20 Organizations, 3 Years: Insights on Organization-based Racial Equity Work

For decades, nonprofit organizations in the United States have been grappling with the question of how to be both equitable and inclusive, although they have done so more pointedly and overtly within the last ten years. It has always been a fast-paced and rapidly changing world and yet, when it comes to the need to increase racial equity, not enough has changed and certainly not fast enough, despite increased efforts. If anything, it seems that, across the U.S., hard-won progress is often being reversed, such as with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to repeal affirmative action, opposition to critical race theory, and the adoption of “inclusive language” laws in some states that even ban words like “inclusion.” And, even now, we find ourselves witnessing and experiencing a political landscape that is actively attacking DEI through the dismantling of agencies and threats to eradicate federal funding focused on our most vulnerable communities. Within this greater context, the environmental learning field–like so many other sectors–has also been striving for racial equity– and where we find ourselves more than ever needing to commit to this work. While some increases have been made in racial diversity, many environmental learning organizations continue to struggle with creating equitable and inclusive work environments for people of color.

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