BIAS & INCLUSIVITY

BEST PRACTICES & RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Do regular monthly or quarterly bias checks/reviews when it comes to your marketing materials 

• Create a gender neutral or single stall restroom (and make sure the space is accessible)

• If you’ve got a newsletter or loyalty club, collect customer demographic info during sign-up so you can track patterns and themes.

• Using inclusive language is a great first step. It makes a huge difference to the people around you, and it’s free and easy to learn.

• Understand why and how unconscious bias shows up in hospitality. 

• Consider regularly working with/prioritizing BIPOC pop-up vendors (whether food or product related) 

• Work with BIPOC content creators 

• Spend time brainstorming with your team what it looks like to have welcoming cross-cultural interactions

• If you have a gender neutral restroom option at your business, list your bathroom on Refuge restrooms or indicate it clearly on places like Yelp or Google 

• Be intentional about diverse marketing strategies but don’t stop there! Make sure your team and leadership is authentically diverse, equitable, and inclusive.  

• Acknowledge that everyone comes from a different experience. This affects how folks interpret and react to different situations both positively and negatively. By recognizing this and being intentional, you can do your best to create an environment that strategizes and accommodates along lines of difference.

ACCESSIBILITY

• Ensure that materials for your business are available in languages other than English. 

• Have menus, signs, and other printed materials available in multiple languages. Do this for your website too! 

• Accommodate for service animals 

• Consider larger font size than you think you need for all menus

• Ask job candidates and guests about necessary accommodations early in your interaction

• Listen to this podcast episode about designing accessible restaurants! 

• Look into translation technology or hiring folks who can translate branding/materials for you. 

• Use browser tools to translate your website. 

Watch this video on how to make events held in your spaces more accessible.