We love it when the Merriam-Webster Dictionary announces their newly added words. It is a great reminder that language is a living thing, and our social encounters, habits and cultures are continually building and shifting that corpus. For example, the newly added phrase touch grass, which makes sense in a context where people spend significant amounts of time in front of devices.
We’ve also been following the announcements concerning another particularly important release in the world of dictionaries: The Oxford Dictionary of African American English (OEDAAE). This multi-year project—with Henry Louis Gates Jr. as Editor in Chief—gathers together linguists, lexicographers, historians of African and African American culture, scholars of popular culture, music history and many more to oversee the crowd-sourced process of compiling the first “lexicon of African American English (AAE) in a dictionary based on historical principles.”
In the same way that those who compile dictionaries recognize the inherently evolutionary nature of language, nonprofit leaders should consider language thought leadership proactively, as a way to guide or orient the conversation in your given field. One way that nonprofit leaders can play an active role in bending the moral arc of the universe toward justice is by advancing language in ways that challenge sector conversations to be more rooted in equity, historical truths and identity-recognizing language.
We know that for our clients it can feel risky to use new language in a context in which others are using relatively homogenous terms, discourse or framings. But, you are already innovating in your language in subtle ways that you and your organization are likely quite comfortable with. For example, many nonprofit leaders have a tendency in specific social circles to switch to language they know will be recognized and generate or maintain rapport.
Nonprofit leaders should consider language innovation more specifically by thinking about the ways that they can lead change through the words used in their field. There can be real value in intentionally shifting language and taking steps to orient the shift in line with a vision of the future or aspired outcomes. Through strategic language choices you can:
- Contribute to or participate in field building.
- Change how people interact with your cause.
- Help to advance how people see and understand the world or complex social issues.
- Reframe assumptions that have gone unspoken, but that structure the way most people approach your topic.
As strategic communications partners to nonprofits and socially responsible companies, we regularly work with organizations to identify and formulate strategies to advance language in a particular field, or on a specific narrative trajectory. We work a great deal on language and help organizations build glossaries and lexicons to provide the verbiage that reflects the unique positioning, history and audiences that are in relationship with their organization. We have developed protocols that help organizations test out language, and assess when to retire or shift language used by or within the organization.
For example, the phrase “women and people of color” is a phrase that we recommend for retirement which is sometimes used in corporate or nonprofit contexts. Beyond the inaccurate implication that the two categories do not overlap, its usage as a distinct formula is no longer relevant to the realities of conversations around justice. It dates from the era of the passage of civil rights legislation, reflecting that context’s strong focus on the simultaneously occurring women’s rights coalition and the movement for civil rights protections for Black people to counter Jim Crow laws and institutionalized racism at the federal level. Today, conversations have expanded beyond to encompass dynamics that have unfolded over the last half century, such as considerations of equity versus equality, other historically excluded groups and the realities of intersectional identities. The language that companies and nonprofits use to speak about these topics matters and should reflect your positioning within the current context.
We help clients with language and messaging of this kind in multiple ways. For example:
- Through our Innovation Lab, organizations can take advantage of a space for experimentation, testing of innovative ideas and collaborative thought partnership with communications advisors deeply embedded in the philanthropic and social justice arenas.
- Alternatively, for organizations looking for insight into where they stand in relation to the range of current narratives in their arena of work, our Lexicon ProjectTM offerings provide a structured audit process that produces relevant findings on how your organization’s language is advancing or inhibiting your social change objectives. This is accompanied by an organizational glossary, and actionable next steps for increased narrative alignment toward greater equity.
As you’re considering your own organizational language, we encourage you to check out the work being done for the creation of the OEDAAE, and draw inspiration from this historic achievement. Challenge yourself to think of language more creatively as a space for innovation and field building.
If you struggle with identifying how to evolve the language of your organization or sector, contact us for assistance. Simply fill out the contact form at the bottom of this page or call us at 212-500-5953 x113.
