“The bottom line is that our industry must set a higher bar. We must make conscientious efforts to make disruptive changes to our investment in diversity and inclusion to reflect a changing world and a changing America.” – Srikant Ramaswami, vice president and chief communications officer, Caris Life Sciences

Public agencies exist to provide essential services to our communities. CAPIO members and public communications professionals serve an important role for our agencies in communicating about the good work we do and building the public’s trust. Recognizing diversity in our service areas is a good thing,  but it might not be enough to communicate effectively. In order to best serve the public, it is vital that our communications understand, reflect and serve the interests and needs of all of our neighbors.

In a 2017 blog post by Lana Haddad, legislative services manager with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, she wrote that inclusivity, as opposed to diversity, requires authentic relationships with all of our various groups. 

As public communicators, we have a responsibility to recognize many perspectives and include them in the crafting of the story we want to tell on behalf of our organizations. Recognizing and including those differences are important to strengthen an agency’s policies, programs, and messages.

Your October CAPIO Communicator will feature what it means and what it takes to reach diverse audiences and build inclusive communications.  

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