Diversity Statement

ECDC is committed to a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment where all board members, staff, volunteers, and members feel respected and valued regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation or identity, disability, education, or any other bias.

ECDC is committed to being nondiscriminatory and providing equal opportunities for employment, volunteering, and advancement in all areas of our work.

ECDC respects the value that diverse life experiences bring to our board and leadership and ECDC strives to listen to their views and give them value.

ECDC is committed to modeling diversity, inclusion, and equity and maintaining fair and equal treatment for all.

ECDC board’s philosophy on our goals to provide informed leadership for diversity, inclusion, and equity include:

• We will strive to see diversity, inclusion, and equity in connection with our vision and mission for the benefit of those we serve.
• We aim to recognize and address inequities in our policies, programs, and services.
• We will update and document progress on our diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.
• We promise to investigate underlying assumptions that interfere with our diversity policy.
• We commit to advocating for systemic inequities that impact our work at the board level and address it according to this policy and in accordance with our mission.
• We commit to challenging commonly accepted notions about what constitutes strong leadership within our organization.
• We commit to being transparent about diversity in all our interactions.
• We will dedicate our time and resources to expanding greater diversity within our board and leadership positions.
• We commit to leading with respect and tolerance and we encourage all employees and volunteers to express this in their work within our organization.

ECDC is committed to maintaining a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where all employees and volunteers, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or identity, education, or ability, are and feel valued and respected. ECDC is committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provides equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all of our departments, programs, and worksites.

ECDC not only respects and values diverse life experiences, heritages, and ensures that all voices are heard, but we understand the cruciality of DEI being a part of our core. ECDC works to create a culture of psychological safety, identifying and exposing microaggressions, for persons of subordinate social identities, operating from a place of self-awareness.

ECDC actively works to dismantle structural bias, systemic racism, sexism, ableism, classism, xenophobia: understanding the intersectionality of these and where our privilege lies. 

ECDC is committed to modeling diversity and inclusion for the community development sector, and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.

To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, ECDC strives to:

See diversity, inclusion, and equity as connected to our mission and critical to ensuring the well-being of our staff and the communities we serve.

Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report organization progress.

Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.

Advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.

Help to challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader at our organization, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.

Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions.

Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, committee, and advisory bodies.

Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all employees to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.

ECDC abides by the following action items to help promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace:

Pursue cultural competency throughout our organization by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies.

Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward the visibility of our diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts.

Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of Indianapolis.

Pool resources and expand offerings for underrepresented people by connecting with other organizations committed to diversity and inclusion efforts.

Develop and present sessions on diversity, inclusion, and equity to provide information and resources internally, and to members, and the community.

Develop a system for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the hiring, promoting, or evaluating process. Train our hiring team on equitable practices.

Include a salary range with all public job descriptions. Englewood CDC values the experiences of our neighbors and promotes a simplistic lifestyle for the sake of our neighbor’s well-being while looking for holistic ways to support and enhance the lives of one another as employees, neighbors, and individuals.

Advocate for public and private-sector policy that promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Identify, disrupt, and challenge existing systems and policies which have historically resulted in inequities, oppression, and disparities in quality of life access and outcomes.

ECDC is committed to equitable community development that benefits all neighborhood residents, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, religion, education, or ability. ECDC believes this commitment is the foundation of enhancing the quality of life of neighborhood residents. It also informs planning for the future well-being of the neighborhood’s diverse communities: balancing the physical, economic, and social needs of residents through land use planning, environmental management, neighborhood improvement, affordable housing, and community development; and promoting and protecting agriculture, the environment, economic vitality, and human health.

This approach requires that ECDC understand and commit to redressing the long-standing, race-based barriers and policies that have devastated neighborhoods, concentrated poverty, and created an affordable housing crisis.