Diversity Equity Inclusion and Justice

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

Our Climate is committed to doing outer and inner work of DEIJ. We are committed to addressing multifaceted, intersectional aspects of climate justice that disproportionately impacts frontline communities. Our commitment is not just to the issues themselves but the way we dismantle racism and build power within our organization.

While Our Climate is now a Black-led organization working on a complex, multifaceted issue that disproportionately impacts frontline communities, we do acknowledge our history as a white-led organization. Our evolution as an organization has been possible because we understand racism is a part of the very institutions we’re a part of. Furthermore, we must acknowledge bias and unintentional harm will be perpetuated if we do not make an explicit effort to incorporate DEIJ into our organization. We’re dedicated to climate justice and prioritizing equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice is key to achieving the vision we dream of.

Achievements in 2021 – 2022

Diversified our staff, board and advisory council: both our Executive Director and Board President are Black women

Diversified our cohort of student leaders: 49% of our Fellows and Field Representatives are BIPOC

Updated our mission, vision, and values to reflect our commitment to intersectional justice

Continued to audit and update our policies and best practices to prioritize DEIJ

Process

Our diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice journey began in 2018 with the creation of our first DEIJ Action Plan in collaboration with Nourish Consulting.

In 2021, we began working closely with Dr. Akilah Cadet and her Change Cadet team to continue our journey of DEIJ. This process has included sensitivity editing of all of our organizational documents. In addition to our documents, our organizational policies and best practices have been updated to include language and actions to further our DEIJ work. Dr. Cadet has led our team and student leaders on a series of DEIJ workshops, including “Dismantling White Dominant Culture and Apology” and “From Ally to Anti Racist”.

In 2022, we took a look at our mission, vision, and values and examined how well they represented our work. In the spirit of growth, Our Climate partnered with the Change Cadet team to update our mission, vision, and value statements to better reflect our growth into an organization fighting for intersectional social and climate justice policy.

Gratitude

We would like to thank Dr. Akilah Cadet and the Change Cadet team for continuing to guide and support us as we dismantle white supremacy and white dominant culture in Our Climate’s internal and external work. Change Cadet is a change management and organizational development consulting firm that offers a broad array of services including executive coaching, strategic planning, problem solving, and facilitation in support of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace. To learn more, visit the Change Cadet website.

We recognize this as an ever changing and evolving process. We are open to and eager for feedback and questions. To learn more about our DEIJ work, reach out to our Operations Specialist Meg Bartley at Meg@ourclimate.us.

Our Climate collects demographic information related to race, gender, economic background, educational background, pronouns, and other important information such as immigration status, being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and accessibility needs.

We are the Generations that MUST ACT!

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