Reconstructing Inclusion

Organizations of every type are now pouring money into diversity, equity and inclusion work, yet many of these efforts rely on approaches that have been around for years and still struggle to deliver measurable change. Unconscious bias training, recruiting for diversity and anti-racism education have become standard, and terms such as belonging and equity now appear on many leaders' lists of goals. The routes to those goals, however, often remain murky, because initiatives tend to be launched in response to events, layered on top of existing work, and frequently stay cosmetic instead of reshaping how an organization functions.

Amri Johnson, CEO of Inclusion Wins, investigates why this reactive pattern keeps recurring and proposes a framework for a more systematic alternative, one that gives every stakeholder, everyone involved, a real chance to thrive. At the center of the book is what Johnson calls the Inclusion System, a set of conditions that must be present for inclusion to become the norm. In this model, inclusion has to be accessible, actionable and sustainable, and it has to contribute positively to the organization's mission.

The book looks back at the historical roots of inclusion, re-examines the initiatives organizations are pursuing today, and lays out a practical approach for carrying this work forward. It is aimed at DE&I practitioners and the organizations that rely on them.