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This Just In

EIC Kicks Off Equity Acceleration Plan

Sue Pelletier, Senior Editor

EIC Equity Acceleration PlanWASHINGTON, D.C. — The Events Industry Council (EIC) has launched the first phase of its Equity Acceleration Plan with a survey designed to gauge where the events industry currently is in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Once that benchmark is established, the umbrella group organization for the meetings and convention industry will use the findings to develop a report and a series of tools, educational courses, resources and recommendations that will be released in subsequent phases. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a framework the events industry can use to develop a more inclusive and diverse future workplace.

“With over 10.3 million direct jobs and over 1.5 billion participants in our sector, and as the industry that at its heart fosters human connection and collaborations, we have the opportunity and responsibility to be a catalyst for meaningful and measurable change,” EIC CEO Amy Calvert said: “The Equity Acceleration Plan will enable us to support event professionals to create more diverse and inclusive environments, develop career pathways, and ensure representation in leadership and supply chains by providing the learning and resources intended to reach and support our community.”

As part of EIC’s Centre for Sustainability and Social Impact, the Equity Acceleration Plan was established as a long-term project that, in addition to providing tools and resources, will measure the impact of interventions and make recommendations on how event organizers can continue to make progress on DEI. EIC has gathered support from many industry partners, including ASAE, Discover Puerto Rico, Disney Meetings & Events, IAEE, Louisville Tourism, Marriott, PCMA, US Travel, SearchWide Global and Simpleview. EIC also has partnered with Tharoor Associates, a London-based consultancy that specializes in addressing unconscious bias in organizations globally, and Culturelytics, a data analytics company that developed an AI platform to analyze culture in organizations.

Related. Trade Show Executives Lead the Change on DEI

The EIC Equity Acceleration Plan’s four long-term areas of focus are:

• Creating voluntary guidelines for policies and practices in the workplace and marketplace
• Developing strategies for attracting diverse talent, such as scholarships, mentors and education programs
• Making recommendations for career pathways that can lead to more diversity in events-industry leadership
• Delivering tools for creating inclusive events and diverse supply chains

The survey that kicks off the Plan is designed to gather insights, experiences and opinions from event professionals around the world, using Culturelytics’ AI-powered Chatbot to explore people’s beliefs and behaviors around DEI across the global events industry.

The survey, which closes Friday, Oct. 15, is available at https://kaiwa.culturelytics.ai/EIC/.

Reach Amy Calvert at (202) 712-9059 or acalvert@eventscouncil.org

 

 

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