Over the years, many people have asked us why we use the acronym “JEDI” rather than “EDI”, “DEI”, “DEIA”, “DEIB” etc. and there are 2 reasons for this:
1. Firstly, the term “JEDI” rolls off the tongue nicely. We know this sounds silly, but as marketers and communicators, this matters to us.
2. But most importantly, the “J” stands for “Justice” and aspires for long-lasting systemic change in an industry that is often (rightfully) perceived as too flighty and performative. We are not focused on one-off solutions and campaigns with pithy headlines that ultimately lack substance; we are aiming to change the way the entire industry approaches and navigates through this work.
So when we utilize the acronym “JEDI”, we love that it not only sounds great, but that it reminds us that there is so much more work to be done to transform the industry into something we’re proud of.
Here is an image below that communicates the importance of the “J” in our work:
Image Description: There are 4 sections in this image that are labelled “Inequality”, “Equality”, “Equity”, and “Justice”. In the “Inequality” image, there is an apple tree that is leaning to the left and filled with apples (primarily on its left side) and an apple is dropping down to a person with their arms out ready to catch it. All on the left side. Meanwhile, there is a person on the right side of the tree with their arms out but not only is no apple is falling to them, there are also barely any apples on that side of the tree and the tree is leaning away from them. In the “Equality” image, the tree is still leaning to the left and primarily filled with apples on the left side, but now both people on either side of the tree have a ladder now. However, only the person on the left can access to the apples because the right side of the tree has barely any apples and it’s still out of reach because the tree is leaning away from them. In the “Equity” image, the person on the right side now has a taller ladder and can now access the few apples that are available on the right side. In the “Justice” image, the tree is now reinforced to stand up straight without any lean, and the tree is also now filled with apples on both sides. Both people on either side have a ladder and they both have access to many apples.
