The ORCID Senior Team: Tom Demeranville, Ivo Wijnbergen, Sarah Hershberger, Will Simpson, and Julie Petro. The Senior Team would like to extend a special thank you to Bernette Sherman for her contributions to this article, and for helping us get these important conversations started internally.
A Global Vision
“ORCID’s vision is a world where all who participate in research, scholarship, and innovation are uniquely identified and connected to their contributions across disciplines, borders, and time.”
Since ORCID began in 2009, our vision has been a global one. It is a tall order considering the sheer enormity of our planet and the never-ending variety of its people’s colors, creeds, and nationalities. We have always strived to embody the values of diversity and inclusion, but recent events make it clear the values of diversity and inclusion are not enough, no matter how passionately held or thoughtfully implemented.
Not Non-racist; Anti-racist
Silence truly equals complicity, and we will not be complicit in the systemic, violent oppression and suppression of our Black brothers and sisters, or any other marginalized group, anywhere in the world. We realize words and opinions don’t matter much right now; actions do. We must take this opportunity to look inside ourselves with clarity and outside ourselves with empathy.
ORCID is not only not racist, we are anti-racist. This means not only will we not be complicit, we will not be complacent about becoming better allies to our Black community and to other underrepresented groups in the global research ecosystem. We realize we can always do better, and internally, we are in the early stages of forming a diversity and inclusion committee to examine where we need to go from here.
ORCID Board Election – Diverse Representation
The success of ORCID depends on diverse representation from our community. Each year the ORCID Nominations Committee works to attract a ‘slate’ of candidates that is balanced and diverse, taking into account different sectors, regions, and skills. We have a Board Meeting Attendance Fund in an effort to reduce barriers to participation for member-affiliated Board members who need financial support, and to ensure the broad representation and deep engagement needed to achieve our vision.
We invite you to consider nominating yourself or encouraging colleagues to nominate themselves to stand for election to the ORCID Board. Please learn more here.
Moving Forward Together
We are one small drop in the global groundswell towards real and lasting transformation of racial equality and justice. We are listening to our community, and we understand this is going to be a sustained effort over time.
Our intention is to listen to the voices of underrepresented groups in our community with lived experience and use that knowledge to inform our future initiatives and actions. We are a community built non-profit, and we remain community-guided. We invite you to reach out and contribute to this important conversation.
Resources
For more resources on how to support the Black Lives Matter movement, please read, learn, and act here:
