Equity is the Opportunity for Everyone to Succeed

I hadn’t seen Danny in a couple of weeks at the grocery store, and I was worried. Danny has Downs Syndrome, and I was afraid he had contracted the Coronavirus. When I asked about him at the service desk, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he was fine and had moved to Florida. Not only that, the company had secured a position for him at their store in his town.

Danny had a great attitude at work. And I suspect that it carried over into other areas of his life. But while working at the grocery store, he always talked to the customers, asking how their day was going or what they were cooking for dinner. It was easy to see how conscientious he was when bagging groceries. He was even careful to double bag the meat and not make the bags too heavy.

Even though he did well with certain tasks and interacted with his teammates in a way that brought a smile to their faces, there were still tasks that were a challenge. For example, he struggled with tasks like mopping and bringing in more than one shopping cart at a time. As I think about it, there may have been other responsibilities that Danny could not carry out very well, but his attitude and attention to the ones he could was inspiring.

Seeing Danny at work beaming with pride led me to ask about the store’s policy, especially since Danny isn’t the only differently-abled person on the staff. I was told that the company believes there is dignity in work, and everyone should have the opportunity to be a part of the working community. And to make sure that everyone had the chance to work, modified job descriptions were written to create more opportunities instead of obstacles. And that also allowed the person with modified assignments to work and contribute to the team successfully.

Without this consideration, Danny would not have been able to contribute to the workforce, have the opportunity to learn from performance reviews, or even earn bonuses or raises like everyone else. Instead, he was given tasks and assignments that he performed well and was rewarded.

What a great example of EQUITY!

Sometimes we confuse Equity with Equality. The difference; equality states, “We will hire a Downs person for the job.” Where Equity says, “We will hire a Downs person for the job and create a job description where the person has an opportunity to succeed.”

Equity creates an environment that rewards hard work and initiative while recognizing a need to have guidelines where success is achievable. What’s interesting is that equity is sometimes left out of the

Diversity - Inclusion conversation, but EQUITY is the glue that brings DIVERSITY and INCLUSION together when you understand it.

DREAM4’s Strengths in Diversity support doesn’t shy away from discussing EQUITY. We want everyone to understand Diversity and Inclusion are supported by Equity, and Equity opens the door of opportunity for everyone.

What comes to mind when you hear the word equity?