No matter what your role at Excelsior, you have an opportunity to support our mission to work towards justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Tom Danz (he/him/his) is a Senior Research Analyst at Excelsior who is passionate about JEDI initiatives.
Read what Tom has to say…
For years now, a key area in my personal development has been seeking out and listening to ways in which I can become an effective ally. I grew up on Long Island, NY, a place that often-lacked diversity of thought and background. As I got older, I recognized that I had a lot of learning in front of me to better understand the perspective of people from other walks of life. With the arrival of Daniel Pascoe Aguilar and Pam Jimenez from the Center for Social Justice (CSJ), I have had the privilege to collaborate and absorb some of their experiences and passion in spreading the value and importance of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) in our community.
JEDI, in my opinion, is a framework in which value is placed on aspects of humanity, compassion, and community that have been historically underserved. Justice and equity are key components in creating a culture of fair treatment, recognition, and opportunity for people who may not have had the same advantages as others. Lou Radja mentioned in his guest speaker appearance at Excelsior that diversity is inviting everyone to the party so to speak, while equity involves asking people to dance. It’s an additional step forward that has remained at the forefront of my mind when I work on research projects related to JEDI.
Diversity is another key component, and emphasizes that people across different ethnicities, spiritual backgrounds, abilities, socioeconomic statuses, age groups, identities, and ideologies are represented and taken into account within a community or organization. I feel Excelsior University has taken great strides in this regard over the past two years in spotlighting a wide variety of different cultures and individuals.
I’ve seen inclusion at Excelsior as a concerted effort to ensure no one is left out or left behind in the decisions, direction, and day-to-day interactions in our organization. Inclusion has always been very personal to me, as I’m someone who struggled with social anxiety growing up, and often felt left out of many aspects of the world around me. I’ve learned to overcome this as I’ve gotten older, but this feeling has never been lost on me. As a result, it’s always been extremely important to me to ensure that people around me feel welcome, listened to, and respected, regardless of the differences we might share. It’s become a personal aspiration of mine to become the person I always needed growing up, and be an advocate for people who are often overlooked or misunderstood.
Thanks for sharing your story, Tom!
