Community Inclusion - DEIB Ops Sprint
Let’s create together a tactical action plan to address diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in our online community spaces.
What is the community inclusion ops sprint?
As you learned in a previous workshop with Burb and Jephtah Abu, it's our job as community builders to create safe and inclusive places for our members.
So, in three 1h-sessions starting on September 13 you’ll learn to:
Navigate diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the online community building world and explore common topics
Talk about the structural things community builders should look out for + put in place
Discuss language, tone, and online power dynamics
Improve our understanding of tech accessibility on various community platforms
Share intersectional perspectives of online communities and how to use these identities as strengths
Who should attend this ops sprint?
If you facilitate an online community, whether you're a volunteer moderator, full-time community manager, executive decision maker, or anything in between, this is for you. As long as you want to build a space for your members to thrive, this three-day sprint will hold something for you.
Who is leading this event?
Burb is producing this event with Nivi Achanta, Abbiola Ballah, Laneen Wells, and Kriselle Gabriel, who all represent a diversity of experiences and work professionally on creating inclusion online and offline. Learn more about their work by clicking on their names, and we'll share more on how each speaker fits into the sessions below.
What will we actually cover?
All three sessions will be moderated by Nivi Achanta, who is a Burb superuser. Her favorite activity is making connections between people (surprise, surprise), and she's excited to introduce her three other incredible co-speakers in their sessions:
Day 1 | September 13 @ 10am PDT | Action plan creation
Yup, you heard that right – Day 1 starts with taking action. Your facilitator, Abbiola Ballah, who is an expert at the intersection of inclusion and online community building, will walk us through a quick grounding exercise on DEIB, especially if you missed our previous workshop. What Abbiola has found, though, is that many people (especially community builders) know that we should be “doing something” around DEIB, we just don't know how to navigate all the overwhelming information. So, on Day 1, we'll talk about how you structure a community that is welcoming to all people, and how you can think about saying and doing the “right” things. Come with any questions even if they're scary, including what to do when you've said something wrong, and how to deal with tricky situations. Abbiola’s got some answers!
Day 2 | September 14 @ 10am PDT | Digital accessibility in online communities
One of the most tangible ways to make communities more equitable is to make them accessible! What does “accessible” mean for online communities? Laneen Wells has been walking organizations through what this means and actions they can take. You probably are somewhat familiar with concepts like “alt text” and “transcripts”, but if you're anything like us, you're not 100% sure what you're supposed to be doing with these terms. We’ll define these, and other accessibility tips, as well as spend some time on why digital accessibility matters so much. After setting aside a few minutes for an interactive activity, we’ll open the floor for Q&A! Join us so you can get started right away on making your online community more accessible.
Day 3 | September 15 @ 10am PDT | Self-reflection and accountability
We've worked so hard over the past couple days on grounding ourselves in DEIB concepts and taking action within our communities. Now it's time to make sure these action steps last.
We'll close with a speaker panel where Kriselle Gabriel and Laneen Wells will discuss neurodiversity and disabilities, share their lived experiences, and ground us one final time in the “why” of it all. Then, we'll set up accountability structures to keep your momentum up!
Come as you are – no experience required!
The MOST important thing we want to share is that you do not need any experience to attend this session. We often stop ourselves from creating the change we hope to see because we feel that we don't know enough, but you do! You are ready – come join us, and we'll go on this journey together and come out of it as wiser community builders. ✅