We know the saying “new year/ new you” but it isn’t a new you - it is You.
We aren’t starting over, every day we try to present our truest selves, and every year we ask for our communities to respect us. That’s the goal – to learn, to grow, to change, and accept who we are, the way we are, and live life to the fullest.
It is our commitment through AIDE- Access, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity to foster a space that is rooted in respect. Global Experiences, part of the AIFS Abroad team, wants to let you know, we hear you, we see you, and learn more each day on how we can support you. We are educating our staff in new hire trainings, brainstorming in company retreats to make short and long-term goals, holding ourselves accountable to using inclusive language, customizing coordination for accessibility, and most importantly learning and immediately implementing changes when we notice change has occurred.
Speaking of change, as we learn we will make mistakes, we are all bound to make them as we further develop our AIDE practices, individually and as a company. We acknowledge we must have grace as we learn. Within that learning we will recognize ways to improve and find solutions. Creating a respectful space is not about assuming what someone else’s needs are and fixing them, it is listening to feedback, asking questions, and then acting in more equitable and inclusive ways. Some items may take time, others can be as simple and very impactful as apologizing and taking accountability to do better next time, because now we know better.
As Dr. Maya Angelou said, "When you know better, you do better", and we are in the process of making changes. Global Experiences, AIFS Abroad have selected six themes:
-
-
-
-
-
- Communications
-
-
-
- Programs
- Resources
- Staff & Training
- Process
- Policies
-
Under each theme we have structured goals to help us move toward more inclusive and representative decisions. You can find our progress in these goals under our AIFS Abroad AIDE page.
What are some changes we have implemented?
-
- Added a preferred name section to our applications, we want to ensure our communication goes to your recognized name
- Developed in-depth orientations around social identities
- Added additional ways to report incidents that have been experienced or witnessed discrimination/harassments
- Coming Soon: AIDE General Social Identity Pages, January 2023
We hope you join us on this journey kicking off the New Year, 2023, and follow us on our social channels, read our blogs, and listen to our new podcast that will be launched later this year!
