Have you ever had a question change your whole way of thinking? I admit, I had, but not in any deep or insightful way. At least not until I sat in on “Inclusive Language and Messaging for Grant Writers” at the recent Grant Professionals Association annual conference. It was only moments into this learning session when presenters India Phoenix, Jamie (JR) Rasmussen, and Morgan Carpenter posed a very simple question: What words would you use to represent who you are to someone who didn’t know you? Given 5 minutes to jot down how we label ourselves, everyone in the room immediately got to work. I wrote down many words on how I relate to others and how I would like others to understand who I am, including farm girl, spouse, writer, maker, creator, animal lover, and Anglophile. By the time the 5 minutes were up, I had quite a list. I thought my answers were somehow going to tie into the discussion – to my surprise, they didn’t. But the question did, in a very profound way. Who We Are vs. What We Are Experiencing After the 5 minutes of writing were up and we shared our descriptor words, India asked several questions that made me think things like: why we didn’t share our economic status? Why didn’t any of us include words that described a serious mental health issue we are dealing with? Why did no one use “addiction” or “abused” as a descriptor? She went on to point out that none of us would probably ever share our economic status if we were dealing with health concerns, if we faced substance abuse, or if we felt isolated from a need or desire based on our skin color or religious belief. We all shared things about ourselves that align with how we see ourselves, not with the things that may be challenges in our lives. The point the speakers were getting at was that, like us, the people who are the recipients of the services our nonprofits provide – the people who we as grant writers make front and center of our proposals – feel exactly the same way. They do not see themselves as marginalized or vulnerable. They know they have challenges, but their challenges are not who they are or what defines them as a person. Their challenges are what they are experiencing. Since the conference, I’ve been mulling over this concept more, not only from a professional writer’s perspective, but also from a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) perspective. In the DEI work that I’ve been involved with at Medical Teams, we seem keen to acknowledge and celebrate differences. And that’s great, we should be doing this. But are differences what we want to have front and center of our relationships with each other? When we think about ourselves, are our differences from others how we identify? I admit, I don’t think I would go up to someone and say, “Hi, I’m Jane, I’m a white, middle-class, older woman, struggling with the start of arthritis and dealing with an overgrown garden.” While this is all true, this is not how I think about myself. Celebrating More Than Our Differences In working on approaches to DEI, it feels like we often only focus on what makes someone different. Even if we are celebrating that difference, it is easy to lose sight of the more important factor: who that person is. In essence, a person becomes their differences. When we are writing about people facing specific social or financial challenges in our grant proposals, we begin to only see people through the lens of what makes them different. In doing so, we miss the rich opportunity of knowing a person for who they really are. And this can lead to objectifying a person, rather than understanding them as the unique individual that they are. Out of all the takeaways I had from the conference, this one simple concept stuck with me as I wrote a proposal this week. My goal is to shift how I portray the people and populations I’m writing about. Can I represent a group of people in a way that they see themselves and want others to know them? As I continue working with my colleagues at Medical Teams to create a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment, my hope is that we can continue to take steps toward a better understanding of our differences, but also the many things that we share. No matter where in the world we work from, we can celebrate the things that make us special individuals. It is in that understanding that we not only build acceptance and friendship for our co-workers and others in our communities, but we also experience acceptance and friendship ourselves. Jane Turville Grants Specialist, Medical Teams International Jane is a Grants Specialist at Medical Teams International and has previously worked as a Grant Writer and Development Director at several other Portland-based nonprofits, including Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Project POOCH, and the Northwest Earth Institute. Jane also produces educational and documentary films and is the host/producer of The People Factor Podcast, a podcast focused on the intersection of population growth and sustainability. When she’s not working, Jane loves to be home with her husband, dog, cat, bunnies, and six chickens, working on wool spinning and knitting projects, and worrying about her overgrown garden. Previous Post « Celebrating 2024 at Medical Teams Next Post My First Time Aboard a Mobile Dental Van | One Dentist’s Experience Volunteering »