Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM)

One of I-DIEM’s primary programs is its I-DIEM University, which intends to “enable thought leaders” in the disaster response field and remove “racism, ableism, sexism, and other forms of bias” from thinking and action. At the end of the courses, participants are presumed to meet the standards for the organization’s DEI-EM Certification. ²

Activities

The Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM) is an advocacy organization that aims to introduce the left-of-center concept of “equity” into every aspect of disaster response, from government agencies to communities helped. ¹

In particular, I-DIEM aims to “cultivate women and people of color” emergency managers with its training programs; improve responses to racial minority communities; promote and distribute diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) educational materials to include women, racial minorities, LGBT people, disabled people, and low-income groups at all levels of disaster management; and increase the number of women and racial minorities in emergency management. ³

One of I-DIEM’s primary programs is its I-DIEM University, which intends to “enable thought leaders” in the disaster response field and remove “racism, ableism, sexism, and other forms of bias” from thinking and action. At the end of the courses, participants are presumed to meet the standards for the organization’s DEI-EM Certification. ²

As of January 2025, the University was offering 21 courses at $799.99 each. Some of these included “Counteracting Bias in Emergency Management” to address “unconscious and implicit bias”; “Climate, Environment, and Justice,” which intends to teach why DEI is important for “current climate crises and environmental justice contexts”; “Cultural Competency in Disaster Response and Recovery,” which aims to “explore effective cross-cultural crisis communication”; “Operationalizing Equity in Disaster,” which teaches how biases regarding “race, gender, socioeconomic status, and other characteristics” affect the outcome of disaster relief operations; “Diverse and Inclusive Recovery = Equity,” which seeks to discover the adjustments to disaster relief policies needed to be in-line with the alleged “national reckoning of systemic racism” that the United States faces as well as the alleged rise in sea levels and other climate change-related concerns; and “Spiritual and Emotional Equity in Disaster Services (SEEDS) – Emotional and Spiritual Care,” which aims to study how “religious bias is weaponized in times of disaster” and how to “combat religious bias.” ²

I-DIEM runs a Global Outreach Center in Ghana which serves as its African branch. It researches and attempts to address the “climate-related challenges Africa faces and the way it intersects with the economy and society. ⁴ I-DIEM also runs a Climate Change and Culture Fellowship Program which states that “children in 98 percent of African countries are at high or extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change.” ⁵

Financials

In 2023, the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM) reported revenues of $850,258, expenses of $1,396,646, and net assets of $178,818. ⁶

In February of 2023, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded a $1.4 million grant to I-DIEM, to be paid through February 2025. ^{7 8}

Leadership

As of 2025, Chauncia Willis Johnson is the co-founder and CEO of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM). She has 20 years of experience in disaster management and DEI training. She is the author of Stretching: The Race Towards Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in America, published in December 2020. ⁹