This Is Our Season: Join Us September 1st  When We Launch—Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion

Register today for the virtual launch of the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion and invite someone who should not have to do this work alone.

Tuesday, September 1st
11:00 a.m. to noon Pacific / 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern
We will gather online for:
RESIST! Join the Launch of the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion

The event is free. Learn more and register here:
https://drkirkadams.com/join-the-launch-of-the-ccsdi/

September is a season of turning.

Summer begins to loosen its warm embrace. Students return to classrooms. Families settle into new routines. Morning air grows crisp. Leaves begin trading green for gold, crimson, and copper, reminding us that transformation can be both beautiful and necessary.

To everything, there is a season.

This is our season to come together.

This is our season to turn isolation into connection, fear into courage, exhaustion into renewed purpose, and individual effort into collective power.

This is the season for the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion.

When You Feel Like the Only One in the Room

Across the country, champions of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, belonging, human rights, and human dignity are facing intense pressure.

Programs are being dismantled. Funding is disappearing. Language is being censored. People are being asked to abandon commitments that were never merely fashionable initiatives; they were promises of fairness, opportunity, dignity, and belonging.

In workplaces, schools, nonprofits, government agencies, and communities, many champions feel like the only one in the room.

Perhaps you know that feeling.

You raise the question no one else will ask. You identify the barrier everyone else has learned to ignore. You advocate for the person whose experience is missing from the conversation. You continue speaking even when the room becomes uncomfortable.

Then you go home wondering: Is anyone else out there? Does anyone understand how exhausting this is? How long can I keep carrying it alone?

You are not alone.

But too often, the people who share our values remain separated by geography, profession, identity, institution, or issue. We may be fighting similar battles without knowing one another exists.

That isolation is not simply painful. It weakens our ability to create change.

The forces working against inclusion triumph when we are exhausted, fragmented, and afraid. Our answer must be courageous connection.

From Isolated Survival to Collective Power

The purpose of the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion is clear:

The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion empowers members to move from reactive, isolated survival mode to strategic, sustainable, collective power through courageous communication and connected communities.

And our “why” is equally clear:

We believe in fairness, inclusion, equal opportunity, and human dignity for all.

The Coalition is being created to help people address real-world issues, not simply discuss inspiring ideas.

It will be a place where champions can find practical resources, exchange strategies, learn from subject-matter experts, ask difficult questions, develop solutions, and organize collective action.

We will facilitate mentoring and peer-learning circles so people can support one another across generations, professions, identities, and experiences.

Coalition members will be able to gather in spaces devoted to the issues they care about most. They will meet people confronting similar challenges, engage with experts who can help them move forward, and contribute their own wisdom to others.

Because expertise does not come only from titles, degrees, or institutions.

Each of us carries knowledge shaped by our lived experiences. Each of us possesses a unique combination of gifts, skills, relationships, and perspectives. Something you have learned may be exactly what another person needs to take their next step.

The Coalition will create a space where we can bestow those gifts upon one another.

That is how community becomes power.

A Joyous Rebellion

Our launch is an act of resistance—but we are not building a community fueled only by anger or fear.

We are creating a joyous rebellion.

A rebellion against isolation.

Against division.

Against hopelessness.

Against the lie that expanding opportunity for one group must diminish another.

Against the idea that fairness, inclusion, accessibility, belonging, and human dignity are somehow too dangerous to name.

We will resist with courage and creativity.

We will resist with authenticity and love.

We will resist by forming relationships strong enough to carry us through difficult seasons.

Imagine people from every walk of life: across race, disability, gender, affectional orientation, generation, profession, geography, faith, identity, and lived experience, standing shoulder to shoulder and declaring:

We will not retreat. We will not be divided. We will build something better. Together.

Not Another Webinar

Our September 1 launch will not be another webinar where people talk at you for an hour while you quietly wonder whether anyone would notice if you wandered off to refill your coffee.

We are creating an Ask Us Anything conversation.

Bring your questions.

Bring your frustrations.

Bring your ideas.

Bring your lived experience.

Bring your hope, even if it is feeling a little bruised.

I will be joined by ISDI board members and community advisors representing a rich variety of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We will discuss why the Coalition is needed, what members will find inside it, and how we can transform courageous conversation into meaningful action.

Most importantly, we want to hear from you.

What challenges are you facing? What resources do you need? What knowledge can you share? What could become possible if you no longer had to stand alone?

Bring Someone With You

Register for the September 1 launch and then invite someone else.

Invite the person who keeps speaking up in difficult meetings.

Invite the educator helping every student feel seen.

Invite the disability advocate demanding access.

Invite the human-resources professional trying to protect inclusive practices.

Invite the employee-resource-group leader holding people together.

Invite the executive, organizer, activist, student, neighbor, colleague, or family member who believes human dignity is worth defending.

A new season is approaching, carrying both uncertainty and possibility.

We cannot control every change the wind may bring. But we can decide how we will meet it and who will stand beside us when it arrives.

Help Us Build What Comes Next

You can also help bring the Coalition to life by supporting our GoFundMe campaign.

Every contribution—whether it is $10, $25, $50, $100, or more—helps us build and sustain the Coalition’s online community and mobile apps. If you are unable to give right now, sharing the campaign with your networks can be an equally powerful act of support.

Support and share our GoFundMe campaign:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-our-fight-for-inclusion-human-dignity-for-all

Register now for the free September 1 virtual launch:
https://drkirkadams.com/join-the-launch-of-the-ccsdi/

Make a gift. Register for the launch. Share both invitations. And bring someone with you.

The leaves are turning.

The seasons are changing.

And so are we.

RESIST fear.

RESIST division.

RESIST isolation.

RESIST hate.

Together, let us build what comes next.

This is our moment. This is our community. This is our season.

Kirk Adams, PhD
Executive Director
Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion
www.i4sdi.org           

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

The post Join Us September 1st  When We Launch—Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion appeared first on Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion.

RESIST! We Have Inherited a Legacy. Now It Is Our Turn.

Sign up. Show up. Stand up.

On Tuesday, September 1, from 11:00 a.m. to noon Pacific / 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern, we are launching the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion with a free livestreamed event.

RESIST! Join the Launch of the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion.

Register now:

https://www.linkedin.com/events/launch-communitycoalitionforsus7491207384133111809/

Don’t wait until September 1 to decide whether you are part of this.

You are invited now.

If you believe in fairness, inclusion, equal opportunity and human dignity for all, we need you.

If you are tired of watching diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and belonging programs being dismantled, we need you.

If you are feeling isolated, discouraged or afraid to speak up, we especially need you.

Because resistance has never been a solo act.

And neither is ours.

We Are Not Starting From Scratch

The Community Coalition will build upon, learn from, honor and respect the extraordinary work of people and movements that resisted injustice before us.

At the end of July, my wife Ros and I spent several days in Oakland, California, a city we love and where our daughter Rachel lived for many years.

Oakland is also the birthplace of the Black Panther Party, founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966. This year marks the Party’s 60th anniversary. (Oakland Museum of California (OMCA))

The Panthers developed an extraordinary network of what they called Community Survival Programs: free breakfasts for children, health clinics, food programs, sickle-cell testing, legal services, transportation, education, services for seniors and people with disabilities, and much more. (Black Panther History Project)

They understood something that remains profoundly relevant:

Resistance isn’t only about what we stand against. It is about what we build together.

That idea speaks directly to what we are creating with the Community Coalition.

We can resist attacks on inclusion while simultaneously building stronger communities.

We can oppose injustice while creating practical resources.

We can challenge systems while caring for the people living within them.

We can turn frustration into organization, isolation into connection and fear into collective power.

That is why our Coalition exists:

The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion empowers members to move from reactive, isolated survival mode to strategic, sustainable, collective power through courageous communication and connected communities.

When Movements Meet

There is another part of the Black Panther story that has particular meaning to me as a lifelong disability advocate.

In 1977, Judy Heumann and other disability activists occupied the federal building in San Francisco, demanding implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, a landmark civil-rights protection prohibiting disability discrimination.

The occupation lasted 26 days.

And the protesters could not have sustained it alone. (National Park Service)

Among them was Brad Lomax, a Black disability activist with multiple sclerosis who was also a member of the Black Panther Party. Lomax helped create a bridge between the disability-rights and Black-liberation movements. (ArcGIS StoryMaps)

The Panthers responded.

They brought food and supplies to the protesters throughout the occupation. The National Park Service reports that they provided a hot meal every day as well as supplies for additional meals. Other allies including churches, labor unions, gay activists and community organizations also stepped forward. (National Park Service)

Think about that.

People came from different communities.

They had different histories.

They faced different forms of oppression.

But they recognized something in one another.

Your struggle for dignity is connected to my struggle for dignity.

That story, captured powerfully in the documentary Crip Camp, reminds us that the movements for racial justice, disability rights, LGBTQ+ equality, economic justice, women’s rights and other struggles for human dignity have never existed in neat little boxes.

They overlap.

They intersect.

And at their most powerful, they show up for one another.

That is precisely the kind of solidarity we want to nurture through the Community Coalition.

Study Is Part of Resistance

Recently I learned about the new Seattle Black Panther Party Interpretive Center, created to preserve the history of the first authorized Black Panther chapter established outside California.

This history is not distant from our family. We are privileged to know the Dixon family. Brothers Aaron and Elmer Dixon helped establish the Seattle chapter in 1968, the first authorized Black Panther Party chapter outside California.

Our two beloved grandchildren receive pediatric care at the Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center, which traces its roots to the free medical clinic established by the Seattle Panthers. It is the only one of the 13 original Black Panther-founded health clinics still operating today. Every time our grandchildren receive care there, they are benefiting from a legacy of community members who saw an unmet need and built an institution to meet it.

That legacy is also present at the Madrona–Sally Goldmark Branch of The Seattle Public Library, where Ros and I took our children to check out books. Outside the library stands Richard Beyer’s sculpture The Peaceable Kingdom. Among its figures is a panther representing the Seattle Black Panthers, whose headquarters were in the Madrona neighborhood.

These are not merely artifacts from the past. They are threads running through our family’s life: the people we know, the clinic that cares for our grandchildren, the library where we nurtured our children’s love of learning and the neighborhood we call home.

The Seattle Panthers didn’t simply protest. They built. Their work included children’s breakfast programs, medical care, food distribution, transportation, clothing drives and legal assistance. The new Center describes these programs not simply as charity, but as models of collective power and self-sufficiency. (Seattle Black Panther)

I watched a video about the Center and something seemingly small grabbed me.

They have assembled the books that appeared on the Panthers’ required reading list, marked so visitors can identify them and read what the Panthers read.

I love that.

Because movements need more than passion.

Movements need study.

Panther culture placed enormous emphasis on political education, reading, discussion and learning together. The Seattle Interpretive Center continues that tradition as a place for education, dialogue, research and organizing. (Seattle Black Panther)

Our Coalition will echo that commitment in its own way.

We are creating a research and resource library, discussion spaces, opportunities to learn from experts and places where members can wrestle together with difficult questions.

Not talking points.

Not slogans.

Learning.

Listening.

Questioning.

Growing.

Then acting.

Black August: Remember, Study, Act

There is another reason this history feels especially meaningful right now.

This is Black August.

Black August emerged from California prisons in the late 1970s as a time to remember Black freedom fighters and political prisoners and to practice reflection, study, discipline and resistance. It grew from the commemoration of figures including George and Jonathan Jackson and has expanded into a broader remembrance of Black struggles for liberation. (America’s Black Holocaust Museum)

I didn’t grow up knowing about Black August.

I learned about it years later, when Ros and I moved to Arlington, Virginia, while I was serving as president and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind.

We began listening to Washington, D.C.’s WPFW radio. Through WPFW, we learned about Black August and began attending Black August events in the D.C. area.

I was learning again.

And that matters to me.

None of us enters this work knowing everything.

We learn from people whose histories are different from ours.

We listen.

We show up.

And when we do it well, we allow what we learn to change what we do.

Put Your Dollars Where Your Values Are

August is also National Black Business Month, established in 2004 to call attention to Black entrepreneurship and encourage support for Black-owned businesses. (Black Enterprise)

So here is another form of action available to virtually all of us:

Spend some of your dollars with Black-owned businesses this month, and keep doing it after August ends.

Where we spend money matters.

When dollars circulate through locally owned businesses, they support entrepreneurs, workers, families and neighborhoods. Supporting Black-owned businesses is therefore more than a symbolic gesture. It can become part of a circular economy of community investment, people supporting businesses that employ, purchase from, mentor, sponsor and reinvest in their communities.

Resistance can look like marching.

It can look like organizing.

It can look like studying.

It can look like mentoring an entrepreneur.

And sometimes it looks like deciding where you buy dinner.

Now It Is Our Turn

We inherit powerful examples.

Not perfect movements.

Not histories without controversy or contradiction.

But examples of human beings deciding that injustice would not have the final word.

The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion will learn from those who came before us while building something for the realities we face now.

Our “why” is simple:

WE BELIEVE IN FAIRNESS, INCLUSION, EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND HUMAN DIGNITY FOR ALL.

And on September 1, we begin bringing people together around that belief.

This will not be another webinar where experts talk at you for an hour.

It will be an Ask Us Anything conversation.

Bring your questions.

Bring your frustration.

Bring your ideas.

Bring your lived experience.

Bring your courage.

And bring somebody with you.

SIGN UP NOW

RESIST! Join the Launch of the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion

Tuesday, September 1, 2026
11:00 a.m.–noon Pacific / 2:00–3:00 p.m. Eastern

Register here:

https://www.linkedin.com/events/launch-communitycoalitionforsus7491207384133111809/

And if you believe this Coalition needs to exist, please help us build it.

We are raising funds to create the Coalition’s online community and mobile app on the Circle platform. A gift of $10, $25, $50, $100—or whatever is right for you—moves us closer.

Donate:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-our-fight-for-inclusion-human-dignity-for-all

Sign up.

Make a gift.

Invite someone else.

RESIST fear.

RESIST division.

RESIST isolation.

RESIST hate.

And learn from those who resisted before us.

Because the strongest movements don’t just fight what is wrong.

They build what comes next.

Let’s build it together.

Kirk Adams, PhD
Executive Director
Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion
www.i4sdi.org           

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

The post RESIST! We Have Inherited a Legacy. Now It Is Our Turn. appeared first on Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion.

When Speaking Up Feels Dangerous: We Need Community More Than Ever

There was a time when many of us working for diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, belonging and human rights worried primarily about whether our organizations were moving quickly enough.

Today, some of us are asking a much more fundamental question:

Is it safe to speak up at all?

That question is not hypothetical.

People who advocate for immigrants, racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, disability rights and other historically marginalized communities increasingly find themselves navigating an environment in which speaking out can carry personal and professional consequences.

That fear is real.

And fear, when people experience it alone, is powerful.

But community can be more powerful.

That is one reason we are building the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion.

When Advocacy Carries Risk

Consider what has been happening around us.

In Texas, protesters connected to a July 2025 demonstration outside the Prairieland immigration detention center were prosecuted in an extraordinary federal terrorism case. The facts are complicated and should not be oversimplified: a police officer was shot and wounded, property was damaged, and one defendant was convicted of attempted murder. At the same time, other defendants received extraordinarily long prison sentences after convictions that included providing material support for terrorism. The case has become part of a much larger national debate about protest, dissent and the boundaries of government power. (The Washington Post)

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization with a long history of monitoring hate and extremism, is also facing federal criminal charges. The SPLC denies wrongdoing and has asked a federal court to dismiss the charges, arguing that the prosecution is politically motivated and vindictive. The Justice Department strongly disputes that characterization. (CBS News)

Whatever our individual political perspectives on these particular cases, they illuminate something larger.

The perceived cost of advocacy is rising.

An employee may wonder whether challenging an inequitable policy will cost them a promotion.

A DEI professional may wonder whether their job will exist six months from now.

A nonprofit leader may worry that taking a public position will jeopardize funding.

An educator may wonder which words are now considered too controversial.

A corporate leader may believe deeply in inclusion while wondering how publicly they can say so.

And ordinary people may simply decide that remaining silent feels safer.

That is exactly when community becomes essential.

Courage Should Not Require Recklessness

The answer to fear is not telling people to “be brave” and sending them into difficult situations alone.

That is not courage. That can be recklessness.

The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion will take a different approach.

One of the solutions we intend to provide is legal literacy and risk-aware advocacy strategies.

Legal literacy does not mean turning every Coalition member into a lawyer. It means helping people understand the landscape in which they are operating, identify credible information and expertise, ask better questions, recognize potential risks, and make more informed decisions about when and how to act.

Risk-aware advocacy recognizes something equally important:
Different people carry different levels of risk.

Sustainable movements must understand those differences.

We want to create a community where people can learn from experts and one another, share strategies, identify emerging threats and opportunities, and make informed choices about how they can contribute.

Nobody should have to navigate this moment alone.

Join Us September 1

On September 1, 2026, we will publicly launch the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion with a livestreamed virtual event.

I hope you will join us. There is no cost for this launch event. 

We will talk about why this Coalition is needed now, what we are building together, and how people who believe in diversity, inclusion, accessibility, belonging and human dignity can move from reactive, isolated survival mode to strategic, sustainable, collective power.

Register for the September 1 virtual launch on LinkedIn. 
Click the “Attend” button to receive a reminder for the live event at 11 am Pacific Time on Tuesday, September 1.
You will be directed to access the event on Zoom.

Please register—and then invite someone else who needs to be part of this community.
Share the invitation to your LinkedIn profile.

Help Us Build the Infrastructure for Collective Power

We also need your help to build the Coalition.

ISDI is raising funds through GoFundMe to help create the community infrastructure (a robust online meeting and collaboration platform) and resources that will make this work possible.

Every contribution matters.

A donation is more than financial support. It is a statement that people committed to inclusion should have places to connect, learn, strategize and act together.

Please support the Community Coalition through our GoFundMe campaign:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-our-fight-for-inclusion-human-dignity-for-all

And please share the campaign with your networks.

Fear Thrives in Isolation

This Coalition exists to solve problems.

Fear of backlash and retaliation is one of them.

We cannot promise that advocacy will always be comfortable. We cannot eliminate every professional, legal or personal risk.

But we can make sure people have better information.

We can connect them with expertise.

We can help one another think strategically.

We can stand beside people who otherwise might feel alone.

And perhaps most importantly, we can remind one another that fear does not get the final word.

Community does.

Join us September 1. for the Live Event. 

Support the GoFundMe campaign.

And help us build a community capable not merely of protecting diversity and inclusion, but of advancing and sustaining this work for the generations to follow. 

Kirk Adams, PhD
Executive Director
Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

The post When Speaking Up Feels Dangerous: We Need Community More Than Ever appeared first on Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion.

This Is Your Invitation: Help Build a Community Where Everyone Belongs

Please make a gift of any size today—and then share our campaign with your friends, family, and colleagues. Together, we can build something our communities need right now.

Donate here: GoFundMe.com Support our fight for inclusion and Human Dignity for all

There is a place for you here.

Whether you use the term DEI or not, if you believe every person deserves dignity, opportunity, belonging, fairness, accessibility, and the chance to thrive, this Community Coalition is being built for you.

Everybody.

People with disabilities. Veterans. LGBTQ+ people. Women. People of every race and ethnicity. Rural communities. Faith communities. Business leaders. Educators. Students. Parents. Nonprofit professionals. Labor leaders. Entrepreneurs. Allies. Dreamers. Builders. Neighbors.

If you believe our differences make us stronger and that communities flourish when everyone has a chance to contribute, you already belong.

Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of serving as Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion (ISDI) on a part-time basis. Alongside an extraordinary team of dedicated volunteers, we’ve poured our hearts into creating something we believe has never been more necessary. Last summer, we facilitated an authentic strategic planning process involving more than 60 leaders working across diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, belonging, human rights, and social justice. Their backgrounds were different. Their organizations were different. But their message was remarkably consistent.

People feel isolated.

Many feel under pressure.

Too many are fighting the same battles alone.

They long for a place where they can connect with others who care, learn from one another, celebrate victories, solve problems together, and find the encouragement to keep going.

That vision became the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion.

This isn’t another organization asking people to choose sides.

It’s a place to come together.

A place to exchange ideas.

A place to learn.

A place to organize.

A place to celebrate progress.

A place to remind one another that hope grows stronger when it is shared.

We’re now just weeks away from launching the Coalition on the Circle platform, and we’re asking our community to help us cross the finish line.

If this vision resonates with you, I hope you’ll consider making a gift of any size.

Every donation brings us one step closer to opening the doors to a welcoming community where people can discover resources, build relationships, develop leadership, exchange ideas, and create lasting impact together.

You can contribute here: GoFundMe.com Support our fight for inclusion and Human dignity for all

  Click to go to GoFundMe.com

Throughout my career, I have been blessed with opportunities to work alongside remarkable people who believe that accessibility, opportunity, and inclusion are not special favors—they are essential building blocks of a healthy society.

This Coalition has become one of the projects closest to my heart because I believe it answers a question so many people are asking today:

Where do I belong?

Our answer is simple.

Here.

Step into the circle.

Bring your experiences.

Bring your hopes.

Bring your questions.

Bring your passion for building a world where every person is valued.

You’ll be welcomed with open arms.

And if you’re unable to give financially today, you can still make an enormous difference. Please share our GoFundMe campaign through your social media networks. You never know who might be inspired to join this movement because you took a moment to spread the word.

Thank you for believing that communities are stronger when everyone has a seat at the table.

Thank you for helping us build something that will serve people for years to come.

Together, let’s create a community where everyone belongs.

With gratitude,

Kirk Adams, PhD
Executive Director
Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion

P.S. Please make a gift of any size today, then take one more minute to share the campaign directly from the GoFundMe page with your social networks. Every donation expands our reach. Every share expands our community. Every person who joins strengthens our collective ability to build a more just, welcoming, and inclusive future.

  Click to go to GoFundMe.com

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

The post This Is Your Invitation: Help Build a Community Where Everyone Belongs appeared first on Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion.

We Are Stronger Together. Join the Circle.

Over the past several years, something has become painfully clear.

Those of us working to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, belonging, human rights, and social justice often care deeply about many of the same values. We want communities where every person is treated with dignity. We want workplaces where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We want a society that lives up to its highest ideals.

Yet too often, our efforts remain fragmented.

One organization focuses on disability. Another on racial justice. Another on LGBTQ+ equality. Another on women’s leadership. Another on veterans. Another on aging. Another on economic opportunity.

Every one of these efforts matters.

But when we work in isolation, our collective voice becomes quieter than it should be.

The challenges we face are simply too interconnected for any one movement to solve alone.

That is why the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion is building something different.

We are creating the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion; a national gathering place where champions of human dignity, fairness, accessibility, and justice can connect, collaborate, learn from one another, and build lasting relationships across every identity, every sector, every generation, and every community.

This coalition is not just for DEI professionals.

It is for nonprofit leaders.

It is for business leaders.

It is for educators.

It is for disability advocates.

It is for civil rights organizations.

It is for veterans.

It is for faith communities.

It is for labor leaders.

It is for students.

It is for parents and grandparents.

It is for anyone who believes that every person deserves to belong.

In short…

This coalition is for everybody.

America recently celebrated its 250th birthday, a reminder that our nation has always been a work in progress. Generation after generation has helped bend the arc of our shared story toward greater freedom, greater opportunity, and greater justice.

Now it is our turn.

Not by standing apart.

But by standing together.

We believe the future belongs to people who build bridges instead of walls. People who choose collaboration over competition. People who understand that our differences are not obstacles, rather they are strengths.

That’s why we’re asking for your help today.

We are raising funds to build and launch the Coalition on the Circle platform that will serve as the digital home for this growing community. It will be where members share resources, solve problems together, mentor emerging leaders, organize around common challenges, and discover that none of us has to do this work alone.

Here’s the beautiful part:

You don’t have to make a large gift to make a meaningful difference.

Give what you can.

Five dollars.

Ten dollars.

Twenty-five dollars.

Fifty dollars.

Whatever feels right.

Every contribution says the same thing:

“I believe we are stronger together.”

Your gift is more than a donation.

It is your name added to a growing community of people choosing hope over division.

It is your hand reaching out to someone you’ve never met.

It is your voice joining thousands of others who believe that collaboration is more powerful than isolation.

And if you’re not able to give today, you can still make an enormous difference by sharing this campaign with your friends, colleagues, family members, and professional networks.

Movements grow one conversation at a time.

Communities grow one relationship at a time.

Coalitions grow one person at a time.

Today, I invite you to become one of those people.

Join us.

Help democratize our collective power.

Help build a community where everyone has a place.

Help bring more people into the circle.

Please make a gift of any size today, and then share this campaign with someone else who believes that our best future is one we build together.

Together, we can create something far greater than any of us could build alone.

Please donate here: GoFundMe  Support Our Fight for Inclusion & Human Dignity for All

Thank you for believing in this vision.

I’ll see you in the Circle.

— Dr. Kirk Adams
Executive Director
Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

The post We Are Stronger Together. Join the Circle. appeared first on Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion.

We Can’t Wait for Someone Else to Build the Future

What if the most important thing we could do right now is simply refuse to stand alone?

Across the country, diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging efforts are facing unprecedented challenges. Programs are being dismantled. Leaders are being isolated. Communities that have fought for decades to gain a seat at the table are being told their voices matter less than they did yesterday.

Many people are feeling exhausted. Some are afraid. Others are wondering whether all the progress we have made can survive this moment.

I believe it can.

But only if we build something stronger than any one organization, employer, consultant, advocate, or movement can build alone.

That is why the Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion is creating the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion—a national online community where people can connect, learn, share resources, support one another, and organize for a more just and inclusive future.

The Coalition will serve as a digital home for DEIAB practitioners, community leaders, educators, advocates, allies, and people directly impacted by the rollback of inclusion efforts. It will be a place where people can find practical tools, strategic support, professional relationships, leadership development opportunities, and a sense of community during a difficult time.

In short, it will be the connective tissue our movement needs right now.

And today, I am asking for your help.

ISDI Board Chair Dr. Joseph Marth and I made the first two donations to launch our fundraising campaign. Together, we contributed the first $1,000 toward our $20,000 goal.

GoFundMe  Support Our Fight for Inclusion & Human Dignity for All

We did that because we believe leadership starts with showing up.

We would never ask others to invest in something we were unwilling to invest in ourselves.

The funds raised through this campaign will help us launch and implement our national Circle community platform, create the Coalition’s digital infrastructure, onboard members, develop programming, build resource libraries, support outreach efforts, and create a sustainable foundation for future growth.

This is not simply a fundraising campaign.

It is an invitation.

An invitation to help build a community where people can find courage when they are discouraged.

Where practitioners can find support when they feel isolated.

Where advocates can find allies.

Where communities can find one another.

Where hope can be organized into action.

At ISDI, we often say:

“The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion will help members move from reactive, isolated survival mode to strategic, sustainable, collective power.”

That is exactly what this moment requires.

The forces working against inclusion are organized.

We must be organized too.

The forces spreading fear are coordinated.

We must coordinate hope.

The forces seeking to divide us are persistent.

We must be even more persistent in building community.

If you believe that diversity, inclusion, accessibility, belonging, fairness, equal opportunity, and human dignity matter, I hope you will join Joseph and me in supporting this effort.

Whether your gift is $25, $50, $100, $500, or more, you are helping create the infrastructure that allows people across the country to come together and build something bigger than themselves.

Most importantly, you are helping send a message:

We are still here.

We are not giving up.

And we are building what comes next.

Please consider making a contribution today and sharing the campaign with your networks.

Together, we can create a stronger home for inclusion, a stronger movement for equity, and a stronger future for all.

With gratitude and hope,

Kirk Adams, PhD
Executive Director
Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion (ISDI)

P.S. Every movement begins with people who decide that the future is worth building. Joseph and I have taken the first step. We hope you’ll take the next one with us.

GoFundMe  Support Our Fight for Inclusion & Human Dignity for All

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

The post We Can’t Wait for Someone Else to Build the Future appeared first on Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion.

Resistance starts with action—one step at a time

The way to fight back against the attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion, human rights, and social justice is to begin—one step at a time:

1. START by being more informed: Go to www.i4sdi.org today and sign up for email announcements, so you can,
2. BE A TRAILBLAZER: Support our GoFundMe campaign to build the community platform going on now, and
3. STOP trying to deal with this situation all alone, then
4. BECOME a founding member of the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion when we launch on August 3.

Lately, I have been hearing the same question from diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, social justice, and human rights leaders across the country.

Not a question about legal strategy.

Not a question about funding.

Not even a question about organizational priorities.

The question underneath everything else.

Is this even working? (or Is this even worth it?)

It is the question that emerges after months of attacks, setbacks, exhaustion, and uncertainty. It is the question that quietly erodes momentum. It is the question that turns determination into doubt.

Hopelessness is one of the greatest threats facing our movement today.

Not because people no longer care.

Not because the need for justice has disappeared.

But because constant resistance without renewal eventually drains even the strongest among us.

I was recently reading the work of writer and philosopher David Whyte, who speaks about the courage required to cultivate a healthy relationship with the unknown. His observation feels particularly relevant right now.

None of us knows exactly what comes next.

We do not know what new challenges will emerge.

We do not know which strategies will prove most effective.

We do not know how quickly progress will come.

But perhaps the goal is not to eliminate uncertainty.

Perhaps the goal is to build a healthier relationship with it.

And one of the best ways to do that is through community.

When we stand alone, the unknown can feel frightening.

When we stand together, the unknown becomes a space of possibility.

Community reminds us that we are not carrying the burden by ourselves.

Community helps us remember victories we have forgotten.

Community allows us to borrow hope from one another when our own supply runs low.

Most importantly, community creates room for joy.

Joy is often misunderstood as a distraction from serious work.

In reality, joy may be one of the most powerful forms of resistance available to us.

Joy reminds us what we are fighting for.

Joy fuels creativity.

Joy strengthens relationships.

Joy helps transform survival into sustainability.

Joy allows us to imagine a future worth building.

The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion is being created because we believe our work must be anchored not only in resistance, but also in possibility.

Not only in reacting to threats, but in creating solutions.

Not only in defending what matters, but in building what comes next.

The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion will help members move from reactive, isolated survival mode to strategic, sustainable, collective power.

Together, coalition members will share resources, strengthen relationships, develop strategies, solve common problems, and build the kind of resilient community that can withstand uncertainty while continuing to move forward.

Because the answer to the question, “Is this even working?”  (or, is this even worth it?) is not found in any single organization, leader, or initiative.

The answer is found in what happens when people come together around a shared commitment to justice, dignity, belonging, and human flourishing.

The answer is found in community.

The answer is found in possibility.

The answer is found when we choose to resist hopelessness itself.

Join us.

Start with one step at a time: Begin by visiting www.i4sdi.org and sign up for email announcements today.

RESIST. BUILD. BELONG.

August 3 is coming. The Community Coalition starts then!

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

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Standing Together!

Let’s go!

The countdown is on.

On August 3, we will officially launch the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion, and I could not be more excited about what we are building together.

Before then, on June 23, we launched a GoFundMe campaign that will give social justice, human rights, accessibility, belonging, and inclusion champions an opportunity to help fund the Circle platform on which this Community Coalition will be built.

The vision is becoming real.

Over the past several weeks, we have been defining the initial spaces that will be available to founding members when the coalition launches. We will spend the coming weeks building out both the website and the mobile app, creating a digital home where people committed to justice can connect, learn, strategize, and act together.

Our initial coalition spaces will include:

• A robust resource library
• A searchable membership directory
• A Rapid Response Hub
• A Next Generation Inclusion Leaders community
• A Futurists Forum where members can explore proactive strategies to get ahead of the escalating attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, belonging, and human dignity

Most importantly, members will help shape what comes next.

Because this coalition is not something we are building for people.

It is something we are building with people.

As we often say:

The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion will help members move from reactive, isolated survival mode to strategic, sustainable, collective power.

That collective power becomes especially important when we examine one of the most common challenges facing inclusion advocates today.

Problem: Fear of Backlash or Retaliation

Across virtually every sector, we hear the same concern.

People care deeply about fairness, accessibility, inclusion, belonging, and human dignity.

Yet many are afraid to speak up.

They worry about professional consequences.

They worry about social consequences.

They worry about becoming targets.

Speaking up feels risky.

And in today’s environment, those concerns are not imaginary.

But perhaps there is another way.

A Possible Solution: Narrative Framing That Reduces Personal Exposure

One of the functions of the Coalition will be helping members develop effective narrative framing tools.

Rather than positioning issues as political battles, members can learn to frame them around shared values:

• Opportunity
• Community
• Human potential
• Innovation
• Economic participation
• Customer service
• Organizational excellence
• Human dignity

The Coalition can help members discover language, stories, data, and messaging approaches that advance inclusion while reducing unnecessary personal risk.

No one should have to stand alone.

And when many voices are telling the same story, the spotlight becomes less concentrated on any one individual.

Collective action creates collective protection.

Pride Month and the Arc of Progress

June is Pride Month.

July is Disability Pride Month.

The connection between these observances is deeper than many people realize.

I was born and raised in small rural communities in the Pacific Northwest.

The environment I grew up in was not typically violent or openly hostile toward LGBTQ+ people. Yet homophobia was undeniably present in the culture around me.

As a child and teenager, I do not recall knowingly meeting an openly gay, transgender, or queer person.

Of course, we know now that they were there.

They were living.

Working.

Dreaming.

Trying to be themselves.

Often without safety, visibility, or support.

I did not learn about the Stonewall uprising until much later in life as I sought to better understand the civil rights movements that ultimately paved the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark civil rights legislation that transformed opportunities for people like me.

I did not learn about Marsha P. Johnson and other queer advocates  until adulthood.

Like so many others, I have spent much of my life learning the histories that were never fully taught.

And what those histories reveal is remarkably consistent.

Progress happens because ordinary people find extraordinary courage.

People decide that dignity matters.

People decide that exclusion is unacceptable.

People decide that future generations deserve better.

Whether we are talking about disability rights, LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, gender equity, religious freedom, or any other human rights movement, we are standing on the shoulders of brave people who chose to speak when silence would have been safer.

The Language of Respect Continues to Evolve

Recently I encountered a term that was new to me: affectional orientation.

Many people continue to use the term sexual orientation, and that remains widely accepted. Yet affectional orientation struck me as an interesting reminder that language evolves.

As our understanding grows, so does our vocabulary.

The goal is not perfection.

The goal is respect.

The goal is dignity.

The goal is seeing people as they wish to be seen.

Every generation contributes to that evolution.

And that is a beautiful thing.

Come Build With Us

The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion is for everyone who believes that human dignity matters.

It is for people who are tired of feeling isolated.

It is for people who want practical solutions.

It is for people who want community.

It is for people who want hope.

It is for people who understand that sustainable change happens when we work together.

On June 23, we invited you to help build the foundation through our GoFundMe campaign.

On August 3, we will open the doors.

And then the real work and the real magic begins.

To our LGBTQ+, queer, transgender, nonbinary, disability, racial justice, faith-based, immigrant, labor, and human rights neighbors:

We see you.

We honor those who came before you.

We celebrate the courage you bring to this moment.

And we invite you to help create what comes next.

The Coalition is for everybody.

Everybody!

Come on in.

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

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Pride Month: Celebration and Remembrance

The month of June holds nothing short of fun and excitement. It’s a month where many of us finish up the school year, begin internships or jobs, enjoy the sunshine, and make new summer plans. Yet, June is also a month of both celebration and remembrance.

On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, was raided by police. The result was several days of protests and resistance that became a turning point for the LGBTQ+ rights movement and later inspired what we now recognize as Pride Month.

Despite progress over the last 57 years, LGBTQ+ individuals continue to experience discrimination and inequality today.

This is particularly true for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, who continue to face disproportionate barriers to safety and higher rates of violence.

Juniper Blessing is one example. Juniper, born on September 22, 2007, in Princeton, New Jersey, was a 19-year-old transgender woman studying atmospheric science with minors in music and philosophy at the University of Washington in Seattle. She had dreams, plans, and many more years ahead of her until her life was tragically taken in a fatal stabbing on May 10, 2026, in the laundry room of Nordheim Court near the University of Washington campus. Do we know if this was a hate crime, a targeted attack, or just a crime of opportunity? The authorities have not publicly identified the attack as a hate crime.

As a recent graduate from the University of Washington, this story hits close to home. Many students on campus expressed fear, grief, and frustration. LGBTQ+ students were and still are outraged that murders such as this continue to happen. Are most people aware that there have been six confirmed murders of transgender people in the United States just in the first five months of 2026? Probably, most of us are not.

SAY HER NAME.

Juniper Blessing is more than a headline. She was remembered by friends, classmates, and loved ones as thoughtful, talented, and deeply cared for. Her life mattered, and LGBTQ+ lives matter.

Pride Month not only requires us to honor and acknowledge wonderful lives such as Juniper Blessing’s, but reminds us that every month should be spent honoring, celebrating, protecting, and remembering LGBTQ+ individuals—those who have passed and those who are still with us.

As stated, June is also a month of both celebration and remembrance, particularly through Pride parades and Pride Month. This continues to feel threatened, especially this year. As reported by AP News, multiple Republican governors have designated June with alternative names such as “Nuclear Family Month,” which supporters and critics alike have viewed as counterprogramming to Pride Month.

I have seen examples of this here in Washington as well, such as billboards in the town of Snohomish stating, “Happy Life Month”—highlighting the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the promotion of pro-life views.

June is set aside to celebrate Pride Month; however, this year has been particularly contentious.

Pride continues to be debated publicly and politically, but Pride itself remains rooted in visibility, celebration, and community.

A quote in an AP News article sums up the sentiments of the community, “As LGBTQIA+ events and symbols are being erased, it’s vital that our community have safe spaces to show up and march to make clear: We are here,” Chris Piedmont, a spokesperson for New York parade organizers Heritage of Pride, said in a statement Friday. “We will not be erased.” (June 29, 2026)

Happy Pride Month, and at the same time, be aware!

Source: “Parades in NYC and San Francisco Wrap Up LGBTQ+ Pride Month,” by Jennifer Peltz and David Fischer, AP News online, June 29, 2026: https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-pride-parades-new-york-san-francisco-c2301920c8f656a7ee231e49ff5a08a9

Maile Alexander is Social Media Intern for the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion.

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

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We Are Not Done. We Are Not Alone. We Are Just Getting Started.

There are moments in history when the ground doesn’t just shift—it cracks open.

Not quietly.
Not politely.

But with a force that demands something from you.

Not, “Is this working?”

But:
“What are you going to do about it?”

If you’ve been fighting for fairness, inclusion, human dignity—if you’ve been showing up day after day building workplaces and communities where everyone belongs—you feel it.

The pressure.
The pushback.
The attempt to wear you down.

Good.

Because that means you’re standing exactly where the work matters most.

And let’s get something straight:

You are not alone. And you are not done.

A Line Has Been Crossed — So We Draw One Back

The recent indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center is not just a headline.

It’s a signal.

For more than 50 years, this organization has tracked hate, exposed extremist violence, and worked alongside law enforcement to protect communities.

I’ve supported that work for years—with clear understanding.

Because real change has never been neat.
Never been comfortable.
Never been polite.

It has always required boldness. Strategy. Relentless action.

And now?
We’re watching that very work reframed as suspect.

No individuals named.
No clear harm demonstrated.

Just a cloud cast over those who dare to confront hate head-on.

Let’s call it what it is:

A warning shot.

This Is Bigger Than One Organization

Across the civil rights landscape, voices are rising:

“We are witnessing efforts to undermine these protections… and rewrite the meaning of civil rights.”

“Targeting civil rights groups leaves all Americans less safe.”

“This is not about accountability. It is about intimidation.”

Let that land.

Not accountability. Intimidation.

And intimidation only works if it silences us.

So here’s the question:

Will it?

No. Because We Refuse to Shrink

Yes, there’s fatigue.

Yes, there’s frustration.

Yes, there are moments when the weight of it all feels… heavy.

But let’s be crystal clear:

That heaviness?
That’s not the end.

That’s the spark before ignition.

Because movements don’t die from opposition.

They die when people decide to sit down instead of stand up.

And that’s not happening here.

Not now.
Not with us.

This Is Why We’re Building Something Bigger

We didn’t stumble into this moment.

We saw it coming.

And that’s why this summer, we are launching:

The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion

The Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion will help members move from reactive, isolated survival mode to strategic, sustainable, collective power.

Read that again.

This is not a support group for surviving the storm.

This is where we learn to drive it.

This is infrastructure.
This is alignment.
This is power—built intentionally.

From Isolation to Collective Force

Too many people have been carrying this work alone.

One voice in the room.
One advocate in the system.
One leader trying to hold the line.

That ends now.

Inside this coalition, we are building:

• A community that doesn’t need translation—because we live this work
  • Tools that prove impact—so no one can question the value of inclusion
  • Strategies that move systems—even without formal authority
  • Conversations that are real, unfiltered, and forward-moving

And most importantly:

A place where your fire doesn’t fade. It spreads.

Founding Members: Step Into the Moment

When we open the doors this summer, we’re not looking for spectators.

We’re calling in builders.

Founding members are the ones who move before it’s comfortable.
Who step forward before it’s certain.

They shape the culture.
They set the standard.
They become the constellation—not the lone star.

We’ve chosen Circle as our platform—because we’re not building something static.

We’re building something alive.

And on June 23, we launch our GoFundMe campaign—because real community requires real investment.

Let Me Say This Without Softening It

If you are tired—good. It means you’ve been in the fight.

If you are frustrated—good. It means you see what’s at stake.

If you are questioning whether this work matters—

It matters more than ever.

Because this moment?

This is the test.

And we do not fail tests like this.

So Here’s the Truth

The forces pushing back against inclusion are:

Coordinated.
Strategic.
Relentless.

So we will be:

More coordinated.
More strategic.
More relentless.

Not reacting.

Designing.

Not isolated.

Connected.

Not surviving.

Building power.

Join Us

This summer, we begin.

Not cautiously.
Not quietly.

But together—and unmistakably.

Stay connected.
Follow the movement.

And when the doors open—

Step in.

Because the question is no longer:

Is this working?

The question is:

What are we building next—and who’s bold enough to build it with us?

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

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