Showing Our PRIDE Thru CampBrain DEI Initiatives
Showing Our PRIDE Thru CampBrain DEI Initiatives
Across the world, people recognize the month of June as a special time of year to focus on Pride. This month, the calendar is especially packed full of opportunities to learn, protest, volunteer, socialize, and celebrate.
With its origins in protest, Pride offers us space to raise awareness of the oppression of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and to celebrate and amplify voices from those communities, all towards a future where everyone has the safety and freedom to be themselves.
For many kids, summer camp is the place where they first feel they can express themselves, discover who they are, and experience the feeling of belonging. At CampBrain, we know how important that experience is, for people of all ages.
Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee works year-round towards cultivating a more welcoming workplace for everyone at CampBrain. There are many different ways to grow towards that goal, including policies, training, and opportunities to have fun.
This month, we are showing our Pride by shining a light on some of the programming and partners we’ve worked with this year, towards that brighter future:
Building Better with Reframe
We first met Reframe a few years back, when we were looking for training on LGBTQ2S+ Inclusion. They are the organization-focused project of CANVAS Arts Action Programs, who run programs and training on topics of inclusion with schools, youth-serving workplaces, and summer camps. Thier experience in camping, and understanding of our clients and work, made for an instant connection.
This year, Reframe is supporting our DEI Committee in developing guidelines for hosting Inclusive Meetings, and a protocol for responding to Current Events that have a meaningful impact on our staff and community. Every time we bring Reframe in, for training or a special project, they help us deepen our understanding and inspire change in our culture with warmth & empathy.
Celebrating Queer Culture with Lucy Flawless
Since we became a hybrid office, we have been looking for fun & memorable ways to gather and socialize online. If you are in the same boat, we cannot recommend Drag Queen BINGO highly enough! Our team had a blast gathering online & in the office to be hosted by local queen Lucy Flawless for a rousing game of online BINGO. Lucy opened and closed the event with performances, kicking things off with Canadian country star Shania Twain, and wrapping up by honoring our request for ABBA, who holds a special place in our hearts. We played, we applauded, and we had lots of laughs along the way!
Training & Conversations with Transplaining
The partner we’ve worked most closely with this year is Chris Rehs-Dupin of Transplaining & Camp Reimagined. As sponsors of Chris’ fall workshop series, ‘LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in Hostile Climates’ and ‘Advocating for Equity from the Middle’, we supported camp professionals in their own learning and exploration of inclusion at camp.
At the Tri-State Camp Conference, our own Lee Biear hosted a session with Chris, answering questions about how the way we communicate about and market our camps can support equity and inclusion. Chris also visited our team twice over the spring, first engaging the whole company in a discussion about what gender inclusion in camps is looking like these days, and what he’s hearing in the community. Following this visit, a smaller group gathered with Chris to dive deeper into these topics and build their skills in talking about gender identity and inclusive spaces.
This month, we are thankful for the opportunity to elevate some of the incredible partners and programs that have joined us this year, towards making CampBrain the most welcoming workplace it can be – we are especially thankful for them, and for their work. We look forward to the work that continues, and to a future where we all belong.
Happy Pride, from the Brainers!
Love Your Software,
Miriam
P.S. If you want to learn more about our DEI journey, check out more of my posts!