Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King – from ISDI’s new Executive Director, Dr. Kirk Adams
Stand with Us in Solidarity as We Reflect on Dr. King’s Teachings.
SEATTLE, WA, January 15 2026: As we prepare to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 19, 2026, I find myself reflecting on the long, courageous arc of justice—and the role the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion (ISDI) has played within it. For 10 years, ISDI has been doing something both simple and radical: creating space for people to come together, learn together, and act together in service of equity, dignity, and belonging.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the Northwest Diversity Learning Series, which for 28 years, has convened leaders across sectors to wrestle with hard truths, expand our moral imagination, and turn values into practice.
Dr. King once said, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle.”
ISDI’s work has always understood this. The Learning Series has never been about comfort—it has been about courage. About naming inequity. About building skills for change. About sustaining the long work of justice even when the winds shift.
As I step into the role of Executive Director, I do so with deep respect for this legacy and with a clear-eyed understanding of the moment we are in.
Dr. King also reminded us that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The arc of civil rights did not end with African American civil rights. It expanded through women’s rights, disability rights, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrant rights, and the growing understanding that our identities are intertwined and our struggles interconnected. Today, we name this truth as intersectionality. Dr. King lived it.
Looking ahead to 2026, ISDI is recommitting itself to this expansive vision of human rights through the creation of the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion a membership-based community rooted in collective action, shared learning, and mutual accountability.
This Coalition is inspired by Dr. King’s belief in equal opportunity and organized, nonviolent, values-driven movements. He taught us that lasting change does not come from lone heroes, but from people acting together with clarity, discipline, and love. “Power at its best,” he said, “is love implementing the demands of justice.”
That is the work before us now.
As we reflect on what ISDI accomplished in 2025 and look ahead to what we are building together in 2026, I invite you to see this moment not as a departure but as a continuation. A continuation of learning. Of coalition-building. Of bending the arc, together, toward justice.
Thank you for being part of this community. Thank you for believing that inclusion must be sustainable, protected, and practiced—not just proclaimed.
In solidarity and hope,
Dr. Kirk Adams
kirk.adams@i4sdi.org
Executive Director
Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion
www.i4sdi.org
The Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation registered in Washington State. Our mission is to strengthen individual and organizational capability for creating diverse, inclusive and equitable workplaces.
If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Dr. Kirk Adams, at 206-660-1363, or kirk.adams@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.
