bryant, the Chair of our I.D.E.A. committee; Taylor Lescallette, Director of Advancement Services who leads recruitment for our department, and Erin Morton, the lead for our I.D.E.A. committee’s talent working group.