To hear the impassioned voices during the World Education Congress (WEC) in Las Vegas is a reassurance and reaffirmation that diversity, equity and inclusion are getting a seat at the table.

The issue was center stage during Wednesday’s general session panel discussion, “Champions for Change: Lasting Social Impact That Matters.” To hear the real-world experiences, insight and advice from industry leaders like Julie Coker, Elliott Ferguson II, Amy Calvert, Jason Dunn Sr. and Melvin Tennant was moving and inspirational.

I spoke with Melvin ahead of the panel to understand how his perspective has changed in the last year. As CEO of Meet Minneapolis, his destination was at the forefront of the renewed focus on racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd. Are we having more meaningful discussions?

“We’re having some of them now and we need to hold ourselves accountable,” he said. “We’re a year removed form George Floyd’s murder and I’ll look around and admit we’ve made some progress although we’ve got a way to go.

“I’m pleased that we’ve seen some progress that’s been sustainable, things within our industry and various organizations that are our becoming standard operating procedures versus reactionary, from hiring practices to speaker selection at conferences. Those things have been talked about for years, but it seems that there’s a much stronger commitment where this will be standard operating procedure in the future.”

The passion was also evident when MPI’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee met with the Joint Board Development Committee, which included members of MPI’s senior leadership staff and international board members.

There was no holding back. There were tears, there were pain points, there were proud moments and calls to action—exactly the way it should be as we all contend with how to be better at what matters.

Arguably, diversity has been ingrained in the fabric of MPI, as stated in the organization’s Principles of Professionalism. The organization’s commitment was reflected in Wednesday’s general session and, in many ways, throughout WEC.

Is it enough? No. Are we better? Yes.

Where we go from here will determine how we define the future, a future in which every voice is heard and respected.

Let’s pound that drum loud.

Until next time…

Rich Luna
Editor in Chief
rluna@mpiweb.org

On behalf of Team MPI, we thank Steve O’Malley, Stephen Revetria and Bonnie Carlson for honoring our staff with the 2020 Joint Chairs Award. It’s an honor to serve the MPI membership.