This article was originally posted on Medium.
Back in 2019, The Learning Accelerator (TLA) partnered with six other remote organizations based in education to form the Remote DEI Collective (RDC), a community of practice focused on the intersections of remote work culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). After launching our community and diving into several key learning areas, the RDC shared emerging insights via the Remote DEI Toolkit — an open site with insights, strategies, and resources for remote DEI.
In 2020, the world was simultaneously enveloped in a global pandemic, an economic crisis, and a racial reckoning. Many organizations were pushed to transition to remote operations while at the same time they were encouraged to look in the mirror and evaluate how they were advancing DEI and racial justice while carrying on their work remotely.
Now, in 2021, we are excited to launch the next phase of the Remote DEI Collective as we double down on our commitment to find ways to advance DEI in the remote space. Our newly expanded community of remote organizations now consists of:
- 2Revolutions
- Deans for Impact
- EdTec
- Gradient Learning
- Highlander Institute
- Illustrative Mathematics
- Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC)
- PowerMyLearning
- The Leadership Academy
- The Learning Accelerator (TLA)
- Transcend
- Transforming Education
In this next phase, our 12 organizations are partnering with Promise54 to expand on insights from our first phase and deepen our understanding of remote DEI. We plan to dig into three major areas: developing and sustaining multi-year DEI plans incorporating remote work dynamics; the opportunities remote and/or hybrid work can offer to advance equity, and the ways in which this type of work may exacerbate biases, White Supremacy Culture, and inequities; and the means through which organizations can live out their DEI and antiracism commitments remotely.
In the months ahead, we are looking forward to sharing our journey through updates to the Remote DEI Toolkit. We also welcome any input and partnership; please reach out to Stephen Pham, the RDC lead, with any input, suggestions, or questions.
