During April’s meeting of members, I was tasked with giving the membership an update on what the DEI Committee has been doing in the past year. This was the second time I have been given the honor of reporting on the progress of our committee and the second year the DEI Committee has presented its work to the membership at large. The DEI Committee is the newest committee established by this 40-year-old institution, but diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is not a new concept for the group. If you look back at the history of the founding, you will find that IBPA’s very inception was created from a need for access and inclusion.

In 2020, the IBPA Board of Directors, under the leadership of Board Chair Karla Olson, established and implemented a DEI Strategic Plan specifically aimed at ensuring DEI best practices were woven into IBPA as an association. The goal was not only to support our membership but to influence the book publishing industry at large in the years to come. The original task force established and accomplished many goals. The resulting DEI Committee continues to make progress and tackle meaningful challenges within the industry to help our membership. Here is a look at where we’ve been and where we’re going:

Phase One Complete

From June 2020 through August 2020, a task force that included IBPA staff members Angela Bole (former CEO) and Lee Wind (marketing director) and IBPA Board members Tieshena Davis (joined July 2020), Seth Dellon, Karla Olson, Karen Pavlicin, Kelly Peterson, Kristina Radke, Lindy Ryan, Kathy Strahs, and Victoria Sutherland set the groundwork for phase one and drew up the strategic plan. Phase one of IBPA’s DEI Strategic Plan (which can be found on IBPA’s website) established our working definition of DEI for the purposes of the work we would be doing moving forward. Additionally, the task force set the priorities and scope of work for the 2021 fiscal year as well as timelines for achieving these goals.

Thanks to the work of this task force, IBPA was able to launch the IBPA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resource Center, a strategic partnership with Empowering Latino Futures (ELFs); mentor partnerships with Minnesota Black Publishing Arts Collaborative and Bay Area Women in Publishing (BAWiP); several DEI-focused IBPA PubU Educational Sessions; and an updated IBPA Code of Ethics. The task force also revised both the IBPA board nominating application process to recruit a more diverse applicant pool and created a new member benefit evaluation tool to ensure companies applying to offer member benefits must meet minimum criteria for diversity, equity, and inclusion within their organizations so IBPA is assured its partners align with IBPA’s antiracist and other nondiscriminatory and inclusive values.

DEI Committee Launch

The final task of the DEI Task Force was to transfer its charge to the newly created IBPA DEI Committee. The first committee was launched on July 1, 2021, and began with the objectives and charges set forth by the task force. The specific charges of the IBPA DEI Committee are as follows:

• Help IBPA recruit and retain a diverse membership base.
• Develop ways to engage and support underrepresented groups in IBPA’s community, education, advocacy, and tools for success.
• Identify opportunities for and threats against diversity, equity, and inclusion within IBPA as an association, as well at the overall book publishing industry at large.
• Offer suggestions to the IBPA Board of Directors as to how IBPA programs and services can be improved to better serve diverse communities.
• Manage IBPA’s DEI Resource Center.

In order to best organize and structure the committee, we have created four working groups that develop their own SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals each fiscal year that align with the overall strategic goals of the board as well as the committee’s own objectives. By doing this, the committee has been able to achieve many great accomplishments to better serve the membership as well as the publishing community.

The Work We Do

Each month, the DEI Committee meets to have important conversations surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion within the IBPA and the larger publishing industry. Additionally, the committee members meet as needed within their working groups to do important work to achieve greater goals and meet committee objectives.

So far our work has included:

• Clearly defined “hate speech” in the IBPA code of ethics.
• Established ongoing DEI training for IBPA leadership and volunteers.
• Created a committee process for reviewing formal and informal complaints.
• Joined United Against Book Ban coalition.
• Established partnerships with NABU, WNDB, Copyright Alliance, and ELF.
• Joined BISG Subject Headings Committee to advocate for more diverse BISAC codes.
• Found and recommended Angela Shanté Johnson as our DEI consultant to provide ongoing education to membership.
• Audited our website for accessibility.
• Launched affinity groups for IBPA Members on Social Link.
• Updated the DEI Resource Center.
• Helped to ensure IBPA Publishing University accessibility.
• Responded to and engaged with our members to create a more inviting IBPA community where all of our members feel safe and welcomed.

The DEI Committee continues to work toward future goals, including diversifying the Benjamin Franklin Awards, creating resources for translating books, new scholarships, educational programming, and so much more. We continue to make progress and find new ways to impact our membership. Looking to the future, we plan to include monthly updates in IBPA Independent moving forward.

Our ultimate goal is a publishing future where everyone feel seen, heard, and included. We encourage your suggestions and comments. You can contact the DEI Committee directly at dei_committee@ibpa-online.org.

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