How to Use these Cards

We spent three years talking with and learning from people who prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in their makerspaces. Our main takeaway is that while there are a lot of great practices out there, what works for one community does not work for all communities.

So when deciding how to share what we’ve learned, we knew it needed to start with prompting questions that encourage folks to consider their specific location to identify solutions that fit locally. 

We designed these cards as a tool that people can use to identify ways to improve the diversity, equity, and inclusion in their specific makerspaces. These cards are for a broad audience of folks who are involved in or wanting to be involved in creating inclusive makerspaces — members, managers, creators, investors, and leaders. 

The Format of Each Card

The front of each card features a topic and an "action" (and often questions!) Turn the card over, and you'll find a quote from a makerspace leader who participated in our research, along with a reflection question for further thought. 

The cards are grouped into 4 overarching topics:  Community, Identities, Leadership, and Resources and 3 actions: Learn, Grow, Practice. These topics and actions came from our analysis of ethnographic data from conversations about inclusivity with actual makerspace leaders.

How to Use these Action Cards

You can review the cards live on this site or if you would like your own physical deck of cards, check out our <printer-friendly version of the card deck>.

Each card has a unique activity and enough information to stand alone, so feel free to grab just one or a whole handful. Some activities are designed to be done in collaboration with members of your makerspace, whereas others are written to be independent reflection activities. Enjoy, and let us know what you think!