INCLUSIONVILLE – It is with great pleasure that we announce the public launch of the Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Council of Excellence (DIECE), an organization that aims to provide intentional space and community to support new and emerging diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) professionals.
In August 2019, co-founders, Sheridan Blanford and DaWon Baker, invited a small group of DEI administrators to connect and share best practices to gain support, connection, and a community within the work.
“Up to this point, having a full-time diversity and inclusion role in sport is extremely rare and unique. Being amongst the first people to have this role, DaWon and I were presented with an exciting opportunity to set the standard for DEI in sport”, said co-founder, Sheridan Blanford. “To ensure that people who are tasked with leading DEI within their sport organizations had support, we took it upon ourselves to create DIECE. The goal was to come together as a collective to make this work a movement, and not a moment.”
Currently, DIECE has 13 members, but following the implementation of the NCAA’s Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designation (ADID), the group decided to take their efforts public and invite all ADID’s to become members of this organization.
“It is very important for the ADID to be prepared to execute in this role. Although it is not a full-time role for every ADID, we know that these individuals will be committed to the advancement of this work, but may not know where to start”, said co-founder DaWon Baker. “We all must start somewhere, so we wanted to invite ADID’s in and provide a space for them to converse, ask questions, and share resources with other DEI officers in sport. If we want to collectively move this role, designation, and this work forward, our collective success is vital.”
In addition to the ADID’s, all DEI college athletics administrators will be able to join DIECE, free of charge for the 2020-21 school year, with yearly membership dues beginning in the fall of 2021.
DIECE’s 3 guiding principles are:
1. To connect all DEI leaders in college athletics
2. To learn and engage with strategies, best practices, policies, and initiatives that work towards inclusive excellence
3. To grow the reach and intentionality of DEI in college athletics
DIECE intends on building a community that will one day be officially recognized by the NCAA and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). For more information, visit www.dieceathletics.com or follow us @DIECEATHLETICS on Twitter.
Community Conversation Webinar
Join us on Wednesday, August 12 at 6 p.m. EST for our Community Conversation Webinar. Our Board of Directors will discuss their vision, organizational structure, and end with an open Q&A. This webinar will be free and open to the public.
Register here:
Board of Directors
· DaWon Baker, co-founder, Diversity, and Inclusion Director – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
· Sheridan Blanford, co-founder, Director of Inclusion – University of Wisconsin-Madison
· Thomas Harris, Assistant Athletic Director, Diversity, Inclusion, Employee Engagement – University of Arizona
· Prince Moody, Manager, Diversity and Health Initiatives – THE Ohio State University
· Nick Sailor, Director of Training and Education for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Providence College
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