Much has been said in recent days about equity, diversity, and inclusion in the lighting industry…
On January 11, the latest installment of Michael Colligan and Greg Ehrich’s podcast, Get a Grip on Lighting, challenged the notion that a push for greater inclusion and representation was a good thing, cautioning against change for the sake of change. Going further, they warned of potential unintended consequences of social interventions, speculating that most of the diversity pledges and statements issued by companies and organizations in the wake of the George Floyd protests were merely platitudes.
This stood in contrast to January 14th’s Editor’s Roundtable, hosted by Mark Lien of the IES and featuring Randy Reid of Edison Report, Paul Tarricone of LD+A, Al Uszynski of Inside.Lighting, and Maury Wright of LEDs Magazine. The panel led off the discussion with diversity, noting that it was one of the most important issues to be faced in 2021. They were universal in their praise of the work that has been undertaken thus far, outlined some of the work that still needed to be done, and acknowledged the tremendous difficulty that lies in just getting the conversation started.
We, the organizations pushing for greater inclusion, equity, diversity, justice, and belonging in the lighting industry, want to help. We welcome the dialogue, and we hope that we will soon be able to bring these disparate viewpoints together in the same forum. Hopefully by doing so we can come to a better understanding of each other and our perspectives.
Looking Forward,
Women in Lighting & Design
The North American Coalition of Lighting Industry Queers
Blacks Underrepresented in Lighting Design
Women In Lighting
Equity in Lighting