Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
What does a commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) really mean? For Fiver, it means actively working towards inclusiveness and equity, ensuring that DEIB is embedded in everything we do, and creating spaces where people feel free to be their authentic selves.
In 2021, Fiver engaged Delphi Consultants to conduct an equity assessment of our organization. The results highlighted the strength of our Fiver community, and how we could better operationalize the existing values of our organization to further a deeper commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. With that in mind, our DEIB Principles were created.
Living our Values
Fiver’s Board of Directors wants to ensure an equitable and inclusive experience for youth, staff, and community members. Fiver has integrated the following values into its culture.
Recruit staff and board members that represent diverse backgrounds so that we listen and learn from varied experiences.
Provide the Fiver program at no cost to ensure cost is not a barrier to participation or opportunity.
Commit time to learn about each other, to share stories about our lives, our history, our culture, and our experiences to better understand one
another.
Promote anti-racist, anti-heterosexist, anti-transphobic, anti-ablest messages so that we are publicly sharing our values.
Use a race equity lens when developing programs and practices in all departments.
Provide opportunities for staff at all levels to participate in leadership meetings and opportunities in order to build leadership pipelines and to
incorporate all voices.
Acknowledge the history of the land upon which we live and work to honor the struggle of those who came before us.
Encourage the use of pronouns for staff, youth and volunteers so we do not make assumptions about gender identity.
Publish salaries when posting job opportunities so that salaries are aligned with job responsibilities and not limited by past salary history.
Do not require arbitrary education requirements for positions so we do not limit access to opportunity for those who had unequal access to education.
Make a collective commitment to hold people accountable for their behavior so that Fiver is a safe and nurturing place for all.
Recognize that when someone offers criticism around repressive behavior, to treat it as a learning experience rather than challenging the person or invalidating their experience.
Sustaining these Efforts
In order to sustain these efforts and to continue striving toward being a diverse, inclusive and equitable organization, Fiver commits to:
Allocating adequate resources on an annual basis for ongoing training around DEIB for staff, board members and volunteers
Setting goals related to DEIB practices and monitor progress toward goals.
Enlisting the help of experts to identify areas where we can be even more equitable and inclusive
Checking in regularly with our youth, staff and board to ensure we are remaining on track and evolving as we learn
Share publicly how Fiver is working toward DEIB practices
