JEDI

The mission of Plexus is economic inclusion and, therefore, we recognize the tremendous costs of institutional discrimination, particularly to communities of color and the African-American and Black community. While violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals continue, we cannot deny that within our community, there still exists disparity and racism. As we bring our whole selves to work this means the Plexus staff and Board leadership must approach this work collectively and comprehensively to ensure our organization can truly reflect our core values of equity and inclusion. This work must occur on multiple levels. As individuals comprising the staff and board leadership of this organization, we must endeavor to learn and put into practice anti-oppression models for equity and inclusion. This is long term work; we invite you to be our partners. I humbled to share the first of many steps we are taking on this journey.

Our motto in this work is simple. Do the work. Bring others along.

I’m sharing today our first action steps and inviting you to be in conversation with us, share resources, and be part of our accountability to the communities we endeavor to serve. Our goal is to center diversity, equity, and inclusion at every level of the organization. At the Board level this manifests in recruitment and retention of directors and committee members but also the work we do to expand our skills and abilities with regards to advancing these core tenants of our mission and organizational culture. The Community Education & Public Awareness Committee (CEPA) will assist the Executive Director to design and implement a yearlong schedule of trainings and activities aimed at developing DEI education and training for Plexus Board and staff.

1. DEI will be a standing discussion agenda topic. This provides the opportunity for Directors to engage with shared content (i.e. podcasts, articles, books, film, etc.) and discuss as a group. This standing discussion topic will also be used for presentations, policy review, and organizational program development.
2. Training & Development Community trainings, webinars, and events will be sent from the Executive Director to Board Members on an ongoing basis. We will track participation and subject areas engaged to be included in our annual impact report. Additionally, the Plexus Board and staff will participate in trainings uniquely designed for Plexus leadership. We will use external resources and work through existing toolkits and resources designed for self-paced learning and development.
3. Racial Equity Audit Using the below tools we are in the planning process to identify a process undergoing a racial equity audit.

• Racial Equity Impact Assessment Toolkit from Race Forward
• Racial Justice Assessment Tool by National Juvenile Justice Network
• Tool for Organizational Self-Assessment Related to Racial Equity from the Coalition of Communities of Color, Oregon