My shortlist & big spreadsheet of resources about equity and comms

Image Credit: Photo by Vlada Karpovich from Pexels
Just want the resources? Go to the spreadsheet.

2023 Update: Thank you to everyone who has been interested in these resources! I am now enrolled in a Ph.D. program to conduct research on equity/power concerns for communicators, so my reading has become much more academic in nature. I continue to update this spreadsheet both with academic articles and practitioner resources as I find them.

While I was in graduate school, I found that I was craving deeper conversations than we were having in my Strategic Communication MA. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate the program’s lessons about what I needed to do to be an excellent communicator who would have a seat at the leadership table. I did feel, however, that there was a lot more I needed to consider to do my job “better”—in other words, what I need to know to be a more responsible (rather than, simply, proficient) communicator.

Where to start

To keep going

For those who want to join me in a deeper dive, I created a spreadsheet of the 500+ resources I’ve come across. (If you want something between the size of the shortlist and the full spreadsheet, my sample syllabus includes the things I think are of most helpful.)

It includes a bit of everything (academic articles, books, blogs, websites — even some social media posts and threads that I found particularly insightful). The subjects and topics are wide as well. I have everything from practical items (like style guides on preferred terminology and stock photography/imagery websites) to complex discussions of how whiteness and white supremacy shape our thinking as professionals and the larger communication and nonprofit industries. A couple notes:

• I’ve used the spreadsheet both as a reading list and record, so I have not read everything on it. I only included items that looked valuable, but I haven’t read past the title/summary in some cases. I also haven’t gone back to check if the links are still active. If you find something you believe should be removed, please let me know.
• There is a lot on this spreadsheet, so I created filter views you can use to sort by type, subject, topic, or cost (if you haven’t used them before, review Google’s directions to “See an existing filter view“).
• Most of the resources are free, but I included items that have a cost if they seemed valuable (try checking with a local library for access to books or the items behind a paywall).

What you won’t find

Whether you only look at the publications on the shorter list or dig into the full set of resources, I do want to make one thing clear: You won’t find a lot of simple yes/no answers here. While I understand this wish (trust me, I want it also), being more responsible in our work as communicators means engaging in continual growth and reflection, asking more questions, and embracing individual differences and the need for larger culture change. As Sharlyn Carrington (director and founder of Content Strong Communications) wrote:

“Many communicators are looking for a checklist, toolkit, a script — something that will make them an agent of change overnight. It’s important to remember: culture change requires more than a box-ticking exercise while writing a press release or planning a communications campaign. Organizational change requires internal reflection, not just a list of specifically crafted questions to ask your CEO… [W]e must remember that creating inclusive workplaces, communities and societies will require a lifelong commitment to do better.”

Sharlyn Carrington, Tangible anti-racism steps for PR practitioners

Changing the way we have always done things won’t be easy, but it is necessary. I hope that you, like me, can embrace this as an exciting opportunity to re-conceptualize how you do your daily work and how you think about your responsibilities. To, once again, quote Sharlyn:

“…[A]s communicators we are uniquely positioned to shape understanding and shape conversation. We craft narratives. We protect reputations. And we can move culture forward.”

Sharlyn Carrington, Tangible anti-racism steps for PR practitioners

Know something I should check out?

Do you know about something I don’t have here? Please feel free to leave a comment or contact me on Twitter/LinkedIn. I don’t have any hard rules about what will/won’t be included as long as it connects in some way to DEI concerns for communicators. Please also feel free to leave a comment saying what you found helpful or other topics I should explore.

Want to share this?

I’ve created this spreadsheet and blog because I want to help others find answers to their questtions. If you are writing your own blog or resources, feel free to either share the link to this blog/spreadsheet or pull out specific items of interest. While it is appreciated, I don’t require that you give me credit unless you are going to reuse the entire blog/spreadsheet. (I’ve continually added to the list, so one advantage of just linking to it is that there will be more things added later)