While we are dedicated to making an impactful change toward achieving equity, enhancing diversity, being inclusive, and providing accessibility to our employees and our community, we must first admit that we have only just begun. We recognize that this process is never complete. It is not a star that we get or a box that we can check. It is a constant journey of listening, learning, and asking for guidance and help from our surrounding community. We have a long way to go and we hope that you will join us in this endeavor.
As a Company:
- Ensure our policies and agency representation are welcoming to all
- Ensure all employees have a voice and pathways to use it
- Foster a culture of open-mindedness, compassion, and inclusiveness
- Create services, spaces and resources representative of diverse cultures and perspectives, intentionally inclusive and accessible to everyone
- Create and maintain opportunities for engagement, education, and discourse related to issues of diversity and understanding of differences
- Provide full and equal access to every position and role, including leadership
- Recruit and hire with an equity, diversity and inclusion lens and goal
- Include equity, diversity, and inclusion in the agency’s strategic plan; it is critical to our future success
As a Partner:
- Seek out and include diverse vendors and collaborators, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and woman-owned creators
- Guide clients towards equity, diversity and inclusion in their marketing and brand
As a Citizen:
- Build a world that is respectful, empathetic to all perspectives, and active in change
- Recognize and empower all members of our community, celebrating all aspects of their identity
- Leverage our voice and privilege to elevate the marginalized
What DEIA means:
DIVERSITY
Diversity is the presence of human difference that may include but is not limited to race, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, language, culture, national origin, religion/spirituality, age, (dis)ability, military/veteran status, political perspective, neurological/developmental conditions, social identities,
social group differences, and associational preferences.
We commit to increasing diversity in all aspects of our organization and our work, knowing that a more diverse environment advances our community’s collective capabilities.
EQUITY
Equity is promoting fair and just practices and policies that ensure employees, clients, vendors and the community at large can thrive. Equity is different from equality in that equality implies treating everyone as if their experiences are exactly the same. Being equitable means acknowledging and addressing structural inequalities — historic and current — that advantage some and disadvantage others. Equal treatment results in equity only if everyone starts with equal access to opportunities.
We commit to creating an environment of equal access to opportunities, and to working actively to identify, challenge, and respond to bias, harassment, and discrimination.
INCLUSION
Inclusion is an outcome to ensure a community where all members are and feel respected and heard, have a sense of belonging, and are able to participate and achieve their potential. While Diversity is essential, it is not sufficient. An organization can be both diverse and non-inclusive at the same time, thus a sustained practice of creating inclusive environments is necessary for success.
We commit to pursuing deliberate efforts to ensure that our organization is a place where differences are welcomed, different perspectives are respectfully heard, and where every individual feels a sense of belonging and inclusion and is represented in the decision-making process.
ACCESS
Access is creating equitable awareness and opportunity through the identification and removal or reduction of barriers
to participation in the activities and functions of our organization and community. Creating access ensures that information, services, and facilities are accessible to everyone.
We commit to cultivating attitudes, behaviors, procedures, and initiatives that facilitate access that promotes equity and diversity fosters inclusion and allows people to maximize their contribution to our organization, our clients, and our community.
