Allyship Tips | August 2024, Vol. 1

Building a community requires a willingness to learn about things you don’t know. These tips are meant to give practical ways to practice allyship & actively support inclusion & belonging.

REPEAT YOURSELF WHEN ASKED 

Check out Casual Ableism, an Instagram account that raises awareness of ableism by sharing real situations. Here’s one of their posts that is especially helpful: 

“The amount of times, as a HOH [hard of hearing] person, I need to ask people to repeat themselves and they just say ‘don’t worry about it’ or ‘I’ll just tell you later.’ It’s not hard to try again. It’s not hard to include and accommodate.” 

When someone asks us to repeat ourselves, let’s do so right then and there. 

PUSH BACK ON “DEI HIRE” COMMENTS 

When President Joe Biden announced he was stepping down from his reelection campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, there was a disturbing trend on social media: some people were referring to Harris as a “DEI candidate.” The implication? That she is only being considered because of her gender and race. That she is not qualified to do the job. 

By calling someone a “token,” a “diversity hire,” or a “DEI candidate,” we undermine them. We send a message that they don’t have the necessary skills or experience. That we’re not expecting them to perform at the same level as their peers. That they shouldn’t have been hired (or voted into office) in the first place. 

If you hear someone use the phrase “DEI hire” in your workplace, speak up. For example, “I’m pretty sure everyone we hire has to pass the same rigorous vetting process” might be sufficient. 

For added emphasis, consider adding, “My interviews were really thorough. How about yours?” 

DON’T CLAIM YOUR ALLY BADGE 

August 8 was International Allyship Day, a day dedicated to celebrating and promoting the power of allyship worldwide. On that day (and frankly, every day), let’s embrace taking action without making it about ourselves. 

Occasionally, as you scroll through LinkedIn posts, you will see job titles with people claiming to be allies. For example, “VP of Sales | Ally” and “Leader, board member, ally.” 

Here’s something to think about. As Karen Catlin, author of the Better Allies book series says, allyship is a journey.  We shouldn’t ever claim that we’re done, and we shouldn’t ever reward ourselves with a proverbial ally badge or cookie. Instead, we should keep listening, learning, and taking action. 

Instead of broadcasting our allyship with stickers or titles, let’s use more humble and learning-oriented terms like ‘Aspiring Ally’ or ‘Ally-in-Training ‘. These terms acknowledge that we’re still learning about equity and allyship and that our work is ongoing. 

List curated and adapted from Karen Catlin’s “Better Allies blog”