Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice
AmeriCorps St. Louis is committed to equal access to programs, facilities, and employment for all persons. ACSTL is committed to building a culturally diverse organization and fostering an environment of respect and inclusiveness, with equal access to programs, facilities, and employment amongst all individuals. It is our policy to maintain an environment free of harassment and discrimination against any person based on age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, military service, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, physical or mental disability, genetic information, political ideology, or legal source of income. Discriminatory conduct and harassment, as well as sexual misconduct and relationship violence, violates the dignity of individuals, impedes the achievement of our mission, and will not be tolerated.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Statement
At AmeriCorps St. Louis a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace is one where all employees and volunteers, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feels valued and respected. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and aim to provide equitable opportunity for employment and advancement. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and aim to ensure that all voices are valued and heard.
How we do our work is as important as what we do. We are better together collectively when we have done our personal work to confront our own biases and challenge internalized and societal constructs regarding identity. Our history is tainted with injustices in this field and we understand this work is not easy but necessary.
We’re committed to modeling diversity and inclusion and maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.
To provide informed, authentic leadership for equity, we strive to:
See diversity, inclusion, and equity as connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our personnel.
Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services.
Explore underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.
Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions.
Advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.
Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all employees to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.
Definitions
Diversity: Having a culture that values uniqueness in identity and makeup
Equity: Creating fair access, opportunity, and advancement for all different types of people
Inclusion: Refers to inviting diverse groups to take part fully in organization
Belonging: Each individual feeling accepted for who they are
Justice: Being in conformity with what is morally upright
AmeriCorps St. Louis aims for the following constructs to help promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace:
Pursue cultural competency throughout our organization by valuing learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies.
Develop objectives from strategic vision related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward the visibility of our diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts.
Improve our cultural leadership by creating and supporting programs and policies that develop leadership reflective of our society.
Coordinate efforts to support underrepresented populations by connecting with other organizations committed to diversity and inclusion efforts.
Develop an equitable system for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the hiring, promoting, or evaluating process.
Include a salary range and benefits with all public job descriptions.
Native Land Acknowledgement
AmeriCorps St. Louis serves on natural resources stewardship projects on public lands accessible to all. We acknowledge that these lands are the ancestral land of the Wahzhazhe, or Osage. Many other tribes have lived on or utilized these lands including the Ponca, Kaw/Kanza, Omaha, Otoe-Missouria, Ioway, Illini-Peoria, Kickapoo, Sac and Fox, Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Tamaroa, Peoria, Shawnee, and Delaware.
We also acknowledge that these lands have been stolen from indigenous peoples. We recognize that through acts of genocide, slavery, and exploitation of the Indigenous tribes who lived here, colonialist settlers systematically forced their way onto this land. The actions of Spanish, French, British and American settlers ultimately drove every one of these Indigenous tribes from Missouri by inciting infighting, withholding trade, and finally resorting to unfair treaties and abuse of annuity payments. As we work to preserve and protect the land, we feel that it is crucial to recognize this history in order to create an honest, open, inclusive culture.
There are currently no federally recognized tribes in the state of Missouri. Most of the indigenous people who once inhabited land in Missouri were forced to leave and resettle in ‘Indian Territory’ (present-day Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas) during the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Indigenous people still live in Missouri and deserve visibility, appreciation, and support, and we thank them for their stewardship of these lands.
Sources:
History of Local Indigenous Tribes Native Land Map Osage Nation Cultural Center
Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at Washington University in St. Louis
Historical Confederate Symbols Acknowledgment
Confederate flags, statues, plaques, and similar memorials have signified, and symbolize, historic racism and oppression. The Confederacy that this flag represented was formed with the explicit purpose of maintaining slavery and white supremacy, as can be plainly seen from The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States. The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States make it clear that the Confederate states opposed states’ rights when it came to the rights of the Union states to abolish slavery within their borders, or to refuse to return escaped slaves back into bondage.
The adoption and continued display of the Confederate Battle Flag by numerous white supremacist organizations, has led to the recognition of the Confederate Battle Flag as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and other social justice organizations.
AmeriCorps St. Louis understands Missouri’s past history and as part of U.S. History and chooses not to recognize or tolerate the Confederate Flag or associated symbolism in our community service programming.
Resources & Trainings
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Diversity Awarness Partnership
Diversity Awareness Partnership is a catalyst to increase awareness, facilitate engagement and provide education about diversity and inclusion. Their vision is inclusive communities where diversity is respected and embraced, and equity is the norm.
AmeriCorps St. Louis works with DAP to provide DEI training to our organization, and is working with DAP to conduct a Diversity Climate Survey to improve our DEI practices. -
National Conference of Community and Justice of St. Louis
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Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
AmeriCorps St. Louis works with MCADSV to provide respectful treatment training for our organization.