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Embracing Diversity, Transforming Lives: Our DEIBA Commitment in Action

 

Oregon Alliance Equity Lens 

Guiding Principles: 

The Alliance and Center for Excellence recognize equity as a larger societal construct (alongside inequity), and that prevailing disparities in issues such as education, income, employment, occupation, and health have traditionally been reinforced by institutions. 

The purpose of the Alliance/Center Equity Lens is accountability; to ensure that our process of strategic planning is deliberately inclusive and that decisions are made in ways that promote empowerment. The Lens is also a way that we can reflect on moments that our processes or efforts have failed to live up to the promise of equity. 

  • We commit to narrow racial disparities in society and advance social justice. 
  • Equity will be given the same emphasis as other priorities and will be applied across all our priorities. 
  • We commit to ensuring our strategic plan reflects the interests of those most affected by our decisions: our children, families, youth, and community. 
  • We are cautious of making decisions on behalf of marginalized communities and aim to directly include these communities and their advocates wherever practical. Decisions not to include these stakeholders need to be justified. 
  • In creating a strategic plan, and the processes that lead up to it, it will maximize the benefits for communities of color and for other marginalized communities. 

Our Commitment in Action 

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and as Oregon contends with an uptick of crises among its young people, DEIBA values have become more necessary than ever. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ youth are vastly more likely to experience housing insecurity and mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. We are committed to helping all young people and their families to overcome these barriers, so they can lead happier, healthier lives. As a collaborative association of community-based organizations, we strive to use our shared voice in service of systems-level change. 

We acknowledge that the systems we work in have both implicit and explicit biases toward children and families from communities of color, LGBTQIA+ communities, and other marginalized populations, and we strive to support and partner with them through a framework of healing, engagement, and resiliency. 

Oregon Child & Family Center for Excellence 

The Center for Excellence offers trainings that address these complex issues centered around DEIBA efforts and provide solutions for historically marginalized people. 

DEIBA-Focused Trainings 

These trainings include: 

  • Creating LGBTQIA2S+ Affirming and Equitable Spaces 
  • Youth Mental Health First Aid 
  • Cultural Humility Training 
  • Emotional Attachment Behavior Therapy for 2SLGBTQIA+ 
  • Lived Experience Workforce Development 

An important part of our advocacy and community outreach is providing the space for our members to participate in a monthly DEIBA Committee. This committee serves as a way for our members to examine barriers and cultural assumptions that tend to stand in the way of diversity and equity. At our most recent meeting, members discussed how to strengthen workplace inclusivity, create space for meaningful dialogue, and ensure that equity principles are embedded into both organizational practices and community engagement efforts. 

The Center for Excellence is planning training opportunities for the 2025–2026 year in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month, and Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian Heritage Month. These trainings will feature representative speakers, storytellers, and facilitators, and will be open to both members and nonmembers to ensure wide access. 

The Center for Excellence also partners with member organizations to offer them support in their own internal efforts to promote accessibility and inclusion. We are currently leading a project to better understand how lived experience factors (homelessness, trauma, recovery, etc.) can affect workers within the workplace. The challenges faced by human service workers with lived experience are complex, and we are identifying the steps that organizations can take to overcome these challenges. 

Equity Toolkit 

Coming soon: We are developing an Equity Toolkit that will provide resources, strategies, and practical tools to help us embed equity principles into our daily work.