Association CEO Conscious Inclusion Pledge
Association CEOs understand and value the diverse and inclusive work environment, membership and culture that are a defining characteristic of high-performing organizations. Acknowledging their role as change agents and transformational leaders, association CEOs take the following pledge to practice inclusive leadership and actively cultivate a culture and environment of organizational diversity, inclusion and belonging.
1. We will lead by example by working to understand our own unconscious biases, encouraging different opinions, and creating a work environment and culture that leverages the different skills and experiences people contribute to organizational thinking and performance. We will continually educate our employees at all levels about our desired DEI culture and how our goals can be advanced both strategically and in everyday interactions. We will nurture a diverse recruitment pipeline to source qualified candidates from underrepresented demographics.
2. We will promote collaborative thinking, knowledge sharing and best practices for growing diversity, equity and inclusion in the association management profession. We recognize that associations large and small are in differing stages of DEI evolution and we commit to helping to strengthen our community’s leadership role in confronting pervasive inequalities in hiring practices, leadership advancement, compensation and organizational culture. We also commit to expanding our organizations’ capacity to offer DEI educational curriculum and other resources that will benefit the industries and professions we collectively represent.
3. We will support and promote the value of civil discourse internally in our everyday work and in our boardrooms, and externally in the political process. We recognize that people from different backgrounds and cultures bring a varied perspective to problem-solving and that, to unlock new solutions, we must set the “table stakes” of how these discussions and debates should be conducted – with transparency, integrity and civility. As stakeholders in the political process, we will also encourage our elected representatives at the federal and state levels to transcend partisan divides; to engage in constructive, civil discourse; and to find solutions on issues that matter to all Americans.
5. We will embrace the value of data when it comes to our organizations’ progress on our DEI journey and devote resources and attention to areas identified as lagging in our benchmarking processes. We recognize that our approach to Conscious Inclusion will continue to evolve based on the changing environment in which we operate and what we learn along our DEI journey. We commit to continual progress to the point where DEI is embedded in the culture of how our organizations think and conduct activities, with the goal of unlocking the full potential of a diverse workforce and membership.