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The Institute began to take shape in 2003 when the Founders, Chris Boulware and Fred Miller, started talking about the idea of a “diversity and inclusion toolkit.” They quickly realized there was a growing need among organizations for inclusion-related guidelines and best practices that would go far beyond diversity and that would create benchmarks for organizational success. Two needs in particular stood out: the need to provide the imperative for organizations, national and global, and the need to provide how-to’s that would help organizations operationalize inclusion in a meaningful way. They asked a group of people to begin a wide-ranging discussion on inclusion. As the community's ideas have grown, we have come to see inclusion as a BIG idea. Those who have been involved in the Institute's process believe that now is the time to move inclusion, the BIG idea, and the Institute further, by increasing involvement through the March event. The mission of the Institute for Inclusion is to impact the world by making inclusion mindsets and behaviors preferred and common practices, and the language of inclusion the common language. The Institute will support organizations in operationalizing inclusion as a cornerstone organizational value and framework for interactions, and will facilitate the adoption of the principles and practices of inclusion within the professional and personal value set of all people involved in organizations, community and personal interactions. The Institute will sponsor learning dialogues with people from the business, non-profit, consulting, government and academic sectors. These dialogues will be discussions of the meaning and practice of inclusion, as the BIG idea, and will include best practices. The Institute will serve as a developer and repository for intellectual property and thought papers. The Institute will develop and commission the production of such materials. These materials will be made available to members of the Institute and the general public. In short, the Institute will be a high level "think tank" of leaders for the dialogue, development, refinement and continued intellectual and practical application of the mindsets, behaviors and principles of the BIG idea called inclusion |
The Institute exists to promote inclusion mindsets and inclusive behaviors both domestically and globally – not only in organizations, but in the culture at large. It is dedicated to promoting inclusion as essential for creating more equitable and higher performing organizations. The Institute will serve as a resource and think tank. It will work with organizations across all sectors to create the framework for promoting inclusion as a cornerstone value and a base-level practice. The Institute's focus is on the common language and the common practice of inclusion. Inclusion has been a part of the national dialogue – in various degrees – for several years. This visibility has “primed the pump” for taking this concept to the next level, but has also created the risk of marginalization or stagnation, as people attempt to limit its definitions or use it as a way of being divisive or politically correct. The Institute aims to promote inclusion as a fluid, critical concept that is beneficial to all.