New Years Inclusion Resolutions

Inclusion is a journey of learning, unlearning, and listening to those most affected by exclusionary practices. It takes work, but with practice, inclusion can become more intuitive and transform the environments you’re in. 

As the year comes to an end, you might be thinking about next year’s priorities for your personal development and for your company. Make inclusion at the heart of both. 

We asked our inclusion experts and gathered some of their top resources from the past year to help you get started:

From the experts: 

Look deeper. 

“One thing for the new year: Ask yourself who is encouraged to belong and who is othered in every program or space you are a part of. If you notice othering or predictable patterns of belonging, don’t just accept it, disrupt it. You can use design to create belonging and reduce othering. Belonging is the outcome we can all work toward.” – Susie Wise

Uncover commonalities. 

“When planning each work meeting, think of and list something you have in common with each participant. Write something new every time, even if it’s for a repeat participant. Research finds that this simple repositioning in our thinking makes us more inclusive and, thus, the world more socially just.” – Bea Boccalandro 

Act with intent. 

“Set aside 30 minutes a week to really think deeply about diversity and inclusion. This could involve talking to colleagues or taking the time to search for interesting articles and podcasts on the topic. Don’t just have a vague resolution to do this. Put it in your calendar as a repeated event and make it happen”! – Gus Alexiou

Listen: 

Expand your inclusion understanding by adopting consistent opportunities to hear from inclusion experts and people with lived experiences. Whether you listen during your daily commute or rote tasks, podcasts are easy to adopt into your routine. One place to start: IncludrPod.

With host Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman as your guide, IncludrPod asks the tough questions and shares experiences and research focused on fostering inclusion in our everyday lives. This season, we discuss inclusive language, bias, psychological safety, workplace design, and put it all into perspective to provide practical tips to exhibit inclusion in your everyday life.

Read: 

Learning new stories and tools helps give us the perspective needed to not just practice, but understand inclusion and bias in our own lives. Expand the diversity of the authors you read and consider inclusion-focused reading goals. Here’s one to add to your list: 

In Speaking of Race, Celeste Headlee explains why everyone needs to talk about race and how to do it. Leaning on her personal life experience and career in public journalism, Headlee shares practical tools, personal anecdotes, and the latest research to offer support. 

Practice: 

Inclusion is a continuous practice in an ever-evolving world. Take a moment to reflect on the environments you’re in and what might be most beneficial to bring into those spaces, creating inclusion for everyone. Our InPractice articles all offer research-inspired inclusion hacks. 

Inclusion advocate Benjy Kusi shares his resolution, that might be one way to practice deep inclusion in your own life: “My inclusion resolution for the new year is to incorporate more microaffirmations into my day-to-day. Microaffirmations are small, everyday acts of inclusion that acknowledge the value of others, and they help us maintain an equity mindset and approach. A simple one we can all try is to recognise and celebrate the contributions of those around us, however small.”

Hack Microaffirmations counter microaggressions. One way to practice microaffirmations during introductions is by asking how to pronounce someone’s name and then learning it correctly, rather than the microaggression of habitually mispronouncing someone’s name.

Whatever you choose, take actionable, informed strides to prioritize inclusion today, and every day this year.