Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement

Last Updated: March 4, 2024

Disability is part of being human. There are disabled people of all races, ethnicities, national origins, ages, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, languages, religions, and incomes. Disability barriers and ableism hurt all people with disabilities. But people with disabilities who face more than one type of oppression experience worse discrimination, segregation, and exclusion.

DREDF cares about diversity, equity, and inclusion. We promise to make a work culture of inclusion and belonging so that we can better help all people in the disability community. We promise to support a workplace that shows the diversity of our community, and that respects and cares about all people. We promise to do disability rights work that focuses on disabled people who live at the connection of disability and other identities that have been marginalized.

DREDF has written a plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion. We hope that by following the plan, we will be more humble and increase our understanding of what can and should change at DREDF. We will review the plan and update it from time to time. You can read the plan and more about the diversity of our staff and board below.

We know that in the past, DREDF had a mostly white leadership. We know that as people, we have deeply held biases that can negatively change the decisions we make. We commit to studying all that we do to try to see and keep reducing the impact of bias. When we make mistakes, we will admit them, and try harder to support equity and opportunity.

We will continue to learn and improve. Please share your thoughts about this statement, our plan, and all aspects of DREDF’s work. You can contact us at info@dredf.org or 800-348-4232.

Goal: Diversify DREDF’s Board and Staff, Including Management, to Reflect the Diversity of the Community.

Objectives:

1. Continue to support the Leadership Team and other projects for mentoring, supporting, and promoting diverse leaders at DREDF.
2. Review DREDF hiring practices, such as job postings, recruitment, outreach tactics, and interviews, to remove unnecessary barriers to employment.
3. Recruit and choose diverse candidates for current and new jobs.
4. Make sure that staff who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color have equitable and accessible opportunities for professional development and progress including mentorship, support, and training.
5. Make sure that all staff have good procedures and supports for addressing issues that arise at work related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including issues among coworkers.
6. Mentor youth and young adults with disabilities from different backgrounds. Offer paid opportunities.
7. Work with law schools and other partners to help build a path for law students and fellowship candidates of color to work at DREDF.
8. Learn more about the connection between disability rights and racial justice.
9. Make stronger structures and supports for DREDF’s policy work. Work toward growing the policy team and providing new, diverse policy advocate(s) with excellent guidance and supervision.

Goal: Improve Awareness of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Issues at DREDF and Expand DREDF’s Competency to Serve Diverse Communities

Objectives:

1. Create a Board-Staff Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee to guide and review DREDF’s DEI work. Make sure that the committee reviews and updates DREDF’s DEI statement and plan at least once a year.
2. Continue the current anti-racism committee as a subcommittee of the DEI committee. The subcommittee will keep working on anti-racism and implicit bias training led by BIPOC trainers and find other chances to learn for staff and board.
3. Create and improve partnerships with leadership in organizations led by and representing people of color, people living in poverty, immigrants, and LGBTQIA+ people.
4. Find more chances to work with diverse and minority communities in ways that touch all DREDF program areas.
5. Make sure that DREDF’s work helps BIPOC people with disabilities. Collect information about who receives help from DREDF. Make changes if DREDF is falling short in helping BIPOC people with disabilities.

Staff

Board