We appreciate that right now there’s a sizeable gap, especially in racial accessibility. This needs to be addressed if we’re to create a more diverse and representative community within an industry that has to be far more accessible for the next generation of talent.
As a first step, we’re launching a series of focus groups in January. We want to hear about our members’ experiences, how we can support more inclusivity, better raise awareness of the internal communication profession, welcome new voices, and to effectively collaborate within our community.
We’re conscious that ethnicity within our membership is a bit of an unknown landscape and that there are few formal conversations about race, so creating this first forum is much needed. We’ve chosen listening groups as the vehicle because we believe that they foster more open and honest sharing of experiences and perspectives in a safe space.
Learning and insight will be shared with IoIC members, as well as in developing strategic projects as we work to create meaningful, long-term change to benefit our IC community.
IoIC’s Board supports this new initiative and stresses that this isn’t a one-off project, but the first of an ongoing initiative to better understand wider Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity challenges and opportunities. We’re committed to co-creating a better, more inclusive and accessible profession, establishing strong and permanent EDI networks, and better shaping future services and support.
Invitations and next steps will be sent out soon*. Please join the conversation and support us as we work to cultivate a diverse and accessible professional community for the next generation of internal communicators. We’re listening.
*If you would like to participate, please ensure that your profile (preferred contact email, communication preferences, and self-identification questions) is complete on the IoIC website if you haven’t already done so.
