Today’s episode features an encore presentation of a talk that originally aired in 2019 during the first Annual Belonging at Work Summit. In many respects, 2019 represents another world, one that no longer reflects our reality. Yet, the concept of community care was alive before COVID-19, and in 2022 it is becoming more of a regular practice.
In my book, Imagine Belonging, I describe the concept of Community Care as a practice where each of us uses our relative power, privilege and resources to better the people who are both in and out of our scope of influence. When it comes to equitably including the diversity of our world into our workplaces, it is imperative that DEI practitioners embrace the compassion practice of community care, which asks us to give support where we can to our colleagues, and being vulnerable enough to ask for support when we need it.
Community care was a concept first introduced to me by Aida Mandulay. Aida is an award-winning Latinx activist, international presenter, and trauma-focused clinician known for big earrings and building bridges. Trained as a sexuality educator, social worker, and nonprofit management professional, they work to make the world a more equitable place through education, therapy, and community organizing.
What you’re about to hear, is Aida’s approach to community-care. When it comes to the workplace, one of the core tenants of community care is to cultivate a workplace culture that not only addresses harm, but also helps prevent harm, knowing that harm will undoubtedly happen. It’s about mutuality, it’s about interdependence. It’s about all of us taking care of each other. Giving support when we can, asking for support when needed, and continuing to show up so that we can collectively maintain the stamina to advance our DEI goals…
During Aida’s talk, they remind us:
· “Militant self-care is about compassion and context. Its’ about not masking who we really are, or pretending that we have more bandwidth than we actually do. Rather, it’s self-care that is rooted in the idea of community. It challenges the superficial notions of what self-care is and upends the very individualized idea of self-care which is dominant in most corporate environments.”
· Aida also reminds us to “Use your organizational values as a guiding framework in your everyday. Rather than thinking about them just once a year, bringing them up at literally every staff meeting. How are we aligning with our vision? How are we aligning with our values today? If we have a workplace conflict, let’s look at our values. How would our values dictate that we addressed this? Just by doing that, you’re getting closer to being authentic and being the kind of organization you want to be.”
· And lastly, Aida has this to say about relationships - “If you think that time is money, then I’m asking you to invest the time and the money to build human relationships that will actually sustain your work and make your workplace culture a healthy one. Transforming a toxic work culture does a lot for retention, especially retention of underrepresented employees.”
There are so many other incredible takeaways from Aida’s talk today. Savor them all, and if you like what Aida has to share, consider joining the Belonging Membership Community, where you’ll have a chance to observe and embody community care compassion practices, as you connect with other DEI professionals ready to support you as you advance your DEI goals: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com.
Visit www.imaginebelongingatwork.com for more details on how you can share your feedback!! If you have questions, show topics you’d like to explore, or if you have guest recommendations, you can share those on this same webpage under the “Ask Rhodes” tab.
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