In keeping with the core values statements, the Association has made work towards equity, inclusion, diversity, and justice a core part of our mission as an organization of scholarly publishers. The Association’s Statement on Equity and Anti-Racism, approved by the AUPresses Board of Directors in spring 2020, keeps those commitments in view of our leadership, staff, volunteer committees, and members.
The committee at the forefront of this work at the Association level recommended changing the committee name to more precisely identify the community’s responsibilities and intentions, becoming the AUPresses Equity, Justice, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee (EJIB). A toolkit to help university presses audit the demographics of their authors, editors, reviewers, and other partner communities has been under rigorous development, review, and revision. The toolkit will be available for members by the time AUPresses 2023 begins in June. The Committee also finalized and published a comprehensive EJIB Resources library in late 2022, organizing a wealth of resources for members to consult as they continue the work of creating and maintaining a culture of belonging. The committee organized a webinar on neurodiversity, and several virtual AUPresses 2023 sessions.
The Association, in partnership with the larger scholarly communications community, continues to advance this commitment to equity. As a founding member of the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC), AUPresses, particularly our Director of Operations Kim Miller, provides key administrative infrastructure for the group. The C4DISC Toolkits for Equity, originally a project arising from the 2019 Triangle Scholarly Communications Institute, launched its third toolkit this year: the Antiracism Toolkit for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Contributors to that toolkit include numerous members of the AUPresses community.