{"id":6388,"date":"2021-06-16T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=6388"},"modified":"2021-06-15T11:23:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T15:23:21","slug":"what-was-said","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/06\/what-was-said\/","title":{"rendered":"What Was Said"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In May and June the Community Engagement Network<\/a> hosted Conversations addressing the topic Benchmarking Equity. While we did not take the advisability of benchmarking as a given (Benchmarking? Maybe Not<\/a>), the premise of the discussions was that without some form of accountability, statements committing to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion can easily be as toothless as \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d about gun violence. For those interested, the notes prepared by participants can be seen here<\/a>. That document is set up to receive comments from any who would like to weigh in on the topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Conversation began with the question of how to know if an organization is ready to think about benchmarking or, to be more accurate, how to know if an organization is really ready to begin any work on equity issues. There was near unanimous agreement that just because an organization came to think it should embark on becoming more equitable it did not follow that it was ready to do so. The notes on this part of the discussion are the most comprehensive of any and would be worthwhile for organizations to consider before jumping into the work. I was particularly struck by the observation that an organization is not ready unless it is “willing to make cultural changes to make underrepresented populations feel welcomed.” We will have more on the Ready or Not discussion in a future blog post. The other significant portion of this Conversation was the discussion of how to protect BIPOC stakeholders from further trauma in DEI work, especially in the setting of benchmarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second Conversation focused more directly on what types of things might be benchmarked and what factors should be considered in setting them. One interesting observation was that setting benchmarks based on community demographics might be an issue in areas where little diversity exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other big takeaway for me was how often participants came back to the relationship between community engagement and DEI work, although perhaps that should not be surprising since the discussions were sponsored by the Community Engagement Network. \ud83d\ude42 The basic point was that the principles of dialogue, relationship building, and mutual respect that are the bedrock of effective community engagement are also prerequisites for responsible DEI work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In future blog posts I\u2019ll be expanding on the content of these discussions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I close I need to make a critical point about all of this. My only real role in this is as an enthusiastic advocate for the work. I do not have any expertise in DEI; and neither this blog nor the Community Engagement Network as now constituted has the breadth of scope or infrastructure to provide the support necessary to help make equity a realistic possibility in our field. We would welcome with open arms individuals or organizations who might be in a position to give this work the foundation it needs to make a difference in the life of the nonprofit arts in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engage!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doug<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some rights reserved<\/a> by\u00a0Got Credit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Observations on the Community Engagement Network’s Conversations on the topic Benchmarking Equity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"What Was Said: Observations on the Community Engagement Network's Conversations on the topic Benchmarking Equity.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[103],"tags":[12,13,47],"class_list":{"0":"post-6388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community-engagement-network","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-equity","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Report.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1F2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6345,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/04\/benchmarking-maybe-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":0},"title":"Benchmarking? Maybe Not","author":"Guest Blogger","date":"April 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Benchmarking equity may not be effective. If it is attempted, it must be approached cautiously so as not to cause more harm than good.","rel":"","context":"In "Guest Post"","block_context":{"text":"Guest Post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/guest-post\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SelenaAnguiano.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6411,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/07\/ready-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":1},"title":"Ready . . . or Not","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Just because an organization would like to be seen as equitable does not mean it was ready to begin working toward equity.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NotReady.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6357,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/04\/the-pursuit-of-equity\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":2},"title":"The Pursuit of Equity","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Is it possible (and it may not be) to develop generic parameters from which targets can be set for working toward equity in the nonprofit arts industry?","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Equity-e1435255742641.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6402,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/07\/equity-and-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":3},"title":"Equity and Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Good practices in community engagement and DEI work are closely related. Let's work together on them simultaneously.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Equity2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6034,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2020\/09\/community-engagement-network\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":4},"title":"Community Engagement Network","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Community Engagement Network\u2013offering support to people working in the arts and community engagement.","rel":"","context":"In "Community Engagement Network"","block_context":{"text":"Community Engagement Network","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/community-engagement-network\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Network.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6337,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/04\/join-the-conversation\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":5},"title":"Join the Conversation","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The nonprofit arts industry must act on equity, not just talk about it. Join a conversation about setting quantifiable benchmarks for making progress.","rel":"","context":"In "Community Engagement Network"","block_context":{"text":"Community Engagement Network","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/community-engagement-network\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/GroupDiscussion.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6388"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6393,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6388\/revisions\/6393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}