What we learned from reviewing our employee handbook through a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
By Pouya Shahbodaghi and Mary Chalifour

There is broad acknowledgement that we are living through an unprecedented time. It is a time of crisis. For many of us and our organizations, also a time of trauma. When things are so hard, how could this possibly also be a time to focus on diversity, inclusion and equity concerns – particularly for those of us who have not previously prioritized these things?

I am honored to receive this award and recognition. And at the same time it is a bit odd and awkward because this recognition is of me and my work, when as an activist and an organizer, I think of movement work in the context of us. It is our work, our accomplishments, our losses, our joys, our dreams, our movement for justice.

Change can be challenging. It disrupts our sense of equilibrium, safety, and security. To manage change, we often try to overemphasize that which we believe we can hold constant. However, the only thing that is really constant is the ongoing state of change. Biologists call this “homeorhesis” — being in a constant state of change, development, and evolution. Organisms change and develop, people change and develop, communities change and develop — and so do our organizations.

In 2003 ISAIAH was a strong faith-based organization with 75 member congregations in the Twin Cities metropolitan region and in St. Cloud, Minnesota. They saw that things were changing in the environment, opening up new possibilities for change that could address deep systemic problems impacting racial and economic justice.

Changing organizational culture takes intention and time. At the Bush Foundation, we’ve spent the last five years creating a more inclusive culture internally so that we can be more effective externally. From the people, to the programs, to the policies and processes — we’re working to build an organizational culture that is inclusive in action, diverse in makeup and driving towards equity.

Connecting Across Difference: Through deep dialogue and curiosity, Beth Zemsky builds authentic relationships

I am honored to receive this award and recognition. And at the same time it is a bit odd and awkward because this recognition is of me and my work, when as an activist and an organizer, I think of movement work in the context of us. It is our work, our accomplishments, our losses, our joys, our dreams, our movement for justice.

Hear Beth as a guest host on a StoryCorp podcast episode.

Seward Co-op realized many important things about their organization that propelled them to make radical internal changes as they began developing their second store. They looked at their Ends alignment. How could they operate in a community and not be representative of the people in it? How were they actually reflecting their Ends of a “healthy community, equitable economic relationships and inclusive socially responsible practices?”