Equity & Inclusion

wooden tiles on a blue background have letters that spell out the word equity

We were incorporated in 1972 by a group of white conservation professionals to represent a largely white field.

Since then, the demographics of the association and foundation, and particularly leadership, have remained fairly homogeneous, reinforcing the existing power structures in the field of cultural heritage preservation and reflecting the pervasive inequity in the United States. We recognize that the homogeneity of organizational leadership has upheld systemic barriers in the organizations' governance and operations.

We are committed to dismantling these barriers that prevent us from being just, inclusive, and welcoming organizations that meet the needs of diverse practitioners.

See our Core Values

Conservation is for everyone

"As conservation professionals, we work with cultural heritage artifacts from all over the world. In that capacity we are better able to research, treat, and manage cultural heritage when there is an exchange of knowledge between the various cultures, experiences, and abilities of our membership. By building a more equitable and inclusive environment, we therefore build a thriving profession — one that encourages a culture of respect and collaboration that is valued by our community. This, in turn, will help us draw new talent."

—From the "Recommendations for Advancing Equity and Inclusion in the American Institute for Conservation: A Report to the Board of Directors" by the Equity and Inclusion Working Group (EIWG), 2018.

Read the Report

Equitable Governance

Governance

In recognition that past practices and guidelines do not sufficiently promote equity, the AIC Board in 2018 initiated reviews of the Bylaws, the Code of Ethics, and professional membership eligibility and application process. These reviews focused on how we are structured and governed, who is eligible for leadership roles, and how the organization can best serve all members.

Our bylaws were amended by member vote in November 2023. The Code is currently under review.

The AIC Board crafts and solicits position papers and statements expressing organizational stances on DEIA topics, with the assistance of members. These include the revised Position Statement on Contested Commemorative and Confederate Monuments. Our foundation board is also engaged in supporting our foundation's core value of equity and inclusion.

Equity and Inclusion Committee

Our Equity and Inclusion Committee (EIC) was created in 2016 to formalize our commitment to the issues of equity and inclusion within the organization and the field of conservation at large. The committee's predecessor, the Equity and Inclusion Working Group, developed “Recommendations for Advancing Equity and Inclusion in the American Institute for Conservation” to provide an essential road map for our future progress. EIC has created valuable programming and projects, often in collaboration with other networks, committees, and members. These include an Accessibility Survey with member Sally G. Kim, Affinity Groups including the Rainbow Caucus and BIPOC Caucus, and resources collected in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility section of the AIC Wiki.

Equitable Practices

Accessibility

Utilizing the results of our Accessibility Survey , we continually address community needs to ensure our programming, website, resources, and publications are accessible. So far, we have made improvements in providing access to programming, such as closed captioning in video events. We have also created AIC Annual Meeting presentation guidelines to encourage and help presenters create more accessible presentations. We are developing web accessibility guidelines and have already developed the following tips for our internal groups to follow when creating official documents.

Accessibility Tips for Documents

Professional Development

We work to create and support programs that address topics in DEIA and to improve the accessibility of all of our content.

This includes:

Funding opportunities to support professional development and early career professionals, including the Take a Chance Grants, Holly Maxson Conservation Grants, and the George Stout Scholarship
Providing free and low-cost programs, including outreach programs like Connecting to Collections Care
Providing captioning for virtual events
A Language Hub with translations of popular resources, including the Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice.
Programs for early career professionals, such as the EIC- and ECPN-supported Social Justice and Conservation webinar series and ECPN’s Making the Ask: Developing Negotiation Tactics in the Field of Conservation
Partnerships with allied organizations, like conservation-focused workshops at the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM) Conference and the Latin American and Caribbean Scholars program with APOYOnline
Recommending specific short- and long-term initiatives to promote DEIA efforts in the 2023 Held in Trust report.

Equitable Review Practices

We have revised the criteria for applications and reviews to make funding, publication, and abstract acceptance more inclusive and equitable. This includes criteria for annual meeting abstract review, several funding opportunities, and in publications submissions. Anonymized review of scholarships and grants has been introduced where possible to help reduce bias. To promote open access to information, each funding opportunity has specific criteria for review which are available to both applicants and reviewers.

Member Initiatives & Programming

The Member Engagement Subcommittee works to make a more inclusive and welcoming community; the Equity and Inclusion Committee hosts trainings to increase member skills and awareness; and many other groups, networks, and committees are collaborating on programming and resources to advance our goals.

Contact Us

If you have questions about DEIA initiatives, would like to share additional resources for this page, or suggest new initiatives, please email us.

Email Us

AIC Board Strategic Plan for Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in AIC Leadership

In September 2023, the AIC Board approved a Strategic Plan for Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in AIC Leadership. Members can expect to receive a progress update annually at the Member Business Meeting.

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