Diversity Statement
Craft Alliance is committed to embracing diversity in all its forms, fostering an inclusive work environment where a wide-range of characteristics, backgrounds, and perspectives thrive. We believe that by valuing and leveraging this diversity, we drive innovation, creativity, and the success of our organization. We strive to promote diversity and inclusion on our board, among our staff and volunteers, and in our programming.
Land Acknowledgement
Craft Alliance is located on the ancestral lands of the Osage, Missouri, and Illinois people, who were removed unjustly, and we in this community acknowledge that we are the beneficiaries of that removal. Many other indigenous peoples, including the Quapaw, Omaha, Ponca, Kaw, Ioway, Otoe, and those who came before them, lived here for many thousands of years. In addition, the Cherokee, Shawnee, Sac, Fox, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Illini, Missouri, and Delaware are among those who lived here before, again being forced to relocate. We honor them, and their ancestors, as we live, work, and create here at Craft Alliance.
Definitions
- Diversity – At Craft Alliance, we are committed to celebrating all the ways that people are different and the same at both the individual and group levels. Even when people appear the same, they are different. We strive to examine the makeup of our organization to ensure that multiple perspectives are represented.
- Equity – We strive to be fair and just in the treatment of all members of our greater St. Louis community, and beyond. Equity will require our commitment to strategic priorities, resources, respect, and civility, as well as ongoing action and reflection of progress toward achieving specific goals.
- Inclusion – We strive to be intentional in Craft Alliance’s effort to ensure that diverse individuals fully participate in all aspects of organizational work, including the decision-making processes. Inclusion also refers to the ways that our diverse participants belong and are valued as respected members of the broader craft community.
- Accessibility – We strive to make Craft Alliance accessible for everyone along the continuum of human ability and experience. Accessibility encompasses the broader meanings of compliance and refers to how Craft Alliance makes space for the characteristics that each person brings.
