I-DIEM university was created to enable thought-leaders in the Emergency Management industry. We offer a variety of diversity and inclusion courses with a focus on delivering equitable change to all.

Introduction to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Emergency Management

The Introduction to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Emergency Management course provides fundamental knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and the role of DEI in emergency management. The course will introduce and identify fundamental frameworks related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, allow participants to have a deeper understanding of personal identities and cultural lens and explore strategies to further diversity education and understanding.

Counteracting Bias in Emergency Management

The Counteracting Bias in Emergency Management course will explore core concepts of bias, including unconscious and implicit bias, and the multiple types of biases. The course will explore where bias exists and the historical/present impacts of bias in emergency management. Additionally, this course identifies awareness and education strategies to counteract bias in policy and practice. Course participants will be able to understand and define bias, differentiate between unconscious and implicit bias, identify multiple types of biases, and explore mechanisms to combat bias toward more equity emergency management.

Power, Privilege, Oppression in Systems

The Power, Privilege, Oppression, course will focus on understanding how individual and systematic policy and practices exert power and privilege over marginalized populations that results in oppression of individuals and communities. Following this course, participants will be able to define privilege and oppression, understand how power and privilege impact oppression, understand how individual and organizational backgrounds influence power and privilege, and identify key strategies to mitigate effects of power, privilege, and oppression.

Climate, Environment, and Justice: The Case for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management 

The Climate, Environment, and Justice course allows participants to gain a greater understanding of the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion within their organization and why DEI is critical to within current climate crises and environmental justice contexts. Course participants will develop an understanding of climates impact on individuals, communities, and populations while exploring the impacts of environmental justice on disaster outcomes. Further, participants will explore how DEI approaches can improve resilience among communities that combats the current climate crisis.  

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination in Emergency Management

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination will explore core concepts of prejudice and discrimination including types of discrimination and the role of prejudice and discrimination in inequitable disaster outcomes. This course will aim to provide an understanding of personal and social identities, and how they influence emergency management approaches. Following this course, participants will be able to understand core concepts of prejudice and discrimination, identify types of discrimination, and differentiate between bias and prejudice.

Cultural Competency in Disaster

This course will explore fundamental concepts of cultural competency, the importance of culturally competent response and recovery, and how to improve equity in emergency management through cultural competence and emotional intelligence. Course participants can expect to learn how DEI learning improves cultural competence, explore frames of reference and unconscious bias, explore effective cross-cultural crisis communication, identify positive responses to stereotypes, and to gain cultural competencies across all factors that contribute to understanding communities we serve and generating effective outreach, engagement, and inclusion.

Historical Perspectives in Emergency Management

The Historical Perspectives of Bias in Emergency Management course provides a historical analysis of disaster inequity as a foundational construct to understanding where and why bias in disaster management exists and how these biases contribute to current disproportionate disaster impacts. Course participants will be able to identify landmark disasters and inequitable practices, explore barriers to equitable emergency management, and reflect on solutions that could improve current emergency management practice and policy.

Building Inclusive Community Resilience

Course participants will explore social equity in the resilience economy. Participants will examine the role of perceptions and stereotypes in creating cross-cultural misunderstandings which can limit participation in individual and collective resilience building. Resilience, or the ability to adapt to changing conditions and withstand and rapidly recover from disruption due to emergencies, is demonstrated at the individual, family and community levels. This course explores the unspoken impacts and intentional exclusionary practices that lead to a diminished resilience posture for underserved communities.

Conducting Social Vulnerability Assessments

This course focuses on implementing mechanisms to identify risk and vulnerability. Course participants will be introduced to vulnerability and risk assessments, indices, and matrices and will learn how to implement each into emergency management planning, policy, and decision making. This course will incorporate innovative planning considerations for mapping using private sector data for increased accuracy and participants will engage in whole community planning, with a focus on pre-determining vulnerability and risk.

Operationalizing Equity in Disaster

I-DIEM’s Operationalizing Equity in Disaster course is designed to offer organizations practical tools and strategies for embedding equity into all aspects of disaster management, especially decision-making. Instructors will analyze and discuss the historical significance of bias that is based on race, gender, socioeconomic status, and other characteristics. Participants will learn from experts about the emerging core concepts and leadership principles and practices for influencing equitable decisions and behaviors.

Social Determinants of Health and Emergency Management

Understanding the root causes of vulnerability is essential to identifying strategies and people-centric approaches to equitable emergency management. The Social Determinants of Health and Emergency Management course guides explores the same factors that contribute to increased vulnerability in disaster outcomes and are rooted in social determinants of health. This course will explore those determinants, how they contribute to vulnerability, how emergency management fits within that structure, and how these determinants are used to prioritize equity. Participants can expect to garner a stronger understanding of vulnerability and how to incorporate that understanding into resilience strategies.

Diversity and Inclusion Awareness for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)

The Diversity and Inclusion Awareness for HBCUs and MSIs course provides a fundamental strategy for leveraging HBCUs and MSIs as vital components to community outreach, education, and awareness for vulnerable, marginalized populations. Predominantly located in rural and urban settings, leveraging opportunities within these institutions allows for a large-scale expansion of disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery programs while also serving as a gateway to communities of color and a strong area of recruitment for volunteer opportunities. Course participants will learn about the impacts of disasters on HBCUs and MSIs, mechanisms for improving response and recovery among HBCUs and MSIs, and strategies to integrate HBCUs and MSIs into emergency management planning. Course participants will also identify opportunities to improve funding and operationalize strategically driven initiatives that will directly support the local economies and communities as HBCUs/MSIs are vital to recovery.

Trauma-Informed Community Engagement for Historically Marginalized Communities

The I-DIEM Approach to Trauma Informed Community Engagement course provides a customized 8-step process and implementation framework for relating to and engaging with underserved populations in times of disaster. The I-DIEM Approach to Trauma Informed Community Engagement provides an overview of the topic and increases participant diversity and inclusion competencies as they consider essential community engagement matters. Participants develop an appreciation for working respectfully with diverse community members. Tools and job aids are utilized to facilitate immediate implementation of acquired skills.

Diversifying Volunteers: Recruitment and Retention

Increasing representation of women and people of color is a top priority for many emergency management organizations. Ensuring the organization selects volunteers and workers that have a broad mix of talent that reflects the communities served is key. This course will allow course participants to gain a greater understanding of diversity and inclusion and understand why it is a crucial success factor. Participants will understand the impact of attitudes and behaviors and how they impact recruitment and organizational success, as well as learn and practice skills for sourcing, recruiting, and selecting top talent.

Diverse and Inclusive Recovery = Equity

Deep and complicated legacies of inequality and injustice along lines of race, gender, and other identities amplify barriers to resilience, recovery, and adaptation. As America concurrently faces a national reckoning of systemic racism, a global pandemic reaping disproportionate racial impact, rapidly intensifying hurricanes, and a creeping sea level rise, it is time to explore how to center the needs of at-risk communities into disaster recovery and resilience efforts. This course will identify necessary modifications to disaster operations, approaches, and practice. This course approaches disaster equity from multiple perspectives – emergency management, community organizing, planning, and adaptation.

Feeding Equity into Disparity (FED) – Addressing Food Insecurity in Disaster

Among the most significant challenges faced by communities across America and the world continues to be food insecurity. Often operated by a combination of organizational employees and volunteers, this course focuses on equitable strategies to managing food services with emphasis on equitable allocation of food resources and ensuring that volunteers are culturally aware of vulnerable, marginalized populations who are likely recipients of assistance. Course participants will develop an understanding of disparities and factors contributing to disparities, such as food deserts, and how equitable distribution of resources can provide the best return on investment while empowering the community during disasters.

Equitable Management of Disaster Donations

This course focuses on the equitable management of the disaster donations process. Key areas of learning for course participants focus on developing a disaster donations program that is based on the needs of the community and supports sustainable allocation of resources. Participants will also understand the cycle of the disaster donations process including strategies for ensuring “equity in transaction” and generating an informative cycle of understanding through the development of an organization-to-community, community-to-organization cycle that supports consistent development in organizational disaster response.

Spiritual and Emotional Equity in Disaster Services (SEEDS) – Emotional and Spiritual Care

The SEEDS course provides a foundational understanding of how religious bias is weaponized in times of disaster while providing the tools necessary to overcome harmful biases. Course participants will learn practical tools to combat religious bias and strategies for providing culturally competent emotional support to disaster survivors. This course places emphasis on emotional intelligence and equitable approaches before, during, and after disasters to combat negative mental health outcomes among individuals and communities.

Training for Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity in Social Services (TIDES) – Disaster Social Services

After a disaster, volunteer organizations and social service providers work with emergency managers to address the unmet needs of community members. The TIDES course examines the exacerbated disparities in service provision that disproportionately impact vulnerable, marginalized populations. In this course, participants will uncover areas of inequity that contribute to increased vulnerability and risk exposure. This course will provide participants with the tools necessary to build diverse, equitable and inclusive strategies to support diverse communities and their unmet needs.

Equity in Transaction: Diversifying Disaster Grants and Contracts 

Pivotal to emergency management practice and policy is the ability to ensure equitable distribution of resources through grants, contracts, and resources. The Equity in Transaction course identifies the best strategies and approaches for diversifying funding mechanisms that ensure community capacity-building and resilience. Course participants will learn how to identify diverse grantees and contractors with a community while exploring funding pathways that guide equitable mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Allyship: The Steps to Becoming a Great Ally

Effectively leading with courage and well intentions, creating inclusive communities requires advocating for individuals from historically underserved and marginalized backgrounds. Individuals committed to the work of becoming these change agents are often striving for allyship. They envision a more just community for all but may not have the tool to begin. Allies are often individuals that actively promote and aspire to advance the culture of diversity, equity and inclusion through intentional, positive, and conscious efforts that benefit people as a whole. This course will focus on understanding allyship and identifying key strategies to become a great ally for your organization and communities served.