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Discussion on: Diversity vs Inclusivity: Understanding the Difference

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Ben Halpern

We always valued the general ideas of diversity and inclusion in the abstract, but the road to diversity became way clearer when we shifted our mindset more towards inclusion. It's actionable and understandable.

Diversity is a lagging indicator on inclusion. But the two should correlate in some capacity. Truly inclusive environments will likely become more diverse over time.

Inclusion is an input you can affect. Diversity is an output you can measure.

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Molly Struve (she/her)

Diversity is a lagging indicator on inclusion.

100% agree! I love that explanation! And the statement "Inclusion is an input you can affect."

I am passionate about this because when I first joined Kenna, 4 years ago, it was a 7 person all male dev team. Some might have discounted them and walked away due to the lack of diversity, but I didn't and boy am I glad I didn't. The team was inclusive and I NEVER felt like I was treated any differently than anyone else. Because of that inclusive culture, our team now is incredibly diverse. If I had initially judged the team based on their diversity I would have missed out working with some of the most incredible people.