Inclusive language guidelines

The problem

At Code42, inclusive language efforts were sporadic and ad-hoc, leading to an inconsistent experience at best, and a harmful one at worst.

My role and process

I identified the need for centralized inclusive language guidelines to be used across the company. I gathered a cross-functional group of colleagues representing multiple employee resource groups to draft inclusive language guidelines. I met with our DE&I program manager to determine the best approach for socialization and adoption. I evangelized these guidelines among executives, within my team of writers, and throughout the company as a whole.

Results

The following were updated to meet the new guidelines:

• Code branch naming

• Product terminology

• Style guides

• Company values

Next steps

The committee discussed adding an automated Slackbot to encourage inclusive language use internally, similar to the below message (not yet live during my tenure).