This is part 4 of a 4 part series.
To focus on becoming a more antiracist firm and workplace on July 1, 2020, we announced our Equity and Justice Action Plan. This series will share resources and documents we developed to Be Just. Do Right. by bringing social justice into our office through culture, work, recruiting, and spending.
The goal of this post is to share how we are making progress on our commitment a year later. This is not intended to be a report on best practices because we are still learning and evolving. Rather, we want to offer our work as a resource to be built upon.
Our Spending
We developed and revised our vendor checklist to objectively assess where we spend our money.
To be more thoughtful in how we classify businesses, we removed the consideration of if these businesses were supporting or receiving funding from specific political parties. This measure is an oversimplification because it takes the complexities of systemic racism down to a party affiliation and racist policy can be seen on both sides.
For the latest iteration of this checklist we operated under the honest truth there are no businesses that are non-racist but rather businesses that are anti-racist. To be anti-racist, companies need to be active participants. We specifically looked closely at harm reduction and reparative justice efforts.
“The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it — and then dismantle it.”
— Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
If you use this tool please be aware that businesses are constantly evolving, so it needs to be maintained.
The journey is ongoing and we will continue to invest in doing the work. Our plans will continue to change, evolve, and become better as we learn more. We hope the linked resources and documents are helpful and can be built upon.
This is the final reflection in this series. Previous sections covered how social justice has been incorporated into our culture, work, and recruiting. The journey is ongoing and we will continue to invest in doing the work. Our plans will continue to change, evolve, and become better as we learn more. We hope the linked resources and documents are helpful and can be built upon. Please reach out to us directly at info@iandco.com if you have any questions or suggestions.
