Equity in Practice: Exploring Our Areas of Advocacy
WORKING NOT WORKING
We’re excited to share a recording and recap of our latest Equity in Practice event, which streamed live on Monday, September 14th. In this installment of the monthly Working Not Working event series, DE&I facilitators Jennifer Ekeleme and Jezz Chung explored personal paths toward advocacy by discussing how our interests, expertise, and networks can illuminate our areas of impact.
As Jezz put it during the conversation, “If I’m thinking about everything that needs to be done in terms of political change, economic change, corporate change, the interpersonal change, what is it that I can do based on what I care about?” She continued, “There’s this myth that you have to fake care about something because everyone else does but I think it’s about finding something that you resonate with and really lean into that.” It’s a great reminder: to sustain diversity, equity, and inclusion in the creative industry, there needs to be personal passion, excitement, and engagement.
What is your sphere of influence? And what are you good at that this movement could use to build momentum? “Are you good at making presentations?” Jennifer asked. “Are you good at Photoshop and InDesign? Maybe you’re a really good connector. Someone always needs a great project manager. We need organizers.”
Some other key takeaways:
“Advocacy is a muscle that we need to continue to build.” Jennifer and Jezz encourage active reflection, journaling, planning, and tailoring of messaging. Strengthen your paths toward advocacy through repetition. This will instill confidence to build momentum rather than freeze in fear of doing the wrong thing.
To kick off the event, Jennifer and Jezz surveyed the audience to see where they’re at in their equity advocacy. 49% are “Actively Advocating” meaning “I’m comfortable speaking up, even though I may not always get it ‘right.’” If half the creative industry is taking this proactive approach, there’s plenty of reason for optimism. How can this energy translate to the 7% feeling overwhelmed, the 12% who are “just getting started and eager to learn,” and those not ready to take part in the movement?
We look forward to continuing the conversation and evolving this event series in real-time with the creative industry, both celebrating positive changes and honing in on areas of improvement.
If you have questions around equity that you want Jezz and Jennifer to answer during the next event or in their upcoming WNW Magazine column, email us at magazine@workingnotworking.com.
Learning Out Loud
During the “Learning Out Loud” segment of this event, Jezz and Jennifer discussed their latest learnings uncovered through their readings and continued conversations.
An Open Source Strategy for Racial Equity in the Creative Industry
Jennifer noted her appreciation for R/GA, who offered an open source approach titled “Make / Change: A Strategy for Racial Equity in the Creative Industry.”
“We’re publishing our strategy here, in case other companies want to use it to accelerate their own path towards an anti-racist culture. Of note: it’s a strategy and not a success story, as we have a lot of work to do.However, this has gone on long enough. Time to try something different.” - R/GA
Rest as a Form of Revolution
Jezz brought up a really resonant point—the value of rest. Whether these are issues you’re just now grappling with or if you’ve been on the front lines for some time, it’s a useful reminder that there’s a place for rest in this battle.
“I’m learning not to associate guilt with rest. Rest as a form of revolution. Rest as a form of resistance. It has been powerful to be in community with people. Sometimes I feel like I need permission to feel what I’m feeling just by hearing out someone else.”
What have you learned this week in the conversation around equity in the creative industry? Let us know in the comments below.