Building a Culture of Inclusivity

Priya Bates is President and owner of Inner Strength Communication and co-founder of A Leader Like Me podcast. Based in Toronto, Canada, she is an Accredited Business Communicator and a Certified Strategic Communication Management Professionals. Advita Patel is the Director of CommsRebel, co-host of award-winning podcast, CalmEdgedRebels and A Leader Like Me. Based in Manchester, UK, she is a Chartered PR practitioner and a Fellow of CIPR. In 2022 she was named one of the top 100 Northern Asian British entrepreneurs.

Section - 01: Why Diversity, Equity, Inclusion is integral to organizational survival;


Chapter - 02: The importance of building trust in cultivating inclusive cultures;
Chapter - 03: Building leadership capability to impact and influence cultural change.
Chapter - 04: Understanding biases, the benefits and pitfalls;
Chapter - 05: The role of the Internal Communication Professional in DEI;
Chapter - 06: The 4A Framework to move DEI from performative to performing;
Chapter - 07: The stages of the Diversity Continuum to assess present state;
Chapter - 08: Focusing on the Conversation versus the Campaign;
Chapter - 09: Big D – Diversity and what do the terms really mean?;
Chapter - 10: Inclusive language and why the words we use matter;
Chapter - 11: How to build an inclusive engagement plan for DEI;
Chapter - 12: Best practices to develop and communicate your DEI Strategy;

"This new book is a must-read for anyone working in internal communications. It highlights the need for effective communication around DEI efforts in order to make them stick and yield results. In particular, the authors argue that DEI initiatives will fail without good communication, as employees won't know how to get involved or what behaviour is expected of them in order to be inclusive. This book is packed full of practical advice and guidance to help communicators enable, engage and empower colleagues to deliver on DEI programmes. Particularly useful are the questions dotted throughout the book to help you reflect on your work and your organisation, to help you plan how to take action. This book includes a comprehensive and fascinating history of internal communication, and lays bare a compelling argument for why DEI is essential for organisational survival. I highly recommend this book to anyone working in internal comms - it's the kind of book you'll underline, scribble in the margins and come back to for reference time and time again."

"A lot has been done in the last couple of years to raise awareness regarding DEI. What I really like about this book is that it takes it beyond awareness, towards a concrete roadmap for practical change within businesses. One can feel the passion of the authors. Their principle "progress not perfect" encourages to keep going step by step towards a future where DEI is no longer a concept or goal but an everyday normality."

"This is not your next-door book on inclusion. It's a power-packed playbook that is insightful, practical, enlightening and easy to read! Advita and Priya offer practical applications of DEI strategies with effective frameworks to address key challenges that continue in organisations: psychological safety, leadership capability to impact cultural change, growth mindset and perceived lack of empathy and trust. Supported by robust data, insights and case studies, the readers are reminded about how 'real work in DEI forces us to look in the mirror and come to terms with uncomfortable truths about ourselves'. If you're passionate about change, this should be the first stop on your journey."

"How we communicate plays a critical role in building a culture of inclusion in our organizations. Advita and Priya's combined expertise as strategic business communicators have resulted in the creation of practical DEI frameworks and models to help leaders be more intentionally inclusive. This brilliant book is a must-read resource for every leader seeking to understand how they can bring positive, meaningful and long-lasting change to their working environment."