The IAVM Diversity and Inclusive Leadership Committee (DILC) promotes diversity and inclusive leadership within the ranks of IAVM membership, its programming, and its volunteer committees.
In addition to offering scholarships that help broaden the number of traditionally underrepresented groups in the venue management industry, this committee also offers learning opportunities and training—including various sessions at VenueConnect, or their recent E3 video series (E3 stands for Engage, Explore, Encourage).
At a diversity session during VenueConnect titled, “A Fireplace Chat on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion,” guest speaker Dr. Nicholas Pearce spoke about the comfort level that comes when teams (or entire industries) operate homogeneously:
“Diversity [means] human differences of all kinds. Although it feels good to have people agree with you and automatically see through the same lense, diversity makes us work harder and turn our brains to a higher gear. You’re asking more questions and listening more intently.”
2020 caused many of us at EventBooking to consider some uncomfortable truths and listen “more intently.” While there are too many of those truths to catalogue here, this was one: Positive change cannot happen unless we move beyond awareness and into action.
We recognize that it can be all too easy for some to watch from the sidelines as disproportionate swaths of people face inequities in multiple spheres of society—inequities that many of us may never experience due to our various positions of privilege. We recognize that while sincere and well-meaning words can go a long way, actions speak louder still.
In this spirit of action and tangible impact, EventBooking has allocated financial resources to support the IAVM Diversity and Inclusiveness Leadership Committee in their goals for our industry.
In the words of Dr. Pearce, we too believe that diversity, inclusivity, and equity is not a “nice-to-have bonus,” but rather a necessity with imperative, holistic benefits—on a personal and organizational level.
We are humbled to have continued discussions with the leadership of this committee, Ebony Hattix and Cynthia Tucker, to come alongside them as an official partner and supporter of the incredible work they are doing.
To find out more about IAVM’s DILC, please visit https://www.iavm.org/diversity-and-inclusive-leadership-committee
“The time is always right to do what is right.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.