What comes to mind when I think about Diversity and Inclusion is ‘Love in Difference’.
Diversity can be defined in terms of obvious and inapparent, inherent and acquired categorises of differences between people. Obvious categories of difference include things like age, gender, ethnicity, physical disability, pregnancy, and maternity; while sexual orientation, education, occupational background, political views, religion or belief, some physical disabilities, mental health conditions, and socio-economic status are in the inapparent category.
From this, we can say Diversity is anything that makes individuals who they are.
Inclusion for me means Acceptance. Accepting the difference and building a relationship regardless. Inclusion is accommodating the difference and cultivating a mentality of change.
Diversity and Inclusion understands that people are unique in ways different from our ideal and thrives to understand and accommodate that uniqueness and difference.
Cultivating a culture of Diversity and Inclusion opens us to exciting new ways of problem-solving, critical thinking and innovaton.