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Liberty Demands Protection
Juneteenth reminds us that liberty, once proclaimed, still demands protection, and right now that protection is under siege. In boardrooms across the country, well-intentioned executives are trimming DEI budgets just when backlash legislation and misinformation threaten to roll back decades of hard-won gains. Freedom’s promise cannot survive on symbolic holidays alone; it needs sustained investment.
That’s why I’m placing my own dollars, and my voice, behind the Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion’s GoFundMe campaign, “Keep the Flame of DEI Burning.” Every contribution fuels evidence-based programs like the Northwest Diversity Learning Series, which for twenty-seven years has equipped thousands of leaders with the skills to build workplaces where everyone can belong and thrive.
Over the next few paragraphs I’ll explain why this campaign matters more now than ever before, how ISDI converts donations into measurable impact, and why I’m committing first so you’ll feel confident joining me. The moment is urgent, but the solution is within reach, if we act together.
The Backdrop: A DEI Landscape Under Siege
In the past year alone, more than a dozen states have introduced or passed bills that label discussions of systemic racism, gender equity, or disability rights as “divisive concepts,” threatening to pull public funding from any organization that keeps those conversations alive. Corporations, wary of legal exposure and public blowback, are quietly freezing open diversity roles and trimming accessibility budgets, the very line items that turn lofty values into daily practice.
History warns what happens next. DEI progress moves in pendulum swings: a surge of commitment after crisis, followed by retrenchment when attention wanes or controversy flares. Each retreat erases mentorship pipelines, stalls pay-equity audits, and delays accessible-technology rollouts that disabled professionals like me depend on. The current backlash lands hardest on people already pushed to the margins; when DEI work fades, their opportunities fade first.
That’s why the stakes of ISDI’s campaign are not abstract. Without sustained funding, evidence-based programs like the Northwest Diversity Learning Series shrink just when leaders need them most. Keeping the flame burning means ensuring that the next downturn or news cycle doesn’t douse the progress we’ve ignited.
ISDI’s Track Record of Sustainable Impact
When you give to ISDI, you’re investing in a proven engine of change. For twenty-seven years the Northwest Diversity Learning Series has run every other month without fail, reaching more than 15,000 alumni and staying fully subscribed even through recessions and pandemics. Its curricula map directly to ISO 30415 and the Global DEI Benchmarks, ensuring that what participants learn on Friday stands up to audit on Monday.
Results travel home with them. Sponsors return year after year because they see measurable drops in turnover among under-represented employees and upticks in promotion velocity, hard metrics that outlive keynote applause. Participants send notes months later describing how Better Arguments techniques defused a shop-floor standoff or how SPINE principles reshaped their hiring panels.
Behind those outcomes is a governance team built for durability: Effenus Henderson brings international standards expertise, Barbara Deane anchors research-grade pedagogy, Eddie Pate translates strategy into daily habits, Kimberly Miyazawa Frank links DEI to ESG, Amelia Ransom steers culture metrics, and I keep accessibility non-negotiable. In short, ISDI turns every donated dollar into infrastructure that lasts well beyond the news cycle.
Where Your Dollars Go
Every contribution hits the ground in three concrete ways. First, we underwrite Northwest Diversity Learning Series seats for small nonprofits, community colleges, and student activists, voices rich in lived expertise but short on professional-development budgets. Your gift sends them into the same virtual rooms as Fortune 500 leaders, seeding cross-sector alliances that outlast any single workshop.
Second, funds support the creation of a public DEI Legal-Watch Portal we’re building with attorney Erin Jacobson. As legislation shifts week by week, this resource will offer plain-language summaries of new executive orders, state bills, and court decisions alongside best-practice checklists, so practitioners can stay compliant without hiring a fleet of lawyers.
Finally, your dollars expand our accessibility infrastructure: real-time captioning and ASL interpretation for every session, rigorous screen-reader testing on all materials, and scholarships for blind and low-vision professionals who need adaptive tech to participate fully. When you give, you aren’t propping up a line item, you’re removing barriers, amplifying underrepresented voices, and future-proofing DEI against the very forces trying to silence it.
My Personal Stake: Why I’m Donating First
I lost my vision at age five, but I gained a lifelong conviction that systems, not sympathy, decide who thrives. That conviction carried me from being a blind kid in Spokane to leading the American Foundation for the Blind and now serving on ISDI’s board. Along the way, the Northwest Diversity Learning Series equipped me with frameworks I later used to help Fortune 500 firms bake accessibility into their product cycles and talent pipelines.
Because I’ve seen ISDI’s impact up close, I’m putting my own money on the line before asking for yours. I plan to make a lead gift, and I invite you to match me or set your own benchmark. Leadership should bleed first; that’s how momentum starts.
Addressing Donor Concerns and Counterarguments
“Isn’t corporate funding enough?” Corporate dollars keep the lights on, but they rarely bankroll experimentation. Philanthropic gifts let ISDI pilot new tools, like the Legal-Watch Portal or micro-grants for student change-makers, that fall outside a sponsor’s narrowly scoped contract. Innovation needs risk capital; that’s what your contributions provide.
“Is DEI even legal anymore?” Yes, when it’s done right. ISO 30415, the Global DEI Benchmarks, and our own legal counsel ensure every program we run meets current statutes. In fact, our July 1, 2025 Lunch-and-Learn will brief organizations on the latest executive orders and False Claims Act guidance so they can advance inclusion without triggering compliance landmines.
“I can’t give big.” Don’t underestimate a smaller gift paired with a social share. Twenty-five dollars plus a LinkedIn post can reach hundreds of professionals who may each give the same, or ten times more. Momentum isn’t measured in single checks; it’s measured in collective resolve.
How to Give and Amplify
Giving is simple: visit our GoFundMe page, or scan the QR code in the campaign graphic, tap “Donate Now,” choose your amount, and hit “Pay” (Apple Pay and Google Pay work flawlessly on mobile). If you’re on a desktop, the same three-click flow applies, and you can opt to make your gift recurring in monthly installments.
After donating, download the social-share kit in the confirmation email. It includes a ready-to-post LinkedIn message (“I just fueled #FlameOfDEI, join me!”), a square graphic sized for Instagram, and the hashtag #FlameOfDEI to keep the conversation threaded. Five minutes of amplification can extend your impact farther than a single zero.
Finally, check whether your employer matches charitable gifts; a quick form doubles your effect overnight. For companies seeking bulk sponsorships, say, underwriting 50 NWDLS seats or co-branding the Legal-Watch Portal, email Barbara Deane 📧️ or me 📧️ directly, and we’ll tailor a package that aligns with your ESG priorities. Your next step is just one click, or one conversation, away.
Help Us Keep the Flame of DEI Burning
Here’s the bottom line: the backlash is real, but ISDI has a twenty-seven-year record of turning headwinds into tailwinds for equity. Your donation, whatever the size, keeps that machinery running, subsidizing seats, safeguarding legal clarity, and ensuring accessibility isn’t the first cost-cut when budgets tighten.
So I’m asking you to act today. Donate to “Keep the Flame of DEI Burning,” share the campaign with your network, and personally invite three colleagues to give before June 30, 2025, so we can unlock every dollar of the matching pool. Momentum multiplies when each of us makes even a small move.
Imagine a workplace where inclusion infrastructure is as robust as any business-continuity plan: audited, funded, and impossible to cancel with a single vote. That’s the future this campaign fuels, because freedom deserves nothing less than permanence. Let’s light the torch and keep it burning.
” Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s a strategic advantage. “
Dr. Kirk Adams, Ph.D.
Advocate, Leader and Keynote Speaker on Disability Inclusion & Leadership
Leading the Way to Accessible Innovation
Innovative Impact, LLC Consulting
Managing Director
Impactful Workforce Inclusion Starts Here
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