Decoloniality, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D-DEI) at SeeChange Initiative

This project extends my internship with the organization that began in May (another 4 month internship). My internship mandate from the start has been to support SeeChange in developing a DEI strategy based on the “best” practices in the literature. However, I have learned that there is mounting evidence proving that many DEI initiatives being implemented by organizations are falling short. After having familiarized myself with SeeChange and their CommunityFirst methodology over the first couple of weeks of my internship, I had a revelation. I wondered whether the reason DEI initiatives were falling short was that they were not being led by the underrepresented groups they seek to serve, that is, they were not being done in a CommunityFirst way. Perhaps, contemporary DEI initiatives may be masking the deeper issue at their core, and in actuality upholding the power dynamics they seek to dissolve. The concept of “decoloniality” has been introduced in a number of fields, including global health, as a way to tackle this issue and dismantle the unequal power dynamics that resulted from colonization by the European and British empires. I asked myself whether this concept could be brought into the DEI field.

Faculty Supervisor:

Gwyneth Edwards

Student:

Partner:

SeeChange Initiative

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Other services (except public administration)

University:

HEC Montréal

Program: