2022 Winner
BronzeBest Data Insight
BBPA, TMU Diversity Institute, Canadian Congress on inclusive diversity and workplace equity, Pride at Work Canada
"The Micropedia of Microaggressions"
UM & Zulu Alpha Kilo
"The Micropedia of Microaggressions"
UM & Zulu Alpha Kilo
Microaggressions are everyday subtle put-downs, assumptions and comments that, regardless of intentions, can be hurtful and damaging. Less obvious than overt forms of discrimination, they take a significant toll on mental and physical health of people from marginalized groups.
A recent national research omnibus showed that 33% of respondents had experienced a microaggression themselves. It also uncovered that while 25% of Canadians were very familiar with microaggressions, 30% of Canadians were completely unaware of the term, and another 18% had only ever heard the term in passing.
The longstanding issue has come into sharp focus as the reopening of offices meant that anxiety about workplace microaggressions for many BIPOC individuals resurfaced. In fact, a survey of Black Canadians uncovered 68% of respondents had experienced fewer microaggressions over the last year working away from the office.
Experiencing a microaggression is often confusing or invalidating. People impacted often question, “Was that really a microaggression? Is this worth tackling? What should I say and how should I cope?”
We can’t start unlearning microaggressions until we can recognize them, and in many cases, recognize our own (often unintentional) behaviour. But that is difficult when we avoid important discussions for fear of saying the wrong thing or being called out by others. That challenge shaped this strategy: Find a neutral, non-judgmental way to draw attention to microaggressions to open up an opportunity for discussion and education. With understanding comes change and they were eager to engage Canadians, and the world, on how they could evolve.
Joining forces with diversity & inclusion partners, they created The Micropedia (TheMicropedia.org), the world’s first encyclopedia of microaggressions. Like other community based wikis, entries are collected via user submissions.
But it needed to start somewhere. Each of its partners provided their own perspective to help frame and start to build the content. More importantly, those same organizations helped promote the initiative to individuals in their networks and to the extensive corporate, educational, business and government organizations that had the ability to help them create massive impact. Media coverage was staggering, both online and in social; the efforts of those partner organizations, and the interest in the initiative itself, created considerable earned content.
The judgment-free online tool provides easy-to-digest information where people can unlearn their unconscious bias and make immediate changes in their daily interactions, anywhere, any time. Entries span nine categories, representing common groups and communities facing this issue. Each entry defines the harmful impact of the microaggression while providing resources and real-world examples from news, media and pop culture. A tips section promotes behaviour change through actionable steps whether a person is witnessing, receiving or committing the microaggression.
The Micropedia is the world’s first encyclopedia of microaggressions. Using a familiar resource like an encyclopedia ensured that the tool felt accessible and, most importantly, neutral. It is also designed to be community built like Wikipedia - anyone can submit a microaggression or provide feedback on any of the entries. That ensures that the tool is constantly evolving and growing to capture as many experiences as possible.
Partnering with key diversity and inclusion companies has not only ensured they have a sound premise regarding content, it has enabled them to facilitate a broad base of outreach to ensure awareness and inclusion of the website in hundreds, if not thousands, of companies and institutional organizations,
at no cost.
The success of The Micropedia demonstrates the need for this type of resource. With no paid promotion, the initiative has had considerable media impact: over 62,000 people from 125+ countries have visited the site and read over 100,000 entries. The project was quick to earn press attention with 8M earned impressions and featured stories in the CBC, The Globe and Mail, CP24, Fast Company and many others. Corporations, institutions, and organizations around the world have already adopted The Micropedia as a DEI resource. It can now be found on resource pages for universities, hospital networks and medical schools, government bodies and organizations, media companies and global organizations. The Micropedia will even be part of the Government of Canada’s federal 50-30 Challenge, a program which seeks to accelerate diversity efforts in over 1,500 workplaces nationwide.
A recent national research omnibus showed that 33% of respondents had experienced a microaggression themselves. It also uncovered that while 25% of Canadians were very familiar with microaggressions, 30% of Canadians were completely unaware of the term, and another 18% had only ever heard the term in passing.
The longstanding issue has come into sharp focus as the reopening of offices meant that anxiety about workplace microaggressions for many BIPOC individuals resurfaced. In fact, a survey of Black Canadians uncovered 68% of respondents had experienced fewer microaggressions over the last year working away from the office.
Experiencing a microaggression is often confusing or invalidating. People impacted often question, “Was that really a microaggression? Is this worth tackling? What should I say and how should I cope?”
We can’t start unlearning microaggressions until we can recognize them, and in many cases, recognize our own (often unintentional) behaviour. But that is difficult when we avoid important discussions for fear of saying the wrong thing or being called out by others. That challenge shaped this strategy: Find a neutral, non-judgmental way to draw attention to microaggressions to open up an opportunity for discussion and education. With understanding comes change and they were eager to engage Canadians, and the world, on how they could evolve.
Joining forces with diversity & inclusion partners, they created The Micropedia (TheMicropedia.org), the world’s first encyclopedia of microaggressions. Like other community based wikis, entries are collected via user submissions.
But it needed to start somewhere. Each of its partners provided their own perspective to help frame and start to build the content. More importantly, those same organizations helped promote the initiative to individuals in their networks and to the extensive corporate, educational, business and government organizations that had the ability to help them create massive impact. Media coverage was staggering, both online and in social; the efforts of those partner organizations, and the interest in the initiative itself, created considerable earned content.
The judgment-free online tool provides easy-to-digest information where people can unlearn their unconscious bias and make immediate changes in their daily interactions, anywhere, any time. Entries span nine categories, representing common groups and communities facing this issue. Each entry defines the harmful impact of the microaggression while providing resources and real-world examples from news, media and pop culture. A tips section promotes behaviour change through actionable steps whether a person is witnessing, receiving or committing the microaggression.
The Micropedia is the world’s first encyclopedia of microaggressions. Using a familiar resource like an encyclopedia ensured that the tool felt accessible and, most importantly, neutral. It is also designed to be community built like Wikipedia - anyone can submit a microaggression or provide feedback on any of the entries. That ensures that the tool is constantly evolving and growing to capture as many experiences as possible.
Partnering with key diversity and inclusion companies has not only ensured they have a sound premise regarding content, it has enabled them to facilitate a broad base of outreach to ensure awareness and inclusion of the website in hundreds, if not thousands, of companies and institutional organizations,
at no cost.
The success of The Micropedia demonstrates the need for this type of resource. With no paid promotion, the initiative has had considerable media impact: over 62,000 people from 125+ countries have visited the site and read over 100,000 entries. The project was quick to earn press attention with 8M earned impressions and featured stories in the CBC, The Globe and Mail, CP24, Fast Company and many others. Corporations, institutions, and organizations around the world have already adopted The Micropedia as a DEI resource. It can now be found on resource pages for universities, hospital networks and medical schools, government bodies and organizations, media companies and global organizations. The Micropedia will even be part of the Government of Canada’s federal 50-30 Challenge, a program which seeks to accelerate diversity efforts in over 1,500 workplaces nationwide.
Credits
Agency: Zulu Alpha KiloChief Creative Officer: Zak Mroueh
Executive Creative Director: Stephanie Yung, Christina Yu
Head of Design: Stephanie Yung
Art Director: Andrea Por
Writer: Christina Roche
Design Director: Jeff Watkins
Designer: Zoe Kim
UX/UI Designer: Damian Simev
Account Team: Rob Feightner, Karla Ramirez, Michael Brathwaite
Strategy Director: Spencer MacEachern
Senior Community Manager: Adrian Ver
Director, Digital Strategy: Patrick Henderson
Executive Strategy Director: Sean Bell
Agency Producers: Rebecca Adams, Kenneth Haz
Production Director: Ola Stodulska
Partner: Nadine Spencer, Black Business and Professional Association
Partner: Alex Ihama, Canadian Congress on inclusive diversity and workplace equity
Partner: Wendy Cukier, Toronto Metropolitan University's Diversity Institute
Partner: Colin Druhan, Pride at Work Canada
Studio Director: James Graham
Developers (web): Jake Edwards, Kyle Collins, Ariana Emond
Production Artist: Pavel Petriycki, Mila Lukezich, Cecilia Bernasch
Production House: Zulubot
Director: Barbara Shearer
Production House Producer: Lauren Schell, Mitch Cappe, Adam Palmer, Jackie Pal
Executive Producer: Tom Evans
Cinematographer/DOP: Greg Bennet
Key Grip: Prassan Patel
Editing Company: Zulubot
Editor: Jessie Posthumus, Felipe Chaparro, Jay Baker
Animation: Ashlee Mitchell
Post Producer: Sarah Dayus, Mariya Guzova
Online/Colourist: Felipe Chaparro
Motion Graphics: Mike Sevigny
Illustrator: Nabil Elsaadi
Audio Social: Noah Mroueh
Audio Production / Scoring: Pirate Toronto
Executive Producer: Maggie Blouin Pearl
Engineer: Ian Boddy