It’s no secret that inclusive teams make better business decisions. But creating teams in relation to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) can be difficult when nonprofit leaders are predominantly white, writes Emily Teitsworth in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

“Acknowledging intersectionality—the reality that we live within a system of overlapping and interdependent privileges and disadvantages—is a first step toward truly addressing DEI,” Teitsworth says. “But how can we make acknowledging intersectionality a practice and not just a conversation? We can start by making relatively simple changes that center our work at the intersection of race, gender, sexual orientation, ableism, and implicit bias.”

After that acknowledgement, Teitsworth suggests making practical changes to address DEI:

Look at the way your organization operates and move to make changes systemwide, not individualistically.

Gear the group’s focus toward collaboration, as “new models of leadership that share structural power are a fundamental step toward actualizing inclusion and distributing decision making.”

Use your privilege to challenge bias where you can, but understand that “the journey toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusion has no fixed end point.”

Creating a Meeting Disaster Plan

Canceling a meeting is among the most challenging, thankless parts of the job. But it is also opportunity for planners to demonstrate professionalism. @meetingsnet #meetings #meetingprofs https://t.co/uoUzsjn6Jp

— parked (@thehopethefood) September 14, 2018

After all the planning that goes into a conference, sometimes unexpected challenges still arise. In some cases, the solution might be a quick fix; in others, it might require a meeting cancellation.

Canceling an event can be challenging, but doing it appropriately can take just as much skill and professionalism as organizing the rest of the event. The best thing to do is to develop a disaster action plan from the start, says MeetingsNet. From there, create a core team of decision makers who will take the lead—including communicating with vendors, sponsors, and attendees—when disaster strikes.

Other Links of Note

Research shows that managers of the future will look a lot different. Inc. details the skills you’ll need to hone to prepare.

Apple’s new products could improve the way meeting planners work, from Smart Meetings.

There’s no end to marketing analytics. CMSWire outlines a five-step approach to help you get the most out of your data.

(FotografiaBasica/iStock/Getty Images Plus)