The One Club for Creativity and Allies in Recruiting (AIR) have expanded their Equify diversity training and certification program to help both senior executives and staff create more inclusive and equitable practices in their organizations.
Equify was developed for AIR in 2020 by James Kinney, global chief people officer at Media.Monks—who recently launched the Advertising Alliance for Mental Health—and an AIR founding partner and board advisor, to establish foundational best practices for inclusion education across organizations. AIR became part of The One Club in July 2022.
The audio program—with closed captioning available—goes into detail about diversity, equity and inclusion and how it affects work culture. Equify uses clear examples to cover topics across generations, cultural and gender identity, accessibility and ableism, sustainability and more to unite, mobilize and create changemakers within an organization, according to The One Club.
Equify is designed for everyone from senior executives, hiring managers, talent and HR teams, to any employee who participates in hiring or wants to create a more inclusive culture in their workplace. It is designed to bridge the knowledge gap between how organizations hire talent, and how diverse talent can be supported, included and retained.
The global program now includes two separate courses, each structured like a podcast. The new Equify 2.0 spans 11 chapters, addressing subjects including environmental, social and governance and DEI, how and why to collect diversity data, and mental health and diversity. The courses reflect Kinney’s engaging personality, taking an enjoyable, relatable approach to the subject matter.
“I’m in war mode, and in a war mood, in order to get DEI and culture back on track.” said Kinney in a statement. “We’ve made so much meaningful progress, but now is not the time to go to sleep on the mission. Our industry is shifting by the day, and Equify gives us a common language of belonging and a knowledge base to unify. This moment and the new era of creativity is about knowledge, facts and growth, not fear.”
The initial program has already been well received by the industry.
“In the last few years, we’ve seen so many impactful but disconnected DEI efforts in our industry,” said Dani Herrera, director, recruitment operations and DEI at R/GA in a statement. “I see Equify as a cornerstone and the foundation of DEI knowledge that pushes our industry to achieve sustainable, collective, and meaningful change.”
Mabel Liang, senior talent acquisition partner at Nike, added that Equify breaks the content down into short sessions with a theme and structure like a podcast, making it easy to listen to at someone’s own pace.
“True long-term change requires education for all members of an organization,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club in a statement. “We’re proud to work with AIR on this expanded Equify program designed to build a shared foundation of diversity and inclusion knowledge, understanding, and best practices for both leaders and teams at agencies and brands.”
Equify is the latest in a line of DEI programs available from The One Club, including the annual Where Are All the Black People diversity conference and job fair, One School free portfolio program for Black creatives in the U.S. and U.K., and global creative boot camps.