The previous four chapters of this guide have provided examples of four areas where organizations can implement JEDI programming that go beyond anti-racism training for existing staff and lay the groundwork for truly inclusive working environments for staff. In this guide, we emphasized equitable hiring models, pay equity, Healing Justice, and rest. However, there are many other areas where organizations can engage in policy work that advances inclusion.

To advance justice in the workplace, organizations need to take a look at their internal behavior as well as their external behavior. Organizations that claim that “Black Lives Matter” in their work but still invest staff’s 401k contributions in private prisons, weapons and warfare, and extractive industries, for example, are not demonstrating a full commitment to the intrinsic value of Black life. Similarly, organizations who initiate public meetings with a land acknowledgement without acting on decolonization and land back are not acting in true solidarity with Indigenous communities.

At the heart of JEDI work is a commitment to ending white supremacy, patriarchy, colonization, and exploitation. This work goes against the current cultural, political, and economic system. It can be incredibly hard work, requiring individual and organizational sacrifices. However, JEDI work is also an invitation for organizations to be creative, to experiment, and to experience the collective joy of liberation.

While there is no singular, comprehensive set of steps for individuals or organizations to follow to completion, this guide has presented several practices and examples to catalyze change. These are the starting points. The long-term requires mentorship, reflection, and reimagining for people and institutions.

Key principles for long term planning for justice should include transparency, democratic systems, (mediated) dialogue, and vulnerability.

This guide has frequently emphasized the importance of investing in JEDI consultants and specialists to support organizational transformation, as well as coaching for individual transformation. We will stress it again here: traversing the path from desiring to become a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment to taking meaningful action to do so can be a challenging process. Fortunately, BIPOC in ECJ’s JEDI specialist’s directory consists of several individuals and firms that can support this essential work.

Linked Resources

• BIPOC in ECJ, bipocinecj.org/search/custom.asp?id=6714.

Supplemental Resources

• “EQUITY, DIVERSITY, INCLUSION & ANTIRACISM TOOLKIT.” Oregon Library Association , 16 Feb. 2021, acrloregon.org/announcements/ola-antiracism-toolkit-now-available/. 
• Silleck La Rue, Elizabeth. “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: The Racist Manipulation of Deij Language.” Non Profit News, 14 Apr. 2022, nonprofitquarterly.org/wolves-in-sheeps-clothing-the-racist-manipulation-of-deij-language/. 

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