Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Our goal is to create a beloved community, and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

At NI, we view Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) as critical to our success. We are on a journey to create what Dr. King called a Beloved Community, where all people feel welcomed, valued, respected, and heard—contributing to the wealth of humanity by intentionally inspiring measurable belonging and hope. This means choosing a positive peace and the presence of justice over a negative peace, which is the absence of tension. 

Language is intrinsic to cultural expression. It shapes our reality—demonstrating what is important to us—what we believe and value. We use the following terms at NI as part of our efforts to ensure our environment fosters a culture of belonging for all: 

Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. Culture, in its broadest sense, is cultivated behavior that is the totality of a person’s accumulated, learned, socially transmitted experience, i.e., behavior through social learning. 

Diversity reflects the individual “mix” of differences related, but not limited to, race, nationality, ethnicity, gender, age, physical, abilities, sexual orientation, economic status, education, profession, religion, and organizational affiliation. The presence of differences is intended to help us improve our innovation and decision-making. Representation of designated cultural, ethnic, or other groups is assessed when identifying their presence in the organization.

Equity is about creating fairness or justice in access, opportunity, treatment, and advancement for all people while considering their unique circumstances.  We build fairness into the fabric of the organization where one’s identity does not become the primary predicter of the outcome. Equity is assessed by eliminating disparities in recruitment, hiring, engagement, promotion, pay, and so on according to one’s identity.

Inclusion reflects how we make the “mix” work together. We establish systemic structures, policies, practices, and procedures to maximize the engagement and contribution of diverse resources. This includes a collection of behaviors we are trying to develop in every group—ensuring that all employees feel welcomed, valued, respected, and heard. The assessment of inclusion is determined by how well diversity is valued and consists of cultural climate, engagement, turnover rates, welcoming environment, recruitment and retention perceptions, focus on cultural differences, promotion, pay inequities, and tenure decisions. 

Belonging is the emotional outcome of the inclusive behaviors that people want and experience in their organization, which fuels a sense of purpose and community at work. The assessment of belonging is determined by how well inclusion is valued and consists of psychological safety, comfort with sharing ideas without fear of negative consequences, feeling valued, and bringing our authentic self to work.

DEIB is an intrinsic part of our corporate impact strategy – anchored in our core values and tied to many of our goals which is adopted from the work of the Governmental Alliance for Racial Equity (GARE). We view our journey toward a more equitable and inclusive community in three parts.

First

We must recognize the injustices of bias and discrimination because of, but not limited to, race, color, gender, religion or creed, national origin, sex, age, gender identity, physical or mental ability, sexual orientation, and citizenship.

Although we may not have been the ones to commit the acts of bias and discrimination, we are committed to creating the cultural change within our organization to end systems that isolate, mistreat, subjugate, and dishonor other people from different cultural backgrounds.  

Understanding the significance of societal experiences, where historically excluded individuals have faced unfair treatment due to biases, is essential. To address this, we must commit ourselves to recognizing their struggles and giving them the attention and respect they deserve, especially those who have felt marginalized and overlooked in society because of their cultural background.

Second

It is important to find ways to address the harm, suffering, inequity, and lasting impacts of racism, sexism, and other exclusionary practices in society. By implementing these strategies, we aim to foster diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) within the company.

It requires having a shared language and common lens that help us identify the problems we seek to solve, as well as the resources to create the cultural change we seek to develop. This requires building human connections, care, and compassion. It also involves being good stewards, courageous, and taking on the responsibility to contribute to real, sustainable cultural change.  

Third

Lastly, our journey continues through reconciliation as a way of restoring, healing, and uplifting those who were historically excluded in society. Although unjust systems have sometimes favored one group at the expense of others, we are committed to recognizing and acknowledging that unfair processes can hinder us from fully celebrating, honoring, engaging, and realizing our utmost potential.

Restorative, anti-racist, and anti-biased practices become the vehicle for repairing the generational wounds and allow us to more deeply tap into the natural genius and wealth of opportunity, success, and creative innovation.   

In society, as in business, there have been systems of inequity and exclusion that have marginalized people of color and women.  

To create the cultural change we wish to see, we will focus on addressing inequities. This will require executive leadership, dedicated action, and the support and participation of those with lived experience. For us, that includes:  

Using a DEIB framework: This framework clearly articulates DEIB; implicit and explicit bias; and individual, institutional, and structural bias. 

Building organizational capacity: Commit to the breadth and depth of cultural transformation so that impacts are sustainable. While the leadership is critical, changes take place on the ground, through building infrastructure that creates DEIB experts and teams throughout the company.  

Implementing a DEIB lens: Bias and inequities are not random. In contrast, they represent a set of experiences that have been created and sustained over time and will not disappear on their own. Essentially, a DEIB lens is used when changing policies, programs, procedures, and practices to address inequities, and when developing new policies and programs. 

Being data-driven: Measurement must be dynamic when assessing the success of specific programmatic and policy changes and must also develop baselines, set goals, and measure progress. Using data in this manner is used to build in accountability and transparency.  

Partnering with other institutions and communities: DEIB work is necessary, but insufficient. To achieve an equitable, diverse, inclusive, and sense of belonging in the organization, the company needs to work in collaboration with community partners and institutions to achieve meaningful results.  

Operating with urgency and accountability: When culture change is a priority, urgency is felt, and change is embraced. Building in company accountability mechanisms using a clear plan of action will allow accountability. Collectively, we must create greater urgency and commitment to achieve a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and sense of belonging. 

We’ve developed a framework to help guide our journey through these three stages. These guiding principles provide that shared language and common vision for everyone at NI to rally around: 

Principle 1: Transforming systems is our focus, not people. Oftentimes, those interested in solving problems will lead with figuring out ways to change people. Those efforts do not tend to create the desired outcomes intended. In contrast, we should seek ways to transform the culture and systems focusing on policies, programs, and procedures.

Principle 2: Centering and prioritizing the voices of those historically excluded, with lived experience, and directly impacted by the decisions made is critical to avoiding people feeling and experiencing being ignored and made invisible.

Principle 3: Focusing on the root cause instead of the perceived immediate problem is critical to create sustainable cultural change. Solving for the immediate problem is an approach that attends more to our sense of urgency to deal with short-term challenges facing the organization instead of cultural and systems change needed over an extended period of time. 

Principle 4: Centering anti-racist and anti-bias practices and principles in our work as we lead with a focus on race/ethnicity and gender to challenge culture change on the global and local levels. 

Principle 5: Congruence between what we have written and people’s lived experience helps to create the transparency needed to ensure consistency. The written word oftentimes is valued and recognized over lived experiences.   

Principle 6: NI’s commitment to inclusive excellence ensures we adopt a means for cohesive and collaborative integration of DEIB into our pursuit of excellence. A rising tide floats all boats, and NI recognizes that our success is dependent on how well we value, engage, and integrate the rich cultural diversity of people. It allows us to tap into the brilliance and talent represented across all cultures and communities.  

We also ensure that DEIB efforts are integrated throughout NI’s operations. As we focus on social and cultural inequities people experience in fulfilling their greatest potential, they help provide a guide for identifying effective programs, practices, procedures, and policies for sustained cultural change.   

By addressing DEIB as critical to the business and well-being of the company, inclusive excellence helps achieve and sustain excellence in services, recruitment and retention, talent acquisition, research and development, leadership development, operations, functions, and engagement locally and globally.