Thank you for your willingness to take this assessment on environmental justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

As a result of the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce’s myTRI 2030 visioning effort, the Inclusion Council was created as one of six Opportunity Areas. The vision of the Inclusion Council is “to be a courageously authentic community that embraces its growing diversity. “

In order to advance this important work, Greater Columbia Accountable Community of Health has partnered with the Inclusion Council to initiate a survey that will help measure the level of inclusive activities within Tri-City organizations.  The activities listed in the survey represent policies and behaviors that promote environmental justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in organizations.

DEFINITIONS:

Environmental Justice: The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. It recognizes that there are communities that are under-resourced, marginalized and oppressed that are disproportionately affected. Justice will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, access to the decision-making process, and benefits of a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.

Diversity: Describes the presence of differences within a given setting, collective, or group. An individual is not diverse – a person is unique. Diversity is about a collective or a group and exists in relationship to others. A team, an organization, a family, a neighborhood, and a community can be diverse. A person can bring diversity of thought, experience, and trait, (seen and unseen) to a team — and the person is still an individual.

Equity:  The act of developing, strengthening, and supporting procedural and outcome fairness in systems, procedures, and resource distribution mechanisms to create equitable (not equal) opportunity for all people. Equity is distinct from equality which refers to everyone having the same treatment without accounting for differing needs or circumstances. Equity has a focus on eliminating barriers that have prevented the full participation of historically and currently oppressed groups.

Inclusion: Intentionally designed, active, and ongoing engagement with people that ensures opportunities and pathways for participation in all aspects of group, organization, or community, including decision-making processes. Inclusion is not a natural consequence of diversity. There must be intentional and consistent efforts to create and sustain a participative environment. Inclusion refers to how groups show that people are valued as respected members of the group, team, organization, or community. Inclusion is often created through progressive, consistent, actions to expand, include, and share.

Social Determinants of Health:  Social determinants of health are conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Please complete the questions below to the best of your ability. Your organization will receive $100 for completion.

For more information contact Damia Safford at dsafford@gcach.org.

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Basic Information:

I. Organizational Commitment to JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Six Point Scale (1 – Strongly Disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Don’t Know, 4-Not Applicable, 5 – Agree, 6- Strongly Agree)

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5. Our organization focuses on achieving justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

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6. Our organization is on its journey towards environmental justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

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7. The organization has a written statement that includes a commitment to addressing environmental justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

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8. The organization demonstrates a commitment to addressing the environmental, social, and economic conditions that impact justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

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9. Most staff members demonstrate a commitment to addressing the environmental, social, and economic conditions that impact justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

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10. The organization has a written commitment to demonstrating respect for cultural differences and practices.

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11. Staff at all levels have the opportunity to become leaders in the work we are doing to address justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

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12. The budget contains sufficient resources to implement the organizations’ justice, equity, diversity and inclusion goals.

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13. The organization regularly brings in outside consultation to provide education and trainings on topics related to environmental justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

II. JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION in Program Design 
Six Point Scale (1 – Strongly Disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Don’t Know, 4-Not Applicable, 5 – Agree, 6- Strongly Agree)

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14. The way programs or services are designed reflects a general understanding of the environmental, social and economic conditions that impact health.

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15. The organization regularly assess the cultural and linguistic needs of the community they serve.

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16. There are strategies in place to minimize barriers to community participation in programs and services.

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17. The organization creates and distributes oral and written information that is appropriate for the cultural, linguistic, and literacy needs in the community.

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18. The organization communicates openly and honestly with the general public.

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19. The organization is open to community feedback on its work.

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20. People with the most direct life experience or who are most impacted by an issue provide input on decision making.

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21. When decisions made by the organization do not reflect community input, it is clear why the decision was made.

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22. The organization has strategies in place to advocate for public policies that that address the environmental, social, and economic conditions impacting the health of the people our organization serves.

III. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION in Human Resources
Six Point Scale (1 – Strongly Disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Don’t Know, 4-Not Applicable, 5 – Agree, 6- Strongly Agree)

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23. The organization actively recruits diverse staff for open positions.

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24. Racial diversity is an explicit goal for hiring staff.

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25. When appropriate, minimum requirements for positions are flexible, allowing for relevant community experience in place of educational degrees.

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26. Culturally Diverse staff members remain long term employees.

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27. Staff of diverse ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds are equitably promoted throughout the organization.

IV. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION in Data
Six Point Scale (1 – Strongly Disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Don’t Know, 4-Not Applicable, 5 – Agree, 6- Strongly Agree)

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28. There is a standard procedure in place for collecting Race, Ethnicity, Age, and Language demographics of the people we serve.

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29. Whenever possible, data on program performance is broken out by Race, Ethnicity, Age, and Language.

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30. The organization has a standard procedure for reviewing data broken out by Race, Ethnicity, Age and Language to inform program evaluation and decision making.

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31. The organization creates opportunities for the people they serve to give input on data collection and results.

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32. When appropriate, data is shared with the public using clear and approachable language and visualizations.

V. Personal understanding of ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Six Point Scale (1 – Strongly Disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Don’t Know, 4-Not Applicable, 5 – Agree, 6- Strongly Agree)

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33. I understand what the social determinants of health are.

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34. I understand how the social determinants of health impact physical and behavioral health outcomes.

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35. I understand what environmental justice, equity, diversity and inclusion means.

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36. I could explain examples of environmental justice, equity, diversity and inclusion inequities to my coworkers.

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37. I know how my work is contributing to advancing environmental justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in the community.

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38. I regularly have personally meaningful interactions with people of different cultures and backgrounds than my own.

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39. I am comfortable talking about race and racism with the people I interact with at work.

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40. Staff I interact with at work are comfortable talking about race and racism.

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41. Staff I interact with at work are comfortable talking about gender/sex and sexism.

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42. I work with a culturally diverse staff.

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43. I feel my work environment is supportive of many different cultural perspectives

VI. Potential Training areas
Check all that apply

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44. I am interested in taking training in the follow areas:

0 of 41 answered
 

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