Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Bridges Homeward is committed to strengthening and advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion, for our staff and those we serve.  We aim, as individuals and as a community, to continually seek to advance racial equity initiatives to address long-standing systemic racial biases and discrimination in our society.  Below is our statement on diversity, equity and inclusion, and the action steps we’re taking to commit to these core values.

We seek to educate ourselves and our staff regarding current racial inequities, systemic racial bias and structural racism both at hire and ongoing; to use that knowledge to address those inequities in the social service systems we touch and for the individuals and families we serve; and to continually strengthen our internal recruitment, hiring, professional development and promotion processes to better promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Our commitment centers on the recruitment, professional development and promotion of a talented group of staff and management of color and those with diverse backgrounds.  We want staff who encompass a variety of life experiences and perspectives such as race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, education, veteran status, disability, socio-economic status, family or marital status. We firmly believe that an equitable and inclusive environment is essential to both the quality of our client service and the personal satisfaction of our staff. We feel that the diversity of our staff and those we serve adds significant value to our collective personal and professional experience.  We believe that we can best achieve our mission when we reflect the diversity of those we serve.

In order to live this core belief in racial equity, Bridges Homeward aims to:

Provide all current staff, and newly hired staff during on-boarding, access to training on systemic racism, white privilege, implicit bias and racial equity to ensure that we are all equipped with the knowledge about the pervasive nature of racism and racial inequality in the United States and thus the development of the social service sector in which we work. Supply all staff with the common understanding, terminology and introduction to the challenges and complexities of diversity, equity and inclusion work and how it’s intertwined with our work and lives.

Determine direct steps to assess cultural competency and implicit bias in our hiring process and annually for all supervisors. Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in all Bridges Homeward recruitment, hiring, retention and promotion processes.

Senior leadership and management will lead by example, ensuring that diversity, equity and inclusion are assessed, continually asking “how does this policy/practice/action play into racial stereotypes, bias, structural/historical racism?” and help build in ways to address policy and process that do not support our diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

Provide opportunities within Bridges Homeward for open dialogue and input on the direction of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for staff.  Support programs to strengthen client racial/cultural identity work and anti-racism advocacy.

Request all of our vendors, consultants, auditors and fellow non-profit agencies with whom we enter into partnerships to share their statement of racial equity with Bridges Homeward in order to confirm their commitment to address racial inequity and to help support greater community- wide movement toward diversity, equity and inclusion.

Prioritize support of minority-owned businesses and organizations when bidding on new contracts or services.

Advocate against any policies, practices, and/or protocols that we view as antithetical to furthering diversity, equity and inclusion that are proposed or implemented by any of our state or community partners.

Support those who we serve, and their families, to explore their racial, ethnic and cultural identities and to advocate against systems of oppression.