Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy

Don't Panic Management is a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace.

At DPM, all employees, contractors, and clients, no matter who they are or what they believe, are valued and respected.

We do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity expression, family or marital status, education, disability, language, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, socio-economic status, veteran status, or any other characteristic that may make our Don’t Panic family unique and special.

We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provide equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all of our interactions, relationships, and work products. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and we ensure that all voices are valued and heard.

Our team is the most valuable asset we have. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities, and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture but our reputation and company’s achievement as well.

We’re committed to modeling diversity and inclusion for all businesses, and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.

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To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, Don’t Panic Management strives to:
  • See diversity, inclusion, and equity as connected to our mission and critical to ensuring the well-being of our staff and the communities we serve.
  • Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report organizational progress.
  • Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.
  • Advocate for and support executive-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.
  • Help to challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader at our organization, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.
  • Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions.
  • Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our team.
  • Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all employees to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.
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Don’t Panic Management abides by the following action items to help promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace:

  • Pursue cultural competency throughout our organization by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies.
  • Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward the visibility of our diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts. Once the content is curated it will be added to our website so others can access and updated yearly.
  • Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of American society.
  • Pool resources and expand offerings for underrepresented constituents by connecting with other organizations committed to diversity and inclusion efforts.
  • Develop and present sessions on diversity, inclusion, and equity to provide information and resources internally and to the industries we serve.
  • Develop a system for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the hiring, promoting, and evaluating process. Train our hiring team on equitable practices.
  • Include a salary range with all public job descriptions.
  • Advocate for public and private-sector policy that promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity. Challenge systems and policies that create inequity, oppression, and disparity.

Definitions

Diversity

Diversity is the presence of differences within a given setting. In this case, the workplace is the setting and the differences typically refer to identities like race and gender, and sometimes ethnicity, religion, nationality, or sexual orientation. A person isn’t diverse. They’re unique. They can bring diversity to a group, though. You’re not looking for a diverse candidate. Diversity is about a collective or a group.

Inclusion

Inclusion has to do with people with different identities feeling and/or being valued, leveraged, and welcomed within a given setting (whether that’s a team, workplace, or industry). Longtime Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion educator, Vernā Myers, said: “Diversity is being asked to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” Inclusion isn’t a natural consequence of diversity. You can have a diverse team of talent, but that doesn’t mean they feel welcomed or valued or are given opportunities to grow.

Equity

Equity is an approach that ensures everyone has access to the same opportunities. Equity recognizes that we don’t all start from the same place because advantages and barriers exist. It’s a process that acknowledges uneven starting places and seeks to correct the imbalance. Diversity and inclusion are both outcomes. Equity is not. It refers to the process an organization engages in to ensure that people with marginalized identities have the opportunity to grow, contribute, and develop.