SLA Creates Diversity, Inclusion, Community, and Equity (DICE) Caucus
Open to all SLA members at no cost, DICE creates a way for SLA members to get involved in issues related to diversity within SLA’s offerings.
McLean, Virginia, 3 May 2018—The Special Libraries Association (SLA) Board of Directors is proud to launch its Diversity, Inclusion, Community, and Equity (DICE) Caucus as a result of a recommendation made by the association’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force.
The SLA Diversity and Inclusion Task Force was created in 2017 to more proactively address the diverse needs of the SLA membership. After exploring how other professional associations address diversity, the task force recommended a free, informal caucus as a forum for interested SLA members to connect to discuss important issues like gender roles and pay equality issues; ethics and bias in algorithms; and intersectionality and identity issues, to name a few.
“This caucus will touch every part of SLA, from learning to leadership, and will continue to help SLA be an association where all individuals feel valued, welcomed, and authentically able to contribute to our shared goals,” shared SLA President Roberto Sarmiento.
The SLA members who served on the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force are as follows:
- Clara Cabrera
- Andrew Grissom
- Amanpreet Kaur
- Seema Rampersad
- Michael Sholinbeck
- Michele Villagran
- Barbara Kern (SLA Board liaison)
- Amy Burke (SLA staff liaison)
- Will Sweet (SLA staff liaison)
“The decision to create DICE was deeply rooted in SLA’s longstanding mission to promote and strengthen its members through learning, advocacy, and community-building initiatives. This caucus is a result of a lot of volunteer time, thoughtful conversations, and best practice research,” said Amy Burke, executive director of SLA. “I’m really proud of our SLA volunteers who led this effort to ensure that our many members who are passionate about fostering diversity and inclusion—in this association, in the workplace, and in the information profession—have a forum within the SLA community to do so.”
The caucus volunteer co-convenors are Clara Cabrera, Jesse Lambertson, and Michael Sholinbeck.
SLA members can gather together as a caucus for the first time at the SLA 2018 Annual Conference, June 9–13, in Baltimore, Maryland. The DICE Caucus is free all current an incoming SLA members. Current members can either update their membership dashboard and add the caucus, or simply join the DICE online community on the association’s member-only networking platform, SLA Connect. To learn more visit http://diversity.sla1.org/.
About SLA
The Special Libraries Association (SLA), founded in 1909, is a nonprofit international organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners. SLA serves information professionals in more than 50 countries and in a range of working environments, including business, academia, and government. SLA promotes and strengthens its members through learning, advocacy, and networking initiatives. For more information, visit sla.org.
Contact
Rebecca Flick
rflick@sla.org
+1.703.647.4900
