What’s an affinity group?

An affinity group is a collective created for people with a shared historically marginalized identity who work, live or otherwise occupy a common cultural space.

Examples of affinity groups include African American teachers, women in tech, LGBTQIA+ people in the military, etc. The group is created to provide each other with a safe space to explore shared themes of oppression, and gain comfort and healing though solidarity.

These groups arise organically out of a need to create a sacred space to explore oppression not being discussed by the larger cultural group. Some members may join because they have tried to gain the captive audience of the dominant groups within their workplaces and have not been heard or believed. Others join because they simply do not feel safe or comfortable expressing these concerns to the dominant group members given the cultural realities present within their shared space, and/or the larger society.

Affinity groups have a range of meeting protocols and objectives. Some groups seek only to create solidarity, while others seek to design a framework to improve the situations that they identify as problematic.