Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ)

At Happyville Community Farm (HCF), a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just (DEIJ) workspace is one where all staff, volunteers, and board members feel valued and respected whatever their age, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or identity, physical, cognitive or emotional ability, education, or income. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and to providing equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all of our worksites and programs. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and will strive to ensure that all voices are valued and heard.

To provide informed, authentic leadership for DEIJ, HCF strives to:

• See DEIJ as connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our staff, volunteers, board members, and the communities we serve.

• Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and make improvements as we learn and grow.

• Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with DEIJ.

• Advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact HCF’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.

• Challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader at HCF, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.

• Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of our community and the larger American society.

• Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions.

• Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, and volunteers.

• Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all board members, staff, and volunteers to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.

• Develop and present sessions on DEIJ to provide information and resources both internally and to the community. 

• Practice intentionality and consciousness of bias during the hiring, promoting, or evaluating process. Train our board, staff, volunteers and hiring team on equitable practices.

• Advocate for public and private-sector policy that promotes DEIJ. Challenge systems and policies that are not cognizant of DEIJ.