Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) seem like a concept we need to learn. We didn’t realize that families around the world practiced DEI initiatives long before they reached our communities and organizations. A family includes a father, mother, and children. This shows diversity in age, gender, and social status. Do the father and mother treat the children equally? Avoid favoritism? This is the principle of equity, which involves intentional decision-making to remove barriers and ensure everyone has access to opportunities based on their needs. Do children feel loved and cherished and feel they belong to the family? This is inclusion: the daily actions parents take to ensure children feel valued and can participate fully.
Every family is diverse. A father, a mother, and their children already differ in age, gender, experience, and authority.
Look closer, and the differences multiply. One child is loud, another quiet. One loves numbers; another loves stories. One learns quickly by reading, another by doing. Some families include grandparents who remember another era or relatives who speak a different language. Some bring together children from different marriages, adoptions, or cultures.
No parent expects their children to be identical. We do not ask the shy child to become the talkative one. We do not measure the artist by the athlete’s standards. We accept, often without thinking, that difference is natural. In a healthy family, difference is not a problem to be fixed. It is a source of strength.
My father understood this. With nine children, he could have treated us as one group. Instead, he noticed what each of us did well. He drew on those strengths for the good of the whole family. Our differences were not a burden to manage. They were resources to honor.
Organizations can learn from these differences. Diversity is not only about numbers on a report. It is about recognizing that different people bring different gifts. A team made of identical minds sees only one side of a problem. A diverse team, like a diverse family, sees more and solves more.
But diversity alone is not enough. A family can be full of different people and still be unfair. That is why diversity needs its partners: equity and inclusion.
Reflection questions
- How were the members of your family different from one another?
- Were those differences celebrated, tolerated, or discouraged?
- What unique strength did someone in your family bring that others lacked?