Jan 21

Jan 21 Allyship in 2022

Your organization should be talking about allyship in 2022. This year, Allyship should be part of your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work. I outlined steps to integrate it into your work. These steps are critical to moving your organization from performative allyship to authentic allyship.

You can begin the process now. The first step is to understand what allyship is. Let’s start by defining the word allyship. According to Dictionary.com, Allyship means “ the status or role of a person who advocates and actively works for the inclusion of a marginalized or politicized group in all areas of society, not as a member of that group but in solidarity with its struggle and point of view and under its leadership.” The definition has two verbs that describe what an ally should do, advocate and actively work. An organization cannot just say that they are an ally without actively working towards change and advocating with the community.

The second step is to gather and access the resources and tools that your organization needs to learn more about allyship. An important step for moving your organization’s allyship work forward, like with all DEI work, is making sure that your organization has the needed tools and resources. However, these tools and resources should not be a barrier to doing the work. In my research, I found that the website LeanIn.com has many free resources and programs for allies and organizations. One program on LeanIn.com is called Allyship at Work. You can find more resources below. Your organization will have to figure out if you need a resource for your organization as a whole, for individuals, or cohorts.

The third step is to follow a plan. It is not to create your own plan but to follow a plan created by a marginalized group. Find ways that your organization fits into their plan and work actively with them to advocate and support their efforts. This is true allyship, following the lead of others and using what you have to support their efforts.

To end, I would like to share an example of my experience with allyship. I have been an ally to the immigrant community. I am not an immigrant myself, but I have family and friends that are immigrants. I have advocated for immigrant rights and worked actively alongside the immigrant community. I recently was informed of a coalition called Drive Michigan Forward that advocates for all people who live in Michigan regardless of immigration status to obtain a driver’s license in Michigan. The coalition is looking for organizations to help them in different ways, from being a supportive group to serving on a committee. The coalition was started by and is led by immigrants. This is an example of allyship, connecting with initiatives that have already been started and seeing where you might fit in as an ally.

⭐ Join our weekly newsletter where we share tons of exclusive tips, tools, grant opportunities, and resources to our subscribers. Subscribe on the Spark Group home page.