Guided by the conviction that better is possible, Shift is committed to dismantling systemic racism in our programs, partnerships, communities, and our workplace culture.

As an organization striving to enact systems-level improvement, we recognize the importance of understanding and dismantling racist systems in service of building new ones that give all people the opportunity to thrive. We are deeply committed to addressing societal challenges that disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and will work to center and amplify their voices as we create meaningful, lasting change.

We believe that improvement methods and tools are only a starting place for change. The deepest, most meaningful impact will occur when we unite the full spectrum of a community in a shared vision of transforming their systems beyond its current reality.

We mirror this same philosophy as we continuously work to be an anti-racist, inclusive organization. This journey is deliberate and never complete. We have stumbled – and will likely continue to stumble – and we remain committed to learning and growing. To do this, we commit both as individuals and as an organization to address the inequity, injustice, and violence that disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, and people of color by:

• Building a diverse and inclusive team supported by organizational policies and practices
• Partnering with leaders who are committed to anti-racist systems change and building an organizational culture that cultivates empathy, respect, and inclusion
• Creating professional development opportunities for our team to build their own ability to lead for equity and creating spaces to engage in open conversation about equity and racial justice
• Supporting businesses, organizations, vendors, and partners in our work that are owned by Black, Indigenous, and people of color
• Challenging hierarchical power structures in the work that we do and creating modes of power building in communities
• Pursuing work that contributes to a more just world where communities thrive because their systems value the humanity and contributions of all their members

These are our commitments to becoming an anti-racist organization. As we grow, we continue to learn and invite you to share your organization’s practices as well as the feedback of your community so that we can be better together.

In community,

The Shift Team