As part of the Board Diversity Working Group’s efforts, River Rally 2016 included a new theme, Diversity & Inclusiveness, along with a plenary panel, “Diversity and Inclusiveness: Transforming Ourselves and Our Work.” This River Rally would be a turning point for River Network: we found ourselves receiving feedback from both ends of the spectrum. Some attendees thought this was all it was too much too fast, with some walking out of the plenary. Others were vocal in their wonderment on why we weren’t pushing harder and sharing even more of our internal work publicly. Once again, we were pushed to truly take a stand – choosing to stand for equity, diversity, and inclusion for all and committing to sharing and learning publicly.  

Speakers during the River Rally 2016 plenary. River Network photo.

“The Board Diversity Working Group pushed hard for diversity, equity, and inclusion to be a River Rally “theme” in 2016. However, the more important work was in helping River Network and the movement understand that DEI is more than a theme, it is a strategic way of functioning as an organization and should be mainstreamed, into every River Rally, underlying its design and gathering.”

– Baljit Wadhwa, past River Network Board Member

Read Nicole Silk’s opening remarks from River Rally 2016, and reflections on Rally 2016 learnings on the Urban Waters Learning Network blog.