checklist-organizational.md

ENACTING INCLUSION

Pathways Towards an Inclusive Museum

A Cross-Contextual Approach:

Whether you are working in/with:

• Graduate Programs
• Association/Professional Network
• Small Museum
• Large Museum

The following sections should speak to functions and contexts that you are familiar with in your day-to-day experience of a physical museum environment. The first section, "Shared Values," includes evaluation items that apply across every context mentioned above, while the following sections group items by functions that may apply to one or more of the contexts listed above. This is not to say that fulfilling each of these aspects of inclusion will look/feel the same in every institution. Far from it. However, these items can act as basic values from which to build an intentional, inclusive response to a unique context.

Shared Values:

• Inclusion integrated as core value rather than topic
  • Is inclusion work siloed in one position, department or issue addressed through one-off programming? Alternatively, how can inclusion be understood as both an institutional change process and a core value that each person within the institution commits to working on in their respective roles?
• Center Marginalized Voices / Decenter Whiteness
  • Does your institution/organization rely on narratives that take as their starting point the experiences of white (and/or straight, cis, male people who have no visible disabilities)? Set a priority to share stories of those with different perspectives as your starting point to counter this bias.
  • Do you recruit leadership that represents marginalized groups? Are they able to direct the overall development of your institution? Do you invite advisory leadership from marginalized communities in the telling of narratives focused on them or development of the storytelling media? If you plan to center narratives of marginalized groups/communities, how are you consulting with and listening to individuals from these groups?
• Community Asset Driven
  • Community Listening Focus
  • Communities grouped as status/identity specific not viewed as monolithic
  • Cocreation viewed as core method of content generation
  • How are you transparent in your interactions with communities and in how you represent yourself publically?
• Building Staff Analysis of Inclusion Vocabulary
  • What words do you use to describe or talk about inclusion in your institution? Where do they come from? Does everyone in your organization use the words the same way or understand them the same way? What new words/concepts are tools useful to your work?

SPATIAL/INTERPERSONAL/CURATORIAL

Within Design (Architectural, Graphic), Exhibits, Collecting, Programs, Events (All Ages):

• Sensory Experiences
  • How do you honor different ways visitors sense content?
  • How has your online content been made accessible? (See Anti-Oppressive Online Spaces Checklist)
  • Is your public space, program space and/or exhibit space scent-free? If not, consider a scent-free policy. This will also influence the selection of cleaning products. For artworks or interactives that have an olifactory element, make sure that visitors and staff are given the opportunity to consent/ opt into or out of that experience. Post signs in the space and on your website about spaces that are or are not scent free.
  • Is your public space, program space and/or exhibit space low-sensory? If not, consider a low-sensory policy. This may tie in with institutional planning around serving visitors on the autism spectrum. Are there designated quiet spaces? For artworks or interactive components with high or multi-sensory elements, make sure staff and visitors are given the opportunity to consent/opt into or opt out of the experience. Post signs in the space and on your website about high and low sensory spaces.
• Public Space Protocol (Including Restrooms)
  • Statement of Support for communities experiencing oppression
  • ADA Accessible
  • Gender Open
    • Gender Neutral Language if Gender Isn’t Specified
    • Create Space for Individuals to Share Pronouns if Desired
  • Baby Changing Space
  • Nursing / Breastfeeding / Pumping space and/or Childcare Provided
• Language
  • ASL Interpretation
  • Policy for ongoing evaluation around adding exhibit text and publication language translations
  • Captioning: Subtitles for Media

PROFESSIONALIZATION

Within Courses/ Higher Education/ Professional Programs:

• Staff, Faculty or Students
  • Faculty and/or guest speakers are representative of individuals of marginalized communities- Provide/Participate inopportunities to skill and awareness build around Empathy, Difference and Creating Safe Spaces (i.e. anti-racism, anti-oppression, social justice focus)
  • White Privilege Sub-Group if applicable:
    • Do you have a space for white people to work out their questions, concerns and build their understanding of concepts like white privilege together? A space such as this can insure support for white people in becoming allies, while making sure that large group, multi-racial conversation about inclusion can de-center white voices.
• Recruitment
  • Build Analysis of Applicant Selection Bias
  • Accessible Online Recruitment Information (See Anti-Oppressive Online Spaces Checklist)
• Course Content
  • Core course literature de-centers whiteness and is representative of academics or writers of marginalized communities ( ie racial, ethnic, ability, sexuality and gender etc.)
• Organizational Structure
  • Build an Analysis of how Professionalization impacts the field
• Public Space Protocol (Including Restrooms)
  • Statement of Support for communities experiencing oppression
  • ADA Accessible
  • Gender Open
    • Gender Neutral Language if Gender Isn’t Specified
    • Create Space for Individuals to Share Pronouns if Desired
  • Baby Changing Space
  • Nursing / Breastfeeding / Pumping space and/or Childcare Provided

ADMINISTRATIVE

Within HR/Executive/Board/CEO/Director:

• Staff and Board
  • Are representative of individuals of marginalized communities/Not Tokenized
  • Develop Emerging Talent Management Plan
  • Provide/Participate in professional development related to skill building around empathy, difference and creating safe spaces (i.e. anti-racism, anti-oppression, social justice focus)
    • White Privilege Sub-Group if Applicable: Do you have a space for white people to work out their questions, concerns and build their understanding of concepts like white privilege together? A space such as this can insure support for white people in becoming allies, while making sure that large group, multi-racial conversation about inclusion can de-center white voices.
• Volunteers/Interns
  • You may have a lot of volunteers helping you with day-to-day operations and programs, especially if you are small instution. Make sure that your volunteer policy:
    • does not discourage those who do not have time for intensive training programs
    • does not discourage those who do not have experience working within an institutional structure
    • encourages skill sharing on the terms of volunteers and values their expertise
    • designates a budget for interns and those doing work that would otherwise be done by a staff person
    • intentionally seeks to recruit a pool of volunteers that come from different racial, ethnic, ability, age and economic backgrounds
• Compensation
  • Fair/Equitable pay for advising, tnterning, art and other forms of Work
  • Family Leave
• Hiring
  • Job Postings let applicants know what work the institution is doing to create a anti-oppressive work culture
  • Job Postings let applicants know what the pay range is
  • Postings value transferrable skills such as languages, community organizing experience, childcare, & eldercare as indicating core competencies to museum work and not just complimentary
  • Hiring staff build analysis of bias in hiring through training
• Fundraising/Development
  • Build Analysis of Economic Justice
  • Commit to divesting in companies that are not economically just, have unfair labor practices or engage in environmentally unjust practices
• Organizational Structure
  • Building Analysis of Institutional Legacies/Systems that Have Produced Collection, Staff Demographics, Building Design, Taxonomies, and Narratives
    • Actively Dismantle those Elements that Replicate Unsafe Spaces for Visitors and Staff or which Center Whiteness
  • Building Analysis of Historical Legacies that Have Produced Current Organizational Structure
    • Actively Measure/Change the Effectiveness of Structure
• Create Public Space Protocol (Including for Restrooms)
  • Statement of Support for communities experiencing oppression
  • ADA Accessible
  • Gender Open
    • Gender Neutral Language if Gender Isn’t Specified
    • Create Space for Individuals to Share Pronouns if Desired
  • Baby Changing Space
  • Nursing / Breastfeeding / Pumping space and/or Childcare Provided