DEI: Defined

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is a hot topic and a buzz acronym right now. The topic recently garnered a frenzy of attention when former President Donald Trump side-stepped answering the question about Presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, on speculation that she was a “DEI hire.”

The concept of DEI however, has been around since the 1960’s along with the civil rights movement. It’s not a new concept though it has recently gained more attention.

In the last decade, there have been entire departments at Universities or state and local governments dedicated to DEI, only to be defunded and debunked, or in some cases, expanded. Especially after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, companies in the US made large gains by hiring teams dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion. Today, there are a lot of corporations who are cutting back. Zoom, Snap, Tesla, DoorDash, Lyft, Home Depot and Wayfair are examples of companies who have recently downsized their DEI teams. According to the Washington Post, DEI-related job postings declined by 44% by mid-2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Though some companies are not following this trend. Notably —J.M. Smucker, Victoria’s Secret, Michaels, Moderna, Prudential and ConocoPhillips expanded their DEI teams by 50 percent or more in 2023.

But let’s back the conversation up. What is DEI and why is it important? Let’s take a few minutes to make sure we understand clearly what each word means.

Diversity: Diversity encompasses the entirety of human differences. This can be physical attributes, appearance, abilities, educational background, age, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social economic status, nationality, or disability. Diversity refers to the variety of differences among people. Diversity does not look like people who are the same. Diversity is human differences.

Why does Diversity matter?

Diversity in school, organizations, or the workplace affects how well individuals perform and most notably has an impact on strategic planning and creativity. People from varying backgrounds have unique ways of solving problems and when there is collaboration amongst different viewpoints and backgrounds, ingenuity sparks. Further, diversity represents who we ALL are in this world. Diversity itself is not effective in organizations, schools, or workplace and all too often, organizations focus on getting diverse backgrounds but neglect the other factors critical to diversity’s impact. Only when diversity goes hand in hand with equity and inclusion does diversity propel a business, school, or organization to new heights.

Equity:  Equity is the fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancements for all individuals. Equity strives to identify and prevent the barriers that prevent the full participation of all people. It is extremely important to note the difference here between equity and equality. Equity in the workplace levels the playing field for everyone in the organization. Equity is giving everyone what they need to succeed so they have the same opportunity, access and possibility for advancement. It’s not the same as equality, which in the workplace means access to the same resources and equal distribution thereof. For instance, the same monetary reward for the same work. Big difference, right?

Inclusion: Inclusion is the act of creating environments that any individual can feel respected, appreciated and thrive. In an inclusive environment, everyone feels comfortable, appreciated, and supported to be their authentic selves. Employees, students, or members of the organization should not have to “fit” a certain mold in order to be a part but rather, they are able to walk through the doors and be who they want to be to perform at the highest levels as themselves.

As we’ve just mentioned above, equity and inclusion are much more taxing to implement, and very few workplaces, organizations, or schools achieve all three elements of DEI.

We’re excited to launch Binya Cultural Impact Consulting, a new division of Binya. Since 2022, we’ve been retailing Lowcountry and Gullah gifts and accessories at our store at 556 Spanish Wells Road but today, we are so much more than a store. Our new consulting services offer social awareness and championing of the Gullah culture and one of the outcomes of our services is improved DEI practices within organizations. Successful DEI outcomes are not our sole focus by any means, but one of many. We invite you to learn more about the Cultural Impact Consulting services by visiting our page here.