Diversity and the Fourth of July

Tomorrow, the Idaho Nonprofit Center staff – like most of you – will be enjoying a day off in observance of the Fourth of July. I think all of us on some level recognize and celebrate the origin of the holiday, but we don’t often take the time to look at it through a lens of current events and what it represents. To many of us, it’s a day off from work.

July 4, by all rights, is the date that is recognized as the beginning of the United States. For some, it’s a day of fun, barbecue cook-offs, family time, fireworks, and friends. For others, it is a reminder that they were initially excluded from the freedoms stated in the Declaration of Independence. Many individuals are still seeking the freedom of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

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​On June 10, the Idaho Nonprofit Center Board of Directors and I issued a statement in support of racial justice and equality. Two days later we gave a brief update on how we would be addressing this issue as an organization.

Since then we have completed the following tasks:

• We added diversity, equity and inclusion as its own strategic initiative within our three year strategic plan
• Our board and staff are registered for and working to complete the Human Rights Certification course through the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights. At $35 per person I think all of us should think about this as a part of our board and staff professional development
• We held several trainings on this topic and will continue to do so AND add resources to our website 
  • View recording of the free webinar we hosted here
• We will be engaging on this important topic through our (virtual) statewide nonprofit conference this year
• We formed a board and staff task force who are meeting for the first time next week.  While we are building the airplane in the air, we are excited about this direction and the team that is tasked with helping our organization do the necessary work at the board, staff level and when appropriate, together.
  
  

However, we still have a lot of work to do and we know that we may not always get it right the first time. We committed to adopting the core values of diversity, equity and inclusion into our organization and will always learn new ways to do so by listening to our community. So we invite those of you working in this space to provide insights and recommendations to us that can be helpful to the nonprofit sector in our shared beautiful state. 

We believe that contributing to racial justice and equity within our sector is not only the right thing to do, but it is a way for us to honor the heart of what the United States was founded on.

Please enjoy the long weekend  – while staying safe – so your work can continue!