Inclusive Excellence Committee: Our first update of 2021

Contributed by Patty Marbury

·        Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Training:  UVAFinance managers will begin DEI training and discussion this month.  Training for the whole UVAFinance team will be made available soon.

·        Sprint Discussions: We continue to have great turnout for our sprint discussions on topics of racial equity and inclusion.  Topics are suggested by team members, and most recently have been focused on white supremacy and January’s Capitol Hill riots.  This week, we’ll be discussing symbols of white supremacy.  All UVAFinance team members are invited to these optional discussions.  If you would like to attend and haven’t received an invitation or have misplaced your invitation, contact Patty Marbury.  

·        Book Discussions:  Every other month, the IE committee hosts book discussions.  These are open to anyone across UVA; if you’re interested, contact Patty Marbury.  Past books (and one podcast) we’ve tackled include Master of the Mountain, The Vanishing Half, and the 1619 Podcast.  Watch for information about our next book soon!

·        Racial Equity Group:  UVAFinance held a kickoff meeting with this independent firm in early February, with finance leadership and members of the IE Committee in attendance.  The firm’s work will include an assessment of UVAFinance’s racial equity actions currently and a plan for going forward.

·        Recruiting Resources:  The IE team is meeting this week with HR on more inclusive language for our job postings, and interview questions that touch on racial equity.  Our aim is to build up our HR practices to support our UVAFinance value of diverse and inclusive teams.  We will be making these resources available to UVAFinance managers in the coming weeks.

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You can keep up with the Inclusive Excellence Committee by clicking on the “Inclusive Excellence” label in the right hand margin of the UVAFinance blog (or just click here).

The UVAFinance IE Advisory group includes Patty Marbury, Melody Bianchetto, Jen Bari, Jack King, Steve Kimata, ToShun Campbell, Raegan Harouff Gaye, Anne Marie Cumiskey, Mohammed AlKaisy, and LaVerne Harris. Please reach out to any member of the group with questions.