Advocates and Allies (A&A)

About Advocates & Allies 

The Advocates and Allies (A&A) is one program part of the larger National Science Foundations (NSF) sponsored ADVANCE grant. The program promotes a campus culture of equity and inclusion through the practice of active intervention. A&A operates through an Advocates and Allies Advisory Board (A3B) and an Advocates Team, both consisting of faculty/staff volunteers from Michigan Tech. The program advances change through two strategies: raising awareness and challenging practices and policies that contribute to systemic inequities and biases, and actively promoting equitable and inclusive practices and policies.

Advocates and Allies is adapted from a program started by North Dakota State University. Using restorative justice and broad engagement to change university culture, those with access and authority such as men or dominant group individuals are engaged to be allies and advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion while those identifying with historically marginalized groups and gender diverse individuals provide guidance and support for advocacy efforts. This integration is intended to ensure that change benefits all, especially those most often overlooked or whose needs and interests are misunderstood or too reductively addressed.

Become an Ally, Become an Advocate

A3B is a group of women, minorities, and gender diverse individuals who provide guidance to the Advocates Team. Guidance comes in the form of communicating and prioritizing issues that women, minorities, and gender diverse individuals experience at Michigan Tech that impede their career growth and success. Guidance also comes in the form of educating the Advocates via published resources and lived experiences, about the best topics, and approaches for the Advocates. 

The Advocates Team is a group of majority men individuals in positions of influence at Michigan Tech who have committed to a) continuously learning, b) using that knowledge to educate their majority men colleagues to be allies of women, minorities, and gender diverse individuals, c) advocating with their women, minorities, and gender diverse colleagues, and d) advocating for policies and practices that move Michigan Tech culture to achieve equity for all. 

The goal of the program is for the Advocates to be at the forefront doing the challenging DEI work under the guidance and advisement of the A3B. These groups work closely together with the goal that well-intentioned ideas translate into policies and practices that most effectively achieve the goals of equity.  

For those individuals who would like to sponsor activities for women or other identities, please consider joining Women in the Academy or other efforts on campus. The A&A program is designed to reduce the DEIS service load and attendance commitment for underrepresented individuals, while advancing knowledge and education of DEIS through the broad Michigan Tech community.

The Advocates and Allies Advisory Board (A3B) and the Advocates Team are looking for new members to join them!

If you are interested in learning more about these efforts on campus, please reach out to deis-advocates@mtu.edu or advance-mtu@mtu.edu to learn more. In addition, please consider joining the Advocates Team or A3B when the applications are considered each fall.

 

Michigan Tech is a globally recognized technological university that educates students, advances knowledge, and innovates to improve the quality of life and to promote mutual respect and equity for all people within the state, the nation, and the global community.

MTU Strategic Planning Framework for DEIS