Your guide to meaningful inclusion in 2025

Welcome to Lead With Inclusion! This weekly newsletter is a resource for EVERY professional. Whether you’re a manager ready to be a more inclusive leader, or an employee ready to be a DEI champion in your workplace, inclusive actions lead to inclusive outcomes. Leading with inclusion simply means starting with inclusive actions in everything you do. It means identifying the areas where bias is at work, and shifting mindsets to make change.?

If you’re not sure where to begin, start here.

At some point in the future, historians will look back at this time period and give it a name, as they have for the Digital Age or Industrial Age or even the Roaring Twenties.

When that happens, what side of history will your company be on??

As we watch some companies disband their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, I wonder: will these choices “age well”? When we look back in 10, 20 or 50 years, will we shake our heads at their shortsightedness??

I think we will. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Treating all people with dignity and respect and valuing their contributions is the only kind of choice that ages well.?

So as the year winds down and many companies plan for the upcoming year—that plan had better include how you’ll address diversity, equity and inclusion at work.?

Be an Inclusive Leader

If you don’t have a plan (yet), a good place to start is our popular Inclusion @ Work Calendar.?

This calendar is more than a list of dates—it’s an invitation to learn, explore, and start conversation. If you see a holiday you don’t recognize, take the opportunity to look it up. If there’s a commemoration you’ve never heard of, dig into its history.?

These moments of discovery help keep the variety of our identities and cultures top of mind, which is a vital part of inclusive leadership.

Lead with Inclusion

The calendar by itself isn’t enough, though. It’s a guide to help you plan, reflect, and act with intention. Because whatever your personal views on holidays or heritage months, the people who work for and with you will do their best when they feel valued, recognized, and appreciated.?

Here's what to consider as you view this calendar and consider how it could apply in your workplace:

DOS:

• Plan ahead: Decide how and whether you’ll acknowledge or celebrate these events—perhaps through team discussions, resource sharing, or community engagement.?
• Communicate early: Share your plans with employees ahead of time. Let them know what’s coming and why you chose specific observances. It’s off-key and offensive to ignore them entirely, unless you make the decision not to celebrate at all and communicate that appropriately. Transparency is a form of respect.
• Seek input: Ask your team for feedback. Are there key events or observances they’d like to see included? Collaboration can help you better meet the needs of your workforce and foster community.
• Focus on education: Use diversity months to start meaningful conversations. For example, during Black History Month, consider hosting a lunch-and-learn about the contributions of Black innovators or reviewing your partnerships to include more Black-owned businesses.?
• Go beyond the calendar: While the calendar is a good guide, inclusion efforts should extend beyond specific dates. Use these observances as catalysts for ongoing initiatives, like regular professional development, policy reviews, or employee resource group (ERG) activities.
• Celebrate progress: Recognize and share the ways your team or organization is growing in its inclusion journey. Highlight successes and lessons learned—it keeps momentum going and builds trust.

DON’TS:

• Do not assign extra unpaid work to team members of cultural groups to create events or education during heritage months or holidays. Asking for input is one thing; “voluntelling” someone to do extra work that puts them and their culture on the spot is never appropriate.?
• Avoid the "all-or-nothing" mindset: You don’t need to observe every day, month, or holiday to make an impact—but make sure you have a thoughtful reason for focusing on some and not others. A few key events that align with your values is more effective than trying to do it all, or ignoring this calendar entirely.?
• Don’t limit inclusion to certain months: Offering racial equity training only in February or gender equity training only in March sends the wrong message. Make inclusion an ongoing effort, not a seasonal one.

If you’re a seasoned professional (or cynical ??), you might be rolling your eyes at how performative “diversity day events” at work can be. You’re not wrong. The truth is we can expect more regression on the DEI front this year (again, just look at all the companies rolling back their initiatives).

I’d argue that acknowledging the dates in this calendar is the bare minimum a company should do for their employees and culture. There’s more you can and should be doing, but this is at least a place to start.?

And if this feels like all you can pull off, all you have the capacity or support or budget for—we can help you fix that. Reach out to get your year started off in the right direction.

What are your plans for inclusion in 2025? Have you seen examples of thoughtful inclusion in action? Let’s share ideas—drop your comments below.

About Stacey Gordon:

Stacey Gordon is a Bias Disrupter and an unapologetic evangelist for inclusion. As the Founder of Rework Work, she anchors action using change management principles while facilitating mindset shifts. She is a global keynote speaker, Top Voice on LinkedIn and a popular LinkedIn Learning [IN]structor with nearly two million unique learners enjoying her courses.??

Want to work with Stacey live? Consider booking her for your next keynote, leadership development meeting or consulting engagement.