From the Land Portal team and board of directors

One of the hallmarks of this year’s Annual General Meeting was the full-day Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training for the Land Portal team and board of directors. Facilitated by Project 23, an organization that helps clients create diverse and inclusive cultures, the training workshop helped us explore privilege and circles of control. Beginning with name stories and definitions, and ending with individual action items, the day was a celebration of the Land Portal’s great diversity and inclusive culture with the earnest acknowledgement that there remained much more to be done. Because our team and board work 100 percent remotely, we found great value in taking the time to assess our approach to DEI, both internally as a group and externally in our work to engage users from six continents. Below are some insights from the group. 

One memorable moment from the DEI training and workshop was… 

Lilian Lee, Communications: The facilitators referenced multiple academics and social scientists who had written seminal papers/books on DEI topics, and it was eye-opening to recognize the rigor that has gone into studying issues of DEI (and the lack thereof). It felt like the first time I wasn’t getting DEI headlines from social media feeds. For example, I noted the definition of “intersectionality” by Kimberlé Crenshaw from 1989, “Taking into account people’s overlapping identities and experiences in order to understand the complexities of prejudices they face.” I have thought about this all the time as a Korean-American woman living in Italy – I didn’t know there was a whole field of study around it.  

Cynthia Caron, Member of the Board: What if someone else decided how much privilege you might hold in society? The exercise “Privilege for Sale” was tough for me, as my table neighbor decided I held only one social marker of privilege. I then had to decide from six markers of social identity (being male, being white, being non-disabled, being highly-educated, being neurotypical, and being middle/upper class) which marker would be most beneficial to me as an employee at the Land Portal Foundation (LPF). I went back and forth between being white and being highly-educated. In the end I chose ‘being highly-educated’. I chose this marker, as my LPF colleagues are all well educated and figured that this shared, common factor would position me best within the organization.

Charl-Thom  Bayer, Land Information Specialist: I realized that two seemingly opposing realities exist in my life: while my social circle is diverse in many ways, most of us are college-educated and financially secure, granting me considerable privilege. Yet, when examining my own privilege in my new country and the experience of a Namibian living in Denmark, it revealed the limits of my privilege. I had assumed I was a “different” kind of immigrant but despite the surfeit of resources, it couldn’t mask how disempowered and vulnerable I am in this new environment. This deepened my appreciation for the hardships and challenges faced by millions of immigrants, not only during their journeys but also once “sanctuary” is reached.

Neil Sorensen, Communications: When mapping our ‘circles of influence,’ although many of the people I respect the most represent a great deal of diversity, my family, friends, and the people I socialize with are much more homogenous. I knew this to be true, but mapping it out in this way highlighted that the lens through which I am looking at the world is not as diverse as I would like it to be. I live in one of the most diverse communities in France, yet breaking down barriers to socioeconomic and cultural boundaries seems difficult to overcome. This experience energized me to look for more opportunities to engage with people of different backgrounds from my own.

Achilleas Stergiou, Administration and Finance: The most memorable part of the DEI training was the exercise of exploring our privileges in life. The facilitator announced 10 statements related to different types of privilege, some of which were really hard to grasp because of the difficulties some people face in their lives.

Romy Sato, Research Lead: What are the things that I don’t have to do because of the privileges I have? This question from the Exploring Privilege exercise deeply resonated with me. I had often thought about privilege from the perspective of what I have: social networks, opportunities, education, things. Thinking about what I don’t have to do made me explore my privileges in a much deeper way, bringing the reality of other people into this thinking, considering what many others have to do or have to go through because they don’t share the same privileges that I have. 

I came back from the DEI training with a better understanding of… 

Elizabeth Daley, Member of the Board: I’ve always known that names have distinct familial or cultural meanings in many countries of the world, but I’d never really considered the significance of this in much detail. The trainers started the day by having us share our “name stories” in small groups of 2 or 3. It was fascinating to learn why colleagues had been given the names they had, why/what significance their nicknames had, and what their names mean in their own contexts. Truly the Land Portal team and board are a diverse group, even just from our names! 

Jaap Zevenbergen, Member of the Board: The circles of control, influence and concern really helped me go beyond understanding DEI and its implications better, towards actually making a difference in a concrete situation. Not just writing a ‘free’ policy document, but actually living by it in your day-to-day engagements.

I came back energized to…

Laura Cunial, Member of the Board: I came back to Uganda energized to build a more diverse and inclusive workplace. The training helped me to better understand how I can foster a sense of belonging and mutual respect within the team and provided me with some practical tools that I can use in my daily work with the Norwegian Refugee Council and in my role as a Board member of  the Land Portal Foundation. My favorite tool is the set of questions “what?”, “so what?” and “now what?” - a simple and effective tool to assess situations, resolve issues, and create action plans.

Laura Meggiolaro, Managing Director: While I am aware that I am in a privileged position to drive meaningful change, both in my immediate circle at work and beyond, there is much I can do to mitigate complacency and actually promote actions that more actively work towards meaningful inclusion, promote a sense of belonging, encourage social learning, curiosity, empathy, cross-cultural interactions and promote diversity of perspectives. I came back energized to do more and committed to taking concrete, weekly small actions that can drive change in our small universe.

Habteab Kesete, Finance Officer: Having been with Land Portal for about two and half years, I can confidently say that the recent DEI training was exceptional. It stood out as the most impactful training I’ve participated in during my time here. The session was action-oriented, perfectly timed, and highly relevant to our work. The content was not only comprehensive but also practical, making it an invaluable experience for fostering inclusivity and equity within our foundation.

Romy Sato, Research Lead: To organize a survey or focus group to investigate how people from different genders, geographies, types of organizations etc. like our knowledge products and collect their suggestions to improve them. If our ultimate goal is to protect the land rights of vulnerable groups, we need to make sure that the knowledge we generate together is accessible to these very groups.

Muhammad Iqbal, Web Developer: It was a great session, and we wrote our action plans for the future. We decided our action plans and we need to develop a comprehensive roadmap for implementation. We need to see the progress on our action plans on a monthly basis. This DEI session significantly enhanced our team's cohesion and vision. We defined our future objectives. In terms of team collaboration, we strengthened our relationship and promoted open communication.

Anas Soukar, M&E Assistant: Attending the DEI session at the LandPortal annual meeting was a meaningful experience, especially meeting the team for the first time. Connecting with colleagues from diverse backgrounds fostered a stronger sense of unity and purpose in our shared commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. A significant shift in my mindset was realizing that true inclusivity means treating people as they wish to be treated, not simply as I would prefer. I am particularly committed to advancing the DEI action point related to Monitoring & Evaluation, embedding inclusivity within our frameworks. This experience reinforced my dedication to creating a more inclusive and equitable environment at  the Land Portal.