Employers have varied levels of commitment to  DEI, and DEI may have different meanings to them. DEI initiatives may be top-down initiatives from global or national leadership, or they may be an initiative from a country or local office. These are important factors to consider when figuring out the entry points for partnership.

Employers who have formal DEI programmes may have a broad focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or they may focus on specific identities such as gender, disability, age, etc. Employers may not have formal DEI initiatives or may shy away from them for different reasons, but still have programmes that accomplish similar goals e.g. diverse hiring, supporting employees of different identities, etc. 

In defining the scope for potential collaboration, it is important to understand, among others,  the employer's level of commitment, desire to invest further in those commitments, and flexibility to expand the commitment. The following guiding questions can be used to evaluate the current commitment levels of the employer towards DEI:

• Does the company currently have DEI initiatives? 
• If yes – who started this initiative within the company? 
• If yes – who is responsible for these initiatives currently? 
• If no – does the company do any outreach or work around inclusive hiring or outreach, e.g. to women, youth, persons with disabilities, refugees, etc.? 
• If no – would the company be interested in learning more as to why DEI would be valuable to integrate into company policies and practices?