Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Reos Partners + Adaway Group)

Last week, Reos Partners North America had our spring company meeting in Toronto. As a remote team, it’s rare that we’re altogether in one place, so these meetings are very special. I was especially happy that it was in my neighbourhood.

Addressing issues around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is something we’re all passionate about, and we experience various forms of them across all our projects. Ensuring that we live by these values inside Reos is also a priority, and I’m grateful to be part of a team that’s willing to invest in this.

We invited Desiree Adaway and Jessica Fish from The Adaway Group to help increase our understanding, awareness, and skills around DEI. They did an admirable job of creating a “brave space” for us to learn and reflect, expertly guiding us through the difficult topics. Highlights for me were learning about dominant/target identities, the responsibility of dominant identities in breaking the Cycle of Socialization, the three types of power (visible, invisible, hidden), and the importance of focusing on impact vs. intent.

This is just the beginning of our company’s DEI conversation, and there’s strong internal commitment to prioritizing this as we grow.

I will be writing about some deeper reflections in a later post. For now, enjoy the sketchnotes of our day-long session. (Here’s the PDF for your downloading pleasure.)

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