A Blueprint for Making Immediate Changes in Response to Social Needs

Description

Immediate action can be difficult, so many organizations make slow, measured responses rather than fully responding to the social needs of the moment. When Strategic Education, Inc. (SEI), parent company of Strayer University, saw the need to more actively support social change movements and communities impacted by the pandemic, we tossed out the slow-response playbook and focused our efforts.

In September 2020, Strayer University welcomed the first cohort of Fellows for Justice to a full-tuition-scholarships program. The program was fully designed and implemented in just three months following the summer protests in 2020. At the same time, SEI partnered with UNCF (United Negro College Fund) to offer support to approximately 2,000 faculty at HBCUs greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this session, we’ll share how we built on our internal D&I focus to quickly serve the greater good.

Learning Outcomes

• Analyze current DEI work that may support your organization in making immediate responses to social issues
• Build alignment between multi-functional teams to support and implement quick-response initiatives
• Generate a plan to stand up one immediate D&I initiative based on current events