Joy and Justice: Why Inclusion Must Feel Like Belonging, Not Just Policy - Newsletter #42

Welcome to Maven Musings! I'm thrilled to connect with you. Biweekly, we’ll discuss Global inclusivity, technology, women’s empowerment, and healthy workplace culture through my unique and joyful lens. Join me on a journey of inspiration, positivity, and creativity.

I have been in a lot of rooms over the years: tech conferences, theater spaces, boardrooms, career panels, community meet-ups. And while every room looks different, there is one truth that does not change. You can have inclusion on paper and still not have belonging in practice.

Representation matters. Policy matters. Metrics matter. But here is the truth: people do not thrive just because they are counted. They thrive because they are valued.

Representation Is the Starting Line, Not the Finish Line

Representation tells you who is in the room. Belonging tells you how they feel once they are there.

I have seen organizations put a lot of energy into checking the representation box; inviting women, people of color, LGBTQ+ leaders, younger talent, people with disabilities. That is important work. But if those people walk into the room and feel like outsiders, or tokens, or placeholders, then representation alone has not delivered inclusion.

True inclusion is not about optics. It is about the lived experience of the people in the room.

Why Belonging Feels Different

Belonging feels like being heard without having to prove your worth first.

Belonging feels like knowing your perspective is not just tolerated, it is sought out.

Belonging feels like being able to bring your whole self into the space—your story, your background, your ideas, your humor, your voice—without fear that it will cost you credibility.

I know what it feels like to be in a room where my voice is welcomed and amplified. I also know what it feels like to be in a room where my voice was an afterthought. The difference is not subtle. It shapes whether you speak up. It shapes whether you stay. It shapes whether you believe you can thrive in that environment.

Where Joy Meets Justice

So where does joy come in? For me, joy is not separate from justice.

Justice is the foundation — the fair structures and principles that make inclusion real. It is the commitment to fairness that ensures people are not just invited into the room but protected once they are there.

Joy is what grows out of that foundation. When people feel safe, valued, and seen, joy follows. People laugh more, share more, and collaborate more generously.

Justice provides the framework. Joy fills it with life. Together, they make belonging possible.

What Leaders Can Do

If you are a leader—whether you manage a global team or a small project—here are three ways to move beyond policy and toward belonging.

1. Create space for real voices. Make sure every meeting and every project has time for all voices, not just the loudest ones. Actively invite perspectives, and then listen without rushing to defend or explain.
2. Acknowledge invisible labor. The people holding the culture together often do it quietly. They organize, they check in on others, they mentor, they troubleshoot. Shine a light on that work and celebrate it, because it is what makes belonging possible.
3. Model joy and humanity. Share your own stories. Admit mistakes. Celebrate small wins. When you lead with humanity, you give others permission to do the same. That is what creates the conditions for belonging.
4. Challenge the “pipeline” excuse. Too often, I hear leaders or event organizers say, “We just didn’t get submissions from people of color” or “It was hard to find a woman.” That is not belonging, that is avoidance. If you want true inclusion, go beyond convenience. Build relationships, extend invitations, invite new people to the table and actively open doors. Representation will not happen by accident — it happens by intention.

The Invitation

Belonging is not something you can measure with a quarterly report. You see it in how people show up, how they contribute, how they light up when their ideas land.

If you are serious about inclusion, ask yourself: Are we creating spaces where people not only show up but stay? Where they not only stay but thrive? Where joy is possible because justice is present?

Representation is a number. Belonging is a feeling. If you want to change the culture, you need both.

And when belonging is real, everything else—innovation, collaboration, retention, creativity—gets better. That is the work worth doing.

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