EVERYONE DIES: OUR COMMITMENT TO DEI
by Douglas Simpson, executive director INELDA
“Identifying what your group can do well, is passionate about, and is needed—that’s the sweet spot. That’s your mission. Your mission should be brief and clear, so that you can refer to it at moments of decision, at forks in your organizational road.”
―adrienne maree brown, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds
As companies, educational institutions, and nonprofits juggle the challenges of “flagged words” by our current administration, we at INELDA want to assure you that we are committed to our organization’s doctrines. We recognize our vision that “all individuals have accessible, equitable, and compassionate deathcare that holistically affirms one’s humanity and supports end-of-life choices” carries some of these flagged words. This is a moment when many of the structures we have trusted have flip-flopped in their commitments, and I can ensure that INELDA will not.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a program that we have for our team. It is at the heart of how we educate people to become end-of-life doulas. It goes beyond race and gender, to the heart of creating a truly inclusive environment that assures learners that we will take the steps necessary to ensure that anyone who wishes to take INELDA’s training will be able to do so. DEI is philosophically baked into our training to educate individuals on how to support anyone at the end of life. And everyone is welcome to our community to learn about these tenets.
Our mission, to “encourage the presence of end-of-life doulas by normalizing death, dying, and grief through conscientious education, and stewardship, and by fostering community and advocacy,” is rooted in a training approach that recognizes the intersectionalities of all our learners and celebrates their cultural differences. It is with this approach that we encourage people to reenter into community to offer services for those planning for death or who are diagnosed with serious illnesses. We view end-of-life doulas as providers of a valuable service to all beings, and we educate doulas to be able to show up for anyone they may encounter in hospice settings, care facilities, and in our community.
Lastly, our values of CARE also carry many of the words mentioned in the link above, and we are proud of that. They were derived from a truly collaborative effort from everyone on our team who brought their vast experiences to this organization. You will see that one of values listed under R is Risk-taking: defy social norms to create a greater awareness. We will continue to explore ways to create greater awareness even if the social norms around us change. Being involved in the movement to provide better deathcare access and support is in its own right an action against the norm. Treating each other equitably and with respect shouldn’t be.