Our staff collective has been doing new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work of late, and created a new group to support this work within our organization. Recently our Board of Directors chose to adopt the same purpose, vision and values as our staff. We wanted to share this information with all our members, so an outline follows.

We want to use our DEI work as a tool to continually grow awareness of the harmful effects of privilege and oppression, to coordinate efforts to abolish those effects and promote healing, and to build a more equitable, diverse, and accessible cooperative.

Values
We believe that it is critical to acknowledge historical truths and the reality of their effects on the world we live in today. We value the power of compassion, forgiveness and anti-oppression strategies as tools to move us toward re-centering and allyship. We value cultural competency and self-reflection, both as individuals and organizationally.

The Work
Our work is to make the Co-op more inclusive and diverse, and to increase awareness and visibility of the harms brought about as a result of oppression within the Co-op community and beyond. We want to equalize power and access for all who participate.

Vision
We envision a world where every person who participates at the Co-op has a commitment to understanding and addressing our own role in societal oppression.