Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Strategy For A Civil Society Nonprofit In Berlin
THE CHALLENGE
A Civil Society No-Profit Organization reached out to us in September 2022 seeking support with their diversity, equity and inclusion work.
The organization had a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force operating for a couple of months and an early-stage map of the areas of interventions, goals and desires they’d like to achieve through the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion effort.
When I joined them, the Task Force knew what current issues were but were not clear about how to address these in a structured and strategic way.
THE GOALS
bringing the organization together around the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitment.
creating an organization-wide cohesive vision around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitment.
getting the leadership onboard and making the commitment explicit.
unpacking the meaning of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the unique signature of their organization.
understanding how to organize their internal processes to activate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts across the organization.
improving team engagement with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion topics.
receiving a strategy handbook with an action roadmap for the next 12 months (2023).
THE SOLUTIONS
We ran interviews with 22 members of the organization to assess the experience, challenges and perspective across the team.
We created a picture of the current state of the organization’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion effort based on specific questions that helped us identify the:
General feeling and perspective on the organization’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Personal perspectives and feedback on how the organization is currently doing.
The relationship between the Task Force members and the rest of the organization and existing collaboration gaps.
Top Diversity, Equity and Inclusion challenges and desires for improvements.
We reviewed their internal documentation around policies, processes, strategic planning and vision to identify:
Structural areas of improvement at the organizational level.
The Potential, challenges and areas of improvement in the internal processes and operations.
Resource available and way to manage it.
WHAT WE DELIVERED
We compiled a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Audit where we delivered
our observations regarding the current status of the organization in relation to its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitment and goals.
Our recommendations on high-level areas of intervention.
Operational challenges and organizational development recommendations to enable the activation of the DEI executive planning.
We hosted a DEI Strategy Workshop
We brought the team together for a one-day in-person strategy workshop.
We unpacked and defined the key strategic areas: vision, mission, goals, benefits, risks, and competitive advantages of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Work in the organization.
We facilitated a team-wide conversation around action planning and priority setting.
We had working group sessions and we identified organizational areas of intervention and actions.
We outlined a prioritization matrix.
We sat with the Task Force to strategies their internal operational functions and collaboration system, defining operating principles and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion baseline values.
THE RESULTS
We delivered a 50-page Organization-Specific DEI Strategy Handbook outlining a comprehensive executive plan for the next 12 months.
We hosted coaching hours with the Task Force to support the implementation of the Strategy Handbook.
The organization received a comprehensive document outlining a step-by-step strategy and execution compass providing concrete operational and strategic solutions to existing organizational gaps and internal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion challenges.
