CASE Establishes First-Ever Global Inclusion Index for Advancement Field
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is pleased to share that it has established the CASE Advancement Inclusion Index for colleges, universities, and independent schools. As the first-of-its-kind index for the advancement profession, it measures diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging progress in advancement policy and practice, as well as captures respondent and demographic information.
The Advancement Inclusion Index was created by CASE’s OIC: Opportunity and Inclusion Center, which works to drive change and provide social justice solutions for all professionals working in integrated advancement. It was developed with expert input from CASE’s global membership and is designed to apply to any institution in any region across the world.
“Institutional efforts for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging should begin with an impartial baseline assessment of the existing documents, practices, groups, resources, and responses that are designed to ensure diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environments,” says Ben Fiore-Walker, Ph.D., Senior Director of OIC. “We look forward to helping CASE members implement the Advancement Inclusion Index and working with them to achieve, foster, and maintain inclusive excellence within educational philanthropy.”
The index tracks a baseline and growth across four major categories: (1) Strategy and methods; (2) culture and climate; (3) advancement policies and practices; and (4) talent management and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging training. Each category of the index has a score of 0-5. Institutions can use the individual category, as well as the overall scores, to benchmark accomplishments, identify gaps and deficiencies, establish a trajectory, and measure progress of future work.
“In striving to enhance and build diversity across our profession worldwide, the new CASE Advancement Inclusion Index will provide a vital tool for measuring current state upon which to build future success. I am gratified that this tool was thoughtfully developed in consultation with members worldwide and I look forward to seeing its impact on this important journey in building the success of our institutions,” says CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham.
To learn more about the index, please visit the CASE website or contact Ben Fiore-Walker at [email protected].
About CASE
CASE—the Council for Advancement and Support of Education—is a global, not-for-profit membership association with a vision to advance education to transform lives and society.
CASE is the home for advancement professionals, inspiring, challenging, and equipping them to act effectively and with integrity to champion the success of their institutions. CASE defines the competencies and standards for the profession of advancement, leading, and championing their dissemination and application with more than 97,000 advancement professionals at 3,100 member institutions in 80 countries.
Broad and growing communities of professionals gather under the global CASE umbrella. Currently these include alumni relations, development services, communications, fundraising, government relations, and marketing. These professionals are at all stages of their careers and may be working in universities, schools, colleges, cultural institutions, or other not-for-profits. CASE uses the intellectual capital and professional talents of a community of international volunteers to advance its work, and its membership includes many educational partners who work closely with the educational sector.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CASE works across all continents from its regional offices in London, Singapore, and Mexico City to achieve a seamless experience for all its stakeholders, particularly its members, volunteers, and staff.