Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We are passionate about the Quad Cities, its people, and our mission to transform the region through the generosity of our donors. We know that strong communities are those that embrace increased diversity and the wonderful assets that it brings. Across the US, the communities that are growing and thriving are also those that have greater diversity.
Why Make a Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?
The Quad Cities is a wonderful place to live. Like other cities, we also experience many challenges, which are made worse by inequity. Many people in the Quad Cities face long-time, systemic barriers based in part on their race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, or other aspects of their identities. These complex forces create unequal conditions, and therefore unequal opportunities for certain groups of people.
The Community Foundation's DEI Filter was designed by the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Committee in 2021. The Filter represents a cycle of exploration that ensures a broad range of perspectives are accounted for. It was developed to aid in awareness during the internal decision-making process and to be shared as a resource with other organizations.
Beyond that, when people don’t feel their community values the unique identities and perspectives they have to offer, they don’t feel they belong—and they’ll search for another community where they do.
As the Quad Cities seeks to grow our population, our economy, and the vibrancy of our community, we must ensure this is a place where people can bring their whole selves to the task of using their skills and gifts to benefit themselves, their families, and our community.
OUR Commitment
Quite simply, we at the Community Foundation can’t fulfill our mission unless all people in the Quad Cities area have the opportunity and support to make their lives and our community the best they can be.
For that reason, we have made a commitment to embrace an approach to all our work that is intentionally diverse, inclusive, and considers the impact of our actions on equity.
What we mean by that
By diversity, we mean the wide range of differences among people, their identities, and their perspectives. Differences are not deficiencies. Rather, they are unique qualities that when considered as assets, make us collectively stronger.
By inclusion, we mean the intentional actions that we take to make sure that all people are able to raise their perspectives authentically and that their voices will be respected, will matter, and will affect decisions.
The word equity describes the outcome we want: a community where people’s opportunities and outcomes are not limited by their identities, and where all people feel they belong and can thrive and contribute.*
Approved by Board November 2018
Reviewed, updated, and approved by Board Equity and Inclusion Committee, June 2021
* Definitions adapted from D5 Coalition Report: Analysis of Policies, Practices, and Programs for Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
What We are doing (as OF JULY 2021)
We know we don’t have all the answers. We have work to do, and this written commitment is a small part of that work. We do offer a passion for this work and an eagerness to learn, to connect, to change, and to influence our community to be more inclusive and equitable. We are listening and learning so that we can act alongside those who have long been working to make our community a more equitable place.
We owe our community transparency and accountability about the steps we’re taking to do our work in an inclusive and equitable way. We’ll update this space at least annually with information about actions we have taken. We welcome questions and feedback about this work so we can better live this commitment every day.
We set and advanced strategic priorities for diversity, equity, and inclusion in our 2018-2020 strategic plan, and now are carrying them further in our 2021-2023 strategic plan.
We sponsored diverse, cross-sector cohorts of community leaders to attend ForwardCities convenings to learn together about how cities can embrace and support a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community.
Our entire board and staff participated in a series of training and coaching sessions on advancing racial equity through our work.
We are continually building relationships that connect us to the groups and people whose involvement is critical to achieving our organization’s and community’s goals.
Our staff have examined the skills, knowledge, perspectives, and identities that are needed in our grants and scholarships committee members, and made a priority of recruitment and retention of members reflecting and representing the diversity of our community.
The organization or program’s contribution to advancing racial and other forms of equity is an evaluation criteria used for all discretionary grant programs.
We support nonprofit partners in their work to advance equity within their organizations through Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants and through discussions and peer support at CEOLink (in the last 12 months, 50% of meeting topics have focused specifically on topics of equity).
We ask for and welcome everyone to help us listen, learn, and act so that our region is a diverse and culturally rich community where all people feel they belong and can thrive and contribute.
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