Category: DEI

NCRA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Presentation Guidelines
Developed in May 2020, updated in June 2022

The following guidelines are not intended to guarantee a product or piece of information is appropriate to all audiences. Rather, we hope that this document will serve as a point of reference and stimulate careful consideration by anyone preparing a presentation.

Some of them were gleaned from the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), Cultural Considerations: Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Presentations. The article is well worth reading as are the resources presented there.

1. Cross Cultural: Consider how different cultures may relate to your subject.
2. Language and Literacy: Think about your audiences preferred languages – both spoken and signed, and literacy level.
3. Diverse Perspectives: Use case studies, scenarios, or vignettes examples that reflect diverse perspectives.
4. Build Connections: Aim to create a presentation that supports new or renewed connections and community-building.
5. Positive Examples: Include positive examples from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Also include examples from urban, suburban, and rural frontier populations, as well as examples from U.S. territories and 
tribal communities.
6. Diverse Data: Where available include statistics, demographic data or trends about racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse groups as appropriate or indicate where it is not available.
7. Diverse Images: Portray images, graphics, and visual aids that both incorporate people with disabilities and reflect the culturally and ethnically diverse groups and communities in which they live. Avoid type casting.
8. Resource Languages: Indicate whether the resources highlighted in your presentation are available in different languages.
9. Honor Experience and Struggles: Recognize that many sustainable practices and norms today have been practiced for many generations and the roots of the Zero-Waste movement lie in the decades long experiences and struggles of communities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
10. Integrity: While giving your presentation, speak with integrity, avoid assumptions and generalizations.

NCRA’s mission is to end waste, but our vision is broader. We strive for an equitable future that sustains ecosystems so they may provide benefits to all people – regardless of age, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, class, ability, language, or cultural background. We know that climate and environmental justice are inherently tied to social justice and that systemic racism, and the resulting social, physical, and economic inequalities have significant impacts in the waste, reuse, and recycling industries. We seek to engage and elevate those most impacted by systemic racism as we cannot solve our most pressing environmental problems without listening to their voices, ideas and solutions.