Inclusion and Equity Practice

Much of the content in this section is drawn from the CONVERGE Canadian Labs Handbook, with permission. The CONVERGE gathering for lab practitioners across Canada was held with ~130 lab practitioners in Vancouver in June 2018; the first time this community gathered together in person. Here is the final report. Many deep insights emerged from this gathering; they can be found below and on the sub-tabs to this section.

Insights from the CONVERGE Canadian Lab Practitioners Exchange

• To dismantle oppression, you must understand the deep history including who benefitted from it. Ask yourself, how has my history, culture and identity led me to this work and where you are now? What strengths and privileges do you gain from power and oppression?

• Being human together, not just minds - connecting past the boxes we put people in in our hearts and bringing our hearts, feelings, our whole selves. Practicing really hearing and seeing each other in a deeper way than just intellect.

• We must invest in engaging and working with our most vulnerable peoples as they often have the least individual surplus of time and money.

• We can create spaces to explore the mainstream and margin at play in every group, organization and system using Deep Democracy principles. This exercise on rank can be a good place to start to learn to negotiate these dynamics with dignity, clarity and accountability. Note: this is a high-trust exercise, proceed with care.

Present Questions

• What is the balance between tokenism and targeted diversity? Is it possible to go too far down the equity path laid with good intentions and lose sight of the practice?

• What kinds of borders are we putting around our gatherings? What fears are they serving?

• How can we create an environment where we can ask the hard questions of ourselves and each other, staying in respectful relationship through the discomfort?