It led to growth in our membership, following and reputation.
Roman Ruzbacky
Overview
EEON is a not-for-profit organisation that was formed in 1989 to create opportunities for its members and guests to learn and exchange information about current diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunity (EEO) knowledge and practices. The EEON committee comprises people drawn together through personal expertise, commitment, and personal connection to increasing the rate of progress towards equality, fairness, inclusion, and opportunity.
The challenge
EEON is always looking to increase the diversity of our committee and audiences to ensure our work in gender equity, racial equity, accessibility, neurodiversity, age, LGBTIQ+ inclusion and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders engages with our diverse communities and drives real change. Not having diversity at the EEON committee’s decision- making table narrows our ability to reach and engage our audiences. We want to make sure all voices are heard in diversity, equity and inclusion work.
Approach
EEON was interested in understanding who wasn’t in our audience and not engaging with our work. At our 3rd EEON Diversity and Inclusion Summit 2020, Cultural Infusion conducted a voluntary and anonymous survey of our 130 participants using the Atlas mapping platform. They were able to instantly present the findings and provide a high-level snapshot of our participants diversity profile, including some intersectional analysis. We were able to quickly identify which parts of our community were engaged with our programs and any areas of under-representation.
Impact
The Atlas was a catalyst for deeper exploration of our approach and impact. We embarked on deeper immersive work and learning in racial equity, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and culture, neurodiversity, youth and male engagement, the audiences we wanted to see at our events. It has resulted in a more inclusive and diverse EEON committee, people from diverse communities engaging with EEON, and a membership cohort that looked and felt more like the Melbourne and Victorian community we see, work and live with. It has also led to growth in our membership, following and reputation.