INELDA’s Advisory Council on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

by Lisa Feldstein

If you are a regular INELDA Monthly newsletter reader, you know that the organization has committed to dealing head-on with racism, bias, and White Privilege. In a field that is overwhelmingly White and with a staff that is 100% White, this is an enormous – and courageous – undertaking. In previous issues of INELDA Monthly you have read about some of the work being done to further this commitment, including the creation of a Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Advisory Council.

The Council is one of the most exciting and innovative aspects of INELDA’s commitment to decentering Whiteness organizationally and in training and supporting end-of-life Doulas. Members were encouraged to consider broadening the scope of their Doula practices to serve INELDA and our community of Doulas. From among the respondents to the call for applications to serve on the Advisory Council, INELDA staff identified a diverse group of twelve to serve as the first members. Two of the twelve, both African-American women, are co-chairing the Council. The charts below show the breakdown of the of the twelve Council Members:

The Council also includes INELDA Board member Oscar Cohen, and INELDA President Henry Fersko-Weiss, working with us as ex-officio Council members.

At the initial Council meeting, the first members spent time getting to know one another, and discussing our mission. It was promising to find unanimous commitment to the Council’s anti-racist mandate. Our discussion included many ways we had observed and experienced racism, both subtle and blatant, in the provision of end-of-life support.

The tremendous complexity of undoing racism in any context means looking beyond the explicitly racist beliefs of some individuals; everyone, including People of Color, are racist. Dismantling racism requires more than considering what language we use or witnessing the extreme treatment to which BIPOC individuals are subjected on a daily basis. This work requires analyzing societal structures that create the framework in which we live – of which we are generally unconscious – and strategizing means of dismantling these structures. There are components of this that are especially relevant to the work we undertake as Doulas, in realms as diverse as medicine and  spirituality. In thinking about the enormity of this scope, we touched on topics that we will need to tackle, including:

• The horrific history of medical experimentation on BIPOC Americans, and the role this played in the uneasy relationship between BIPOC communities and the medical community.
• How the dearth of people “who look like us” make BIPOC individuals and families trepidatious about seeking end-of-life support.
• Why our profession is White-centric and how this limits outreach attempts to Communities of Color.
• The stark differences in socio-economic status between most BIPOC communities and the dominant population, making end-of-life doula services unaffordable for many BIPOC families.
• The limited linguistic diversity in our doula community.

To strengthen our identity as a body, the Council needed a name that reflected its work. Officially, we are the INELDA Advisory Council for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; CEDI for short. To actually get our arms around the work ahead, we created three Working Groups. Each Working Group has a specific charge, but all were asked to develop their scope of work by considering this question:  What contribution does INELDA want to make to end-of-life care in this world and how do we begin to curate that today?

The charges of the three Working Groups are:

Becoming Beloved Community: This Working Group will focus on developing strategies to recruit, train and retain BIPOC end-of-life doulas. This will include identifying barriers to expanding the role of BIPOC EOL doulas and developing strategies and tactics to overcome these barriers. Additionally, this Group will put together ideas about how best to integrate the knowledge and practices of BIPOC communities about end of life into INELDA’s resources in a culturally competent manner.

Curating INELDA: In partnership with the INELDA staff and Board members, who have undertaken anti-racist training and are exploring broad changes to the organization’s structure and culture, this Working Group will provide recommendations for internal INELDA changes, i.e., Board, staff, training, etc., that reflect INELDA’s ongoing commitment to building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization so that all communities can benefit from end-of-life care.

Training and Materials: This Working Group will undertake ongoing review of training materials and all other published materials to ensure racist and other hurtful/derogatory words, terms, concepts, and images are removed. Additionally, this Group may recommend proactive approaches to the development of materials that incorporate deep appreciation for all cultures and culturally competent approaches to end-of-life doula care.

CEDI Co-chairs Jamie Eaddy and Lisa Feldstein, as well as INELDA Board members Corey Kennard and Oscar Cohen, will support the work of these groups.

The full CEDI has met twice, and the Working Groups are up and running. Individual members have already identified specific incidents that both exemplify the existential need for this work, while simultaneously requiring resolution. Altogether, the enormity of the need and the work would be overwhelming were it not for the reality that the Council members are, to a person, intelligent, heart-full, knowledgeable, and dynamic people who decided to serve on the Council because they each understood, first-hand, the critical importance of identifying and overcoming barriers to People of Color serving as doulas.

We encourage you to contact us with questions about CEDI’s work, ideas for us to consider, topics you believe need to be addressed, or resources you want to share or need. We can be reached at [email protected], and [email protected].