2023 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Microaggressions are everyday subtle put-downs, assumptions and comments that, regardless of intentions, take a significant toll on mental and physical health of people from marginalized groups.

People impacted by microaggressions often find the experience confusing or invalidating. And, almost everyone will make a microaggression without realizing it and often react defensively about being “called out.’

Since you can’t change what you don’t know, the first step was mainstreaming the conversation around microaggressions. To go beyond talk, they also wanted to drive engagement with resources that could encourage learning without defensiveness. Finally, they wanted to make that learning sustainable by connecting DEI programs with tools to address microaggressions within their organizations.

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?” At the same time, almost everyone will make some form of microaggression without realizing it (28% of omnibus respondents acknowledge having done this) and often react defensively about being “called out.”

We can’t start unlearning microaggressions until we can recognize them, and in many cases, recognize our own (often unintentional) behaviour. That challenge shaped our strategy: Find a neutral, non-judgemental way to draw attention to microaggressions to open up an opportunity for discussion and education.

They created The Micropedia (TheMicropedia.org), the world’s first encyclopedia of microaggressions. This judgement-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, with 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 giving the microaggression. Like other community-based wikis, entries are collected via user submissions.

Knowing how nuanced and complex this issue is, it was important that this tool came from a place of authenticity. They assembled a coalition of organizations working on the frontlines of DEI to contribute their perspective and experiences, including the Black Business and Professional Association, the Canadian Congress on Diversity and Workplace Equity, Pride at Work and the Diversity Institute.

The success of The Micropedia demonstrates the need for this type of resource. With no paid promotion, the initiative has had impact. Over 62,000 people, from 125+ countries have visited the site reading 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, and Fast Company.

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 aiming to accelerate diversity efforts in workplaces nationwide. As of May, the 50-30 Challenge has over 1,500 participating organizations spanning public, private and nonprofit sectors. The Micropedia was also recognized by the advertising industry, being awarded a Fusion Pencil at The One Show Awards, a D&AD Graphite Pencil, two Cannes Lions and a Glass Lion shortlist.

Credits

Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Chief 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, Adrian Ver, Patrick Henderson, 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
Audio Production / Scoring: Pirate Toronto
Executive Producer: Maggie Blouin Pearl
Engineer: Ian Boddy
Illustrator: Nabil Elsaadi
Audio Social: Noah Mroueh