7 Commitments with an Anti-Racist Framework

Written by our Evolve committee, these commitments help guide our internal work to ensure that we are operating as an anti-racist organization.

Open Communication

We commit to communicating openly and honestly about racism and equity. As an agency, we will distribute accurate information and foster environments where silence, personal biases, and microaggressions can be confronted in a meaningful way.  We will create brave spaces where everyone is welcome to learn and advocate for themselves and others.

Nonviolence

We acknowledge overt, covert, and systemic forms of racism as violence and commit to actively resisting all forms of racism. We will recognize and address violent language, symbols, and actions, including micro-aggressions, implicit biases, and race-based community violence. We understand silence as violence and, therefore, will actively and boldly pursue an organizational culture that creates an inclusive sanctuary for our clients and our staff that celebrates and affirms all racial and cultural identities.

Shared Governance

We will acknowledge and address biases and imbalances of power. We will develop shared decision-making and shared leadership where voices, reflecting our communities, contribute to the emergence of new and creative ideas. We commit to being aware of and focused on voices that are considered both central and marginal. Leadership will share power and elevate others by ensuring adequate and diverse representation on all teams.

Social Responsibility

We recognize that ending structural and systemic racism is all our responsibility, and we commit to advancing our individual and collective efforts of being an antiracist organization. We recognize our responsibility to acknowledge, report and respond to interpersonal, structural, and systemic racism within our agency, the child welfare system, and our communities.

Social Learning

We are open to learning from the diverse experiences and knowledge that each community member contributes. We commit to identifying areas of personal growth as we challenge our current thoughts and behaviors. We commit to walking into brave spaces, which may be uncomfortable. We will recognize our complicity in harmful action and/or inaction and will stay open to growth.

Emotional Intelligence

We commit to being aware of how we show up in shared spaces. We affirm our feelings and those of others as valid and will acknowledge our emotions during times of forward progress and challenge. We will take care of ourselves and ask for help. We will accept accountability for our actions and our expression of emotions as well as their impact on others.

Growth & Change

We honor the systemic and historic adversity and losses associated with racial trauma. We recognize that we cannot move forward until these experiences are acknowledged, both on an organizational and individual level. We commit to interrupting systems and patterns of racism and oppression. We will work toward becoming anti-racist individuals to collectively dismantle the norms within our organization and community. We envision a future at Crossnore that is equitable, brave, and representative of who we are and who we serve.