OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUITY

Our Approach, Philosophy and Commitment:

  • We acknowledge and honor the long line of ancestors and wayshowers that have paved the road before us and have made it possible for us to continue this work of liberation today

  • We acknowledge that we are on Indigenous land wherever we stand and honor those who have and continue to steward this land

  • We provide training and consultation to provide skills - emphasis on personal and professional development - around equity centered in racial and intersectional justice

  • We use an integrated approach to address institutional and systemic oppression

  • We encourage the development and creation of diverse programs, policies and structures that promote access to fair and just opportunities for all people

  • We strive to center those identities that are the most historically marginalized and minoritized - Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPoC) 

  • We are committed to trauma-informed and healing-centered facilitation and coaching methodologies

  • We seek to honor each body and its boundaries while also acknowledging the socially constructed identity and positionalities that each body holds

  • We infuse historical and cultural contexts into all of our processes

  • We work to center the narratives and knowledge of BIPoC communities

  • We acknowledge and identify the white supremacy structure in which we all live and relate it to our historical context

  • We work to identify and dismantle whiteness, including internalized an embodied forms of oppression, superiority and inferiority

  • We recognize that not all people have the same starting point and seek to meet people where they are, but not stay there

  • We strive to engage in accountability processes that center positionality and acknowledge power dynamics

  • We expect and seek to model honesty and candor, calling out racism and all intersecting oppressions, both overt and systemic

  • We strive to engage in a process of critical reflection and lifelong learning 

  • We strive to uncover, name and unpack our own blind spots and biases

  • We honor considered feedback as care, support and partnership in this work

  • We desire to collaborate and partner with communities of impact as we continue to further this work across fields

Guidelines for Interaction & Communication: The following R.E.S.P.E.C.T. acronym was shared by Brandi Douglas at Oregon State University.

- Recognize and critically engage with  your communication style with the understanding that power and positionality always impact the way one communicates

- Engage in the process  while understanding your power and positionality

- Speak from your own experience; speak from the “I” & use personal stories - stay in your lane

- Participate honestly/openly pass; ask yourself: Why/how am I/aren’t I sharing my story?

- Expect to learn something new

- Confidentiality; learn and share the lessons do not share stories

- Take responsibility for what you say (intent vs impact)