Over the past few weeks, I’ve had numerous engaging conversations with Inclusv members whose experience ranged from working on their very first political campaign to seasoned veterans. Hearing your stories and personal journeys unleashed a flood of familiar memories and questions that I encountered on my own career path, which ranged from What skills do I need to become a Policy Analyst? to Can I afford my rent on $30,000?

While the topic of workplace diversity has been recently trending in the national spotlight from #OscarsSoWhite to actors Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park recently exiting “Hawaii Five-0” over unequal pay, from our conversations, it has become clear that discussions about implicit bias in the fields of politics, advocacy, and government have yet to take place.

Often times these barriers are coded and at others, remain beyond our control. Job postings are listed internally, names of Representatives obfuscated, and the pay is so low and rent extraordinarily expensive that we have to carefully consider what financial sacrifices we can make, if any.

But many of us know that without diversity and the advancement of people of color to critical mid to senior positions on the Hill and our local governments and State Capitols, people of color will continue to be excluded from critical policy discussions about our bodies, lives, and communities. While we cannot wave a wand to remove every systemic barrier in place, here at Inclusv we are doing what we can to chip away at the wall that prevents people of color from moving up in their careers, or even be considered for a position.

Over the past few days, I reflected on our dynamic and often intimate conversations to determine what Inclusv can do to better help our members and communities grow and thrive. A few points that stood out were developing fundamental soft skills such as cover letter writing and networking to providing opportunities to learn about the myriad of jobs that exist in the advocacy realm. With your feedback in mind, Eric and I brainstormed and developed a newly revised training module to address topics that Inclusv members have put forward including the topics mentioned above.

CLICK HERE to check out our upcoming trainings for August! (If there are any trainings that you’d like to see in the future, feel free to send me your idea at Moonyoung@Inclusv.com.)

Some of our upcoming trainings include:

  • Working as Chief of Staff
  • How to Negotiate a Job Offer
  • Careers in Advocacy

Lastly, we’re focusing on working to make Inclusv feel more like a community, rather than simply a weekly job listserv. One of the most common suggestions was to create a private Facebook group for Inclusv members to connect and share ideas and resources with one another.

CLICK HERE to request to be added to our private Facebook group.

(Please note that the purpose of this group is to connect Inclusv members, share resources such as job postings, interviewing tips, etc.)

While these are some of the steps that we are taking, here at Inclusv we know that these continuous actions, along with yours, will add up and in time will give us the power we need to smash antiquated workplace practices to rebuild a new foundation that values the basic tenets of democracy, including inclusion and diversity.

-Moonyoung Ko, Inclusv Membership Director