Reaching Diverse Audiences

A common request from individuals is the desire to learn strategies or techniques on how to reach diverse community members.  These requests fall along the continuum of a genuine desire to meet the needs of the changing demographics in one’s community and not knowing where or how to start to a desire to work with a new and diverse audience “without offending them.”  Successfully reaching and building sustained, authentic relationships with diverse audiences entails work that needs to take place at the personal (values, beliefs, feelings), interpersonal (actions, behaviors, language), institutional (rules, policies and procedures) and cultural (what is right, normal, desired) levels.   Below are a few thoughts, strategies and techniques that can support effective and sustained efforts to work with diverse audiences.

Build and nurture diverse networks – Much of your success in reaching diverse audiences relies on building and nurturing relationships.  It is important to connect with both formal and informal community leaders and help them guide and influence your work within their communities.  They are the “experts” on their communities and should be honored as such.  Building these diverse contacts may also assist in other ways such as identifying other issues to partner on to address, identifying future diverse employees, or learning about the history of oppression and resiliency of the people in their community.  

Be willing to investigate issues of power and privilege – Many of the barriers and obstacles to working effectively in diverse communities are informed by issues of power and privilege.  It is important to be open to hearing and learning how power and privilege are impacting your working relationships with diverse community members and working together to identify how you can work to share power and to use privilege to support social justice, inclusion and equity. 

Work to build trust – Probably more than anything else, building trust is central to effectively reaching diverse audiences.  Trust must be a mutually defined relational principle that needs continuous work and updating.  It is effortful, intentional and ongoing. Developing trust across difference requires active listening that is focused on attempting to understand the realities of others and honors their realities as being just as relevant as your own. Trust is centered on the ability to reduce denial and defensiveness and a commitment to remaining in the relationship and “at the table” as the relationship develops and when tension or discomfort arises.

Prioritize building and nurturing relationships with “cultural connectors” – It is important to develop connections with individuals who can help you to better understand the diverse communities you want to reach and serve as a liaison as you navigate this new opportunity.  These individuals may also be helpful in understanding and interpreting cultural differences or nuances that may be impacting your programming or outreach efforts that may be invisible to you and your organization.  These individuals can be wonderful bridge builders with the community as you look to transform your how you conduct your business and more effectively reach the needs of the community.

Remain humble and willing to learn – Although you may have a vast wealth of knowledge and expertise on your subject or program, realize that it is just one set of information that may be helpful to this new and diverse audience you are wanting to work with.  As an educator/facilitator, how do you position yourself to be a co-learner in your interactions with these individuals and connect your expertise with existing assets and wisdom that already exist with these individuals and in their communities?  How can you also humbly change, adapt or transform the process and content of your work to better meet the realities and needs of this new audience?

Be aware of how often discussion/efforts to reach diverse audiences are problematized – Make a conscious effort to be aware of how conversations related to reaching diverse audiences are most times described within the context of challenges and problems not as opportunities connected to the very relevancy and mission of your organization.  These conversations tend to focus on difficult individuals or perceived cultural deficits that cause barriers rather than systemic (organizational) rules, policies, procedures or “traditions” (written and unwritten) that support exclusion and discrimination. Centering these discussions on problems or challenges can also add to the fear that individuals or organizations may already have entering into these relationships.  What would be the result of a conversation that asked the question, “What can we learn about ourselves, individually and as an organization, if we commit to understanding the assets of diverse members of our community and how we can work in partnership to address important issues affecting us all?” Each of us needs to find a voice to help interrupt “problem based” conversations and move us toward working collaboratively to build new, more inclusive systems and approaches.

Be open and curious (rather than judgmental and oft putting) – One of the most important things we can do when working with or reaching diverse audiences is to be open to learning about new ways to interpret the world, new forms of knowledge/wisdom and challenging our assumptions and stereotypes of people different from ourselves.  We need to challenge ourselves when our thoughts and actions with these individuals comes from a place of “better than/less than” judgment  and instead open ourselves to being curious, asking questions and taking risks which may challenge our level of comfort or our sense of superiority.

Hire and actively retain diverse individuals from the community – One important way to show a level of commitment and sustainability for your work with diverse audiences is to prioritize hiring diverse, multi-lingual, culturally aware members of the community you hope to partner with and reach.  Hiring these individuals can send an important message about your commitment to the community and these individuals can also bring some valuable and needed skills to your agency.  As important as it is to hire these individuals, it is just as important to have in place a plan to retain these individuals especially if they are being hired on grant dollars or other soft monies. 

Hire dominant group members with culturally relevant skills – Organizations may find it difficult to be competitive when trying to recruit diverse individuals into their workforce.  However, this should not be an excuse for developing processes, procedures and policies which set an expectation that all new or existing staff will develop or will possess skills needed to work effectively across differences, regardless of their background or position.  Creating an organizational climate that values staff with culturally competent skills can also send a clear message about your commitment to issues of inclusion and equity that may support your work in diverse communities. 

Engage with the audiences outside of your program or outreach effort – Being visible in the diverse communities you want to reach is essential to the success of your program.  Your visibility should not be tied solely to your programming or outreach efforts but should reflect a genuine desire to know, understand and connect with community members in their environment and on their terms.  For example, this may mean joining a community based organization or effort, attending local events or activities, or volunteering with a community based organization.  Your visibility in the community outside of your particular program or outreach effort will help build trust, provide you with a larger insight into the community and possibly develop other relational currency that will support the success of your outreach effort as it begins to unfold in the community.

Be aware of and challenge your biases and stereotypes of the group – Much of the information that we are exposed to on a daily basis across and about differences is laden with bias, stereotypes and fear.  We can spend energy denying that we hold these biases, stereotypes and fears about people different from ourselves or we can be aware when this information enters our thinking - challenge this thinking - and find ways to replace this information by building connected, supportive and authentic relationships with people different from ourselves. 

Listen for (and work to understand) the complexities of the realities of these diverse groups – Fight the inclination to try and find simple or quick “fixes” to complex, historical and systemic legacies of exclusion, discrimination and oppression.  Position yourself to listen deeply to the complex realities that make up the lives of people different from yourself and how there may be work that needs to occur at the intersections of identities such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and other differences.  Honor what a gift it is if a person different from you decides to share their reality with you and work against the tendency to disregard or minimize the impact of differences in this person’s life as it may not be your experience or reality. 

Be clear, sensitive, creative and flexible in gathering data and evaluating program impact – There may be real or perceived dangers or fears of providing personal information or other data that you may need as part of your program or program evaluation.  Much of these fears may be rooted in past negative experiences with “governmental” agencies seeking information or an unclear understanding of why this information is being collected and how it will be used.  It is important for you to share verbally and in writing what information you will be requesting from participants, how this information will be used and why obtaining this information is important to your program (and hopefully to the participants).  This information may need to be shared more than once and possibly in partnership with a trusted community partner who can help answer any questions that participants have and address any fears that may arise.  Additionally, you may need to find culturally relevant methods to administer evaluation processes for your work.  This may include using focus groups, using both written and oral instruments to capture impact, networking with other agencies that have worked on collecting data or evaluating programs with these audiences and discussing what did or did not work for them or working with the group to identify an effective way to gather this data. 

Move from savior to partner – Too many well intentioned efforts to reach diverse audiences have fallen short when individuals or organizations, directly or indirectly, enter these engagements with a savior mentality.  The individual or organization feels or acts as if by their mere presence, program or expertise, they can help save the community out of despair or disrepair and that the community lacks the skills or abilities to effectively address issues impacting their lives.   We need to consider a more effective approach in working with diverse audiences which centers on working with the community to address issues in partnership, helping to make visible the assets of the community and linking community assets with those that you bring to the table.  This partnership should also reflect, nurture and sustain some of the following core values including open communication, shared responsibility, ways to deal with conflict effectively, equity over equality and trust.

Celebrate Successes – It is important to take time to celebrate successes in this process whether they are big or small.  It is also important to honor the intentional and hard work that goes into developing and sustaining partnerships across differences through celebrations.  Celebrating successes can be another vehicle to build more authentic, healed and connected relationships across differences.

Interested in joining with others to learn and share more about reaching diverse audiences?  Feel free to join me for the webinar, “Beyond the Numbers: Considerations for Working with Latino/Hispanic Audiences.”  The webinar will be held on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 from 11am to 1pm (EST) and then again on Thursday, October 25, 2012 from 1pm to 3pm (EST).  Participation in the webinar will be limited to the first 40 individuals. 

You can connect with the webinar at https://connect.msu.edu/ec11j2/

This webinar is sponsored by the eXtension Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Community of Practice (CoP)

Dionardo Pizaña

Diversity and Personnel Specialist

Michigan State University Extension

President Obama’s Support for Same-Sex Marriage

President Obama recently articulated his support of marriage between gay individuals.  This is a controversial issue with some believing that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.  There are some issues of equality (or inequality) at the base of this discussion.    Can we be a country that assures equality and not affirm gay marriage? Weigh in with your thoughts.  

Please click on the link below to view the New York Times article for background information.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/us/politics/obama-says-same-sex-marriage-should-be-legal.html?pagewanted=all

Trayvon Martin

CoP Members, here is a link to an article published by The New York Times on the Trayvon Martin Case: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/trayvon_martin/index.html.

We have had some discussions in our last two CoP meetings about this important matter. Please join in the conversation and share your thoughts.

Federal Agencies to Develop a Strategic Plan to Insure a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce

On August 18, 2011, President Obama issued an  Executive Order directing  each federal agency to develop a strategic plan for diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce.  Focus is to be placed on recruiting, retaining, promoting, developing and training a diverse and inclusive workforce.

 Higher Education Institutions, non-profit agencies and private industry are also developing plans to insure a workplace that is inclusive.  Take a look at the President’s Executive Order and let us know  how your agency or institution  insures a diverse and inclusive workplace.  What are the key components of your plan?

Click on the link to view the President’s Executive Order: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/18/executive-order-establishing-coordinated-government-wide-initiative-prom

Julie Middleton

Building and Maintaining Trust in Relationships across Differences

Dionardo Pizaña, Diversity and Personnel Specialist

Michigan State University Extension

A key fundamental characteristic for developing and maintaining healthy relationships across differences is the development and preservation of trust. Being willing to be engaged in an interaction across differences at the interpersonal or organizational level in and of itself does not signify that trust exists in these relationships.  Trust must be a mutually defined relational principle that needs continuous work and updating.  It is effortful, intentional and ongoing. Developing trust across difference requires active listening that is focused on attempting to understand the realities of others and honors their realities as being just as relevant as my own. Trust is centered on the ability to reduce denial and defensiveness and a commitment to remaining in the relationship and “at the table” as the relationship develops and when tension or discomfort arises. Trust evolves as we intentionally identify the places where our relationship gets stuck and work together as co-equals to figure out how we will keep the relationship intact operating from a place of wholeness, health and authenticity.

Helpful considerations that assist in the development and maintenance of trust across differences are:

·         Never assuming that trust is inherent in a relationship, especially across differences and that instead, it needs to be developed, nurtured and maintained over time.

·         Living in a society and within communities that have been historically segregated based on race, class and other differences, we have been overtly and subtly exposed to information about each other based in fear and stereotypes which have supported mistrust rather than trust.

·         Many of our past experiences across differences have lead us to mistrust each other, or at the minimum questions each other’s motives, which may only be changed through ongoing, positive and supportive interactions across differences.

·         The way that trust is defined and earned varies based on differences (race, gender, disabilities, sexual orientation, and class). It is important to use “both/and” thinking related to trust, rather than “either/or” thinking.

Helpful relationship skills that assist in the development and maintenance of trust across differences are:

·         Being open and honest

·         Being willing to suspend judgment or disbelief when someone of difference shares their reality, which might be vastly different from your own (related to experiences with individuals, within a work setting, within a community context, etc.)

·         Being willing to accept (and hopefully understand) the emotions that may be expressed by people of difference attached to their life experiences and not attach negativism to the person or their emotions

·         Being willing to recognize, discuss and own my points of privilege while working to use my privilege in support of social justice, equity and inclusion

·         Being willing to be a lifelong learner about issues related to differences on your own and in community with people different from yourself

·         Giving up the need to be right

·         Work toward outcomes grounded in equity rather than equality

·         Being comfortable with unfinished conversations knowing that as we build trust in our relationships through authentic interactions, our conversations and relationship will grow deeper overtime.

·         Being committed to change at the personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural levels

·         Fighting against the tendency to want to “fix” (savior mentality) situations for people of difference rather than engaging in conversations related to empowerment, shared power and partnership

·         Reframing questions to come up with new, more inclusive approaches (i.e., instead of asking “Is race playing into this situation?” we might ask, “How is race playing into this situation?”)

·         Finding ways to articulate and actualize how addressing issues of racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism and other forms of oppression will move us all toward our human core of connectedness, community, love and relationship

·         Looking first at myself when feelings of mad, sad or scared surface in relationships across differences rather than pointing the finger outward in a blaming or shaming manner

·         Be intentional about documenting your stories of developing and maintaining trust across differences as a way of celebrating your successes, sharing this information with new members of your community/organization/work, and as a way to hold yourselves accountable to your vision of trust, inclusiveness, and equity

What have you done to develop and maintain trust across differences in your personal, community or other relationships/work?

How have you worked to develop and maintain trust across differences using social media or other forms of electronic communication?  Is this possible?

What has been your biggest challenge or opportunity as you work toward building trust across differences?

How to Make Your Business a Multicultural Success

http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/219707

Cultural Competence: A Journey or a Destination?

What is cultural competence?  Is it something that you have or can obtain (a destination) or is it a life time journey of learning and change at the personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural levels?  Does cultural competence only apply to race or does it encompass other differences such as gender, class, disabilities, sexual orientation and religion?  Are there certain individuals or professionals who are more apt to have cultural competence based on their group identities, disciplines or other factors or is cultural competence something that is accessible to all?  These are only a few of the questions that arise when one begins to investigate the notion of cultural competence and the varying perspectives related to this idea. 

In my work on myself and with individuals, organizations and communities, I have begun to understand cultural competence as a process which:

·         Is as much about learning about myself as it is about learning about “the other”

·         Is centered on relationship building across differences

·         Is about building trust across differences

·         Is as much about process (what I do and how I do it) as it is about content (knowledge)

·         Contains a power and privilege analysis

·         Acknowledges the complexities of the interconnectedness of people’s identities

·         Looks at issues of oppression and change at the personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural levels

·         Incorporates a social justice framework to intentionally look at inequities and inequalities and how systems continue to advantage some groups at the expense of others

·         Has individuals, communities and organizations reframing questions and seeking new, inclusive and equitable outcomes

As I reflect more on cultural competence, I realize that it begins with me.  It occurs to me that it is a mixture of a lifelong process of change, skill development, risk taking, curiosity, and questioning.  At times this process can be independent because of the work I need to do on myself.  It can also be dependent and life giving because of the work that I need to do with people who are like me and those who are different from me to build a community of support, challenge and accountability.  As a person of color, I am also aware that I can be further ahead on my journey toward cultural competence in some identity areas such as race and still have an enormous amount of work to do in areas related to gender/patriarchy, sexual orientation and other identity areas where I have more privilege and power.  And there are times when I am not sure if cultural competence is the appropriate term to describe this transformative journey toward equity, inclusiveness and social justice. 

Social justice educator and author Paul Kivel (www.paulkivel.com) provides us with this definition of cultural competence which I have found helpful, “Cultural competency is not something we have or don’t have. It is a process of learning about and becoming allies with people from other cultures, thereby broadening our own understanding and ability to participate in a multicultural process. The key element to becoming more culturally competent is respect for the ways that others live in and organize the world and an openness to learn from them.”

What are your thoughts about cultural competence?  What have you, your organization or your community done related to issues of cultural competence?  What is missing from my thoughts presented about cultural competence? What have been your success stories as they relate to cultural competence?  What is your biggest challenge as you work toward cultural competence? 

Dionardo Pizaña

Diversity and Personnel Specialist

Michigan State University Extension