Working with a team of antiracist, feminist, and 2SLGBTQ+ (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and more) researchers and community organizations, this study strives to better understand the existing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) practices used in community groups who work with an intersectional anti-oppression framework—practices we are calling Critical EDI Work.

The project team will collaborate with and within community groups and the broader communities in which we are situated to document and reflect on ongoing and historical work, learn about each other’s Critical  EDI Work, and develop artwork, media, toolkits, and community workshops to serve gendered, IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour) and 2SLGBTQ+ communities working for change, including the partner organizations themselves.

A second objective is to systematize and scale up the community  Critical EDI Work toolkits and workshops to be delivered as trainings to several small-to-medium-sized organizations beyond the research partners, and to assess their efficacy in these larger organizations. In this way, community partners will see their impacts deepened internally, extended into broader communities, and expanded into organizations in their networks.

A third objective is to develop media and arts-based representations that envision the past, present and future of Critical EDI Work to be shown at an art exhibition—in an arts space and online—making the work available to broader communities and society at large through multi-stakeholder engagements and knowledge translation.