We recognize that racism—especially anti-Black racism—is ingrained into our culture at a profound level. While racism often functions on an interpersonal level, it also exists in systems and social structures. Nonprofits and well-intentioned people can and often do unintentionally participate in systemic racism. We are committed to recognizing, uprooting, and guarding against racism in our organization and in ourselves. Beyond combatting racism, we also look for ways to promote and champion equity, and center Black and Indigenous voices, as well as the voices of other people of color.

We believe saying we are committed to equity and antiracism is not enough without transparency and accountability. To that end, these are the actions we are taking: 

 1. We have not been successful in recruiting or retaining Black staff and students in comparison to our employees and families of other backgrounds. We recognize that we lack significant representation across our organization. We are working to identify and address the barriers to increasing internal diversity, combat systemic racism and empower Black staff and students within our organization.

 2. We have dedicated a permanent line item in our organizational budget for antiracist education, training, and consultation.

 3. We are intensively reviewing our processes and organizational norms in regards to our hiring practices, language, branding, communication, and culture. 

There will never be a point that we will be done building equity, fighting systemic oppression, or centering marginalized voices. We embrace the process and plan to share updates with you as we move forward. If you have any questions about our racial equity vision or actions, please reach out to our Executive Director Natalie Jackson at natalie@harmony-project.org.