In this fast-paced opening session, you will get to know your fellow peers, hear their biggest internal communications challenges, and you can also learn a few fun facts!

What gets measured gets solved. Getting your metrics right is the most critical for DEI professionals and leaders of organizations assess their current practices to produce actionable data for decision making and enacting a robust and sustainable commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice. Gain insights from the Deal Solutions Group LLC., DEI metrics canvas, metrics comparison, metrics scorecard and assessment tools. This training, led by Oshawn Jefferson, RBLP-T, competitive strategist, and diversity champion helps DEI leaders take a big picture view to build sustainable and innovative DEI programs and initiatives.

Learn how a government communications team is adapting its approach to serve all workers in all environments, including:

• Creating relevant and sustainable metrics
• Assessing DEI programs and initiatives
• Evaluating DEI scorecards and assessments

The year 2020 rocked all walks of life and left communications professionals scrambling to communicate rapid change in topics ranging from COVID-19 to racial and social injustice. During this presentation, UPMC’s team will take a look back to George Floyd’s murder, an event that ignited Internal Communications at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) to speak up and showcase their long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, educate staff about their role in fostering diversity and inclusion at UPMC, motivate them to take action, and show employees’ UPMC’s commitment to creating an environment of diversity and inclusion.

During this session, you will learn how to:

• Leverage your staff’s personal experiences to amplify an inclusive and authentic culture
• Handle the haters and learn how to communicate with them, too
• Define diversity, inclusion, intent vs. impact, and how to keep the conversation going

As you lay the foundations for your diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, it’s important to acknowledge the role of microaggressions in the workplace and how those affect your employees.

During this session, you will learn:

• What microaggressions, microassaults, microinsults and microinvalidations are—and the consequences they have on your work environments
• Things you can do when you’re a witness or a target of a microaggression
• Actions and next steps to make a positive impact

Our cultural and religious traditions reflect who we are. And yet, many organizations shy away from communicating them. Even more often, leaders tend to recognize the holidays that are most important to them, often leaving other employees feeling left out. A group of Mount Sinai employees, including members of the Center for Spirituality and Health, Office for Diversity and Inclusion, and Marketing and Communications department, came up with a plan to communicate religious holidays inclusively and thoughtfully.

In this session, you will learn:

• What to consider when communicating religious holidays
• How to engage your employees in the conversation
• Best practices for building content around religious and cultural holidays

Organizations tend to rely heavily on their intranet and internal email to communicate in respect of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but making tangible progress in their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts needs to focus just as much on the external view. Communicators play a critical role by championing a comprehensive communications approach that can engender meaningful progress. Hear Pearson's journey to communicate their DE&I progress and ways that communicators can advance an organization’s DE&I goals.

In this session, you will learn:

• The role external communications can play
• The importance of partnerships
• The need to think about community visibility

Have you found yourself asking where to start with DEI or the role a communicator plays? We have assembled a panel of communicators who can answer your questions and provide tips on the challenges you’re facing within your organization.