The DEI Committee of the Japan Association for Language Teaching began as the Diversity and Equity Practices Committee in 2019 with the support of then President Richmond Stroupe, along with JALT officers Thomas Amundrud, Wendy Gough, Michael Hollenback, Tanya McCandie, Joe Tomei, and others. It was initiated by members who recognized the need to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization and along with such a need in the English language teaching context as a whole. At the organizational level, this involved issues such as the need for childcare at conferences and the persistence of panels dominated by Western, โnative speakerโ men. Working outside of the scope of formal complaints, which are submitted to the Code of Conduct Committee, the DEI Committee collaborates with the Board of Directors (BoD) to welcome, promote, and celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion in the organization, including (but not limited to) diversity in terms of ability, age, class, ethnicity gender, language, national origin, nationality, neurodiversity, race, sexual orientation, teaching context, and other aspects of identity.
The DEI Committee strives towards aย JALT in which all members are welcomed and celebrated in all their diversities. It also aims to support the adoption of a DEI perspective in all aspects of the organization, from policy to programming.ย The Committee works towards an organization in which all perspectives are valued, especially perspectives that have been marginalized by any form of systemic oppression. To foster a JALTthat is increasingly diverse, equitable, and inclusive, the DEI Committee works with the BoD through education, communication, outreach, and advocacy activities within and beyond JALT. For example, we bring workshops and themed panels to the JALT International and PanSIG conferences. At these two events, we also host a table to share information about our DEI initiatives and to highlight DEI-related presentations at each conference.ย We also work on resources and initiatives to foster more inclusive programming, such as the DEI Presenter Guidelines and its accompanying DEI Database Survey, as well as childcare at JALT conferences to ensure accessibility.ย ย ย ย
Contact: dei@jalt.org
Officers:
- Committee Chair: Yaya Yao and Shawna Carroll
- Committee Member:
- Thomas Amundrud
- Lasni Buddhibhashika Jayasooriya
- Gretchen Clark
- May Kyaw Oo
- Jennie Roloff Rothman
- Terry Tuttle
- Gregory Paul Glasgow (Member-at-Large)
- Risa Ikeda (Member-at-Large)
- Margaret Kim (Member-at-Large)
- Sachiko Nakagome (Member-at-Large)
