3 Lessons Implemented From the BRIC Summit

The BRIC Foundation has been a part of Open Pixel's education initiatives for 3+ years. Their continued work is inspiring and holds companies and organizations accountable for DEIA initiatives: 

BRIC Foundation's main goal is to increase representation in Entertainment, Gaming, Media, and Tech. By strategically engaging with leaders across these industries, along with Government and Education Partners, BRIC strives to Break, Reinvent, Impact, and Change the foundations of these businesses and create inclusive opportunities for women and underrepresented people to be successful.

Their summit brought industry leaders, policymakers, educators, and more to the table to ask important questions such as:

  • With the economy tightening, will DEIA get cut from company budgets? How can we prevent this? 

  • What policy changes are already established but need to go farther? 

We've learned that even a small studio of 2 can make significant impacts in supporting DEIA efforts. 

Let's break down a few of our key takeaways.

Executives: Get Training

It's fantastic when a CEO agrees that their business needs DEIA training! But if that CEO is not participating in the workshops, training, and programming, then a company's culture will remain unchanged. 

Systemic change needs to happen across the company hierarchy. As owners, it's our responsibility to get educated on specific subject matters, including (but not limited to):

  • Ageism

  • Ableism

  • Systemic Racism

  • Neurodiversity

If you, as a CEO, are seeing these words for the first time, there is always time to learn. Many resources are available to you, both free and paid that can provide you with the information you need in a judgment-free environment. 

Bonus tip: We recognize that training can get expensive for a small business. Be sure to check if your state or region has workforce development programs that can help offset the cost of training through grants. 

Conversations: Break Down Communication Barriers

Where do conversations about DEIA take place for you and your teams?

When conversations only happen in structured programs, we're not normalizing the need to keep conversations throughout the workplace. So make room for it, even if that means asking in the middle of meetings.

Look at your teams, departments, and executives to see where the barriers to conversations lie and what stands in the way of the development that needs to happen within businesses.

Accessibility: Don’t Forget It!

There are simple changes a studio can make to be more accessible both to a broader audience and within the workplace. 

  1. When posting on social media, make your hashtags Capital Cases.

    1. Examples: #OpenPixelStudios #AccessibilityTraining #Education

  2. Partner with local organizations focusing on accessibility efforts to see where your team can improve. 

  3. If you're hosting a community event, virtually or in person, include ASL interpreters in your budgets and provide additional closed captioning when available.

  4. Check your fonts! Provide larger font sizes and choose accessible styles across your internal and external messaging.

Here are a few books to get you started on your education journey:

(Click/Tap on each image)

The Work Starts Now: It Doesn’t End

There's no deadline for this type of work, but it does need to take priority. You won't see a calendar date at a company that says: End Racism everywhere by Q2 2024, but you should start these conversations now so they create cultural change for the long term. We need to get into the practice of unlearning what we know so we can begin to move forward.

The BRIC Summit made us proud to be conscious of being part of the solution: to question our practices, embrace curiosity and learning, and keep the conversation going. 

If you'd like to join in these conversations, follow the BRIC Foundation to see where you can get involved.

Open Pixel Studios