“Being able to put D&I in the context of our mission really helped to get genuine buy-in from across our team. It just clicked.”
Liz McCarthy
D&I Lead
Dogpatch Labs
Start With Why
For Executive Decision Makers
Understanding the drivers for your D&I strategy is essential in determining the direction, strategy and alignment.
Having a vision will help you establish what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it. Whether you are revising a pre-existing D&I plan or creating one for the first time, outlining the ‘Why’ is the most useful tool for ensuring your efforts focused on addressing topics that are relevant to your hub and it’s goals.
Define Your D&I Statement
At the very start of your journey, clearly define why you believe there is a need for a D&I strategy at your hub and how it relates to your hubs central mission.
This can still be a useful exercise for you’ve already got a well-developed D&I strategy help inform what you’re prioritising going forward as you build this strategy out.
Here’s an example of Dogpatch Labs D&I statement and the structure we used to write it
Some Useful Resources
Below are three different assets which can help you define your ‘why’
Atomico
Atomico designed this great D&I guide for VC firms, which has a short and sweet piece about defining your D&I mission.
Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek’s, the father of ‘why’, has some in-depth webinar resources on this website which can help you define your ‘why’
Forbes
Take a look at this article for a deeper understanding of the why in D&I and use the 5 P’s to help you define your hubs ‘D&I why’