To formalize and make actionable the organization’s commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive culture where all individuals (staff, volunteers, donors, etc.) feel welcome and desire to engage with the organization and bring their most authentic selves and experiences to achieving the organization’s mission.

In August 2017, the CEO DEI Advisory Committee; comprised of volunteer leaders (including members of the National Board) and staff was established to provide strategic, informed advice to the CEO about increasing diversity on boards, committees and other volunteer leadership roles across the Society. To further advance the efforts, a VP of DEI was hired in September 2021 to develop an organization wide DEI strategy and plan; to execute upon the plan in October 2022 a DEI Work Team, a cross-functional/reporting level staff team, was established to advance the plan delivery. The efforts of both groups are coordinated to ensure scale and to accelerate growth opportunities.

The committee has played an integral role in the development of our organizational DEI Statement which is read ahead of each meeting, along with our vision and mission to ensure we are grounded in our purpose and keep the focus of equity and inclusion in the MS movement top of mind. The committee also contributed to the hiring of a VP of DEI in September 2021 which has led to the development of a strategy that seeks to embed DEI in everything we do and align the work to organizational priorities. The DEI Work Team, since its inception has been focused on reviewing organizational policies, practices and processes and making recommendations to modify to remove and mitigate bias.