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TMG's Values Statement on Racial Equity

An organization that practices conflict resolution professionally values the principles of collaboration, respect, and integrity. Implied by that are commitments to treat everyone in our professional lives - service providers, clients, vendors - equally and thoughtfully. But The Mediation Group, along with many others in our country, has learned that pursuing racial equity will demand more from us than that. 

A first step requires making explicit an additional set of values. These include:

  • Enhancing our sensitivity to ways in which TMG can be more welcoming to people of color;

  • Supporting the learning and self-assessment of our staff and associates on issues related to race, racism, and white supremacy;

  • Reaching out to communities of color to increase our capacity for inclusion;

  • Increasing the diversity of people who work in and with TMG;

  • Seeking ways in which TMG can move the field toward greater racial equity;

  • Supporting others who are involved in the work of moving our broader society toward greater racial equity.

TMG decided in 2020 to devote significant resources toward the goal of understanding the effects of bias, racism, and social inequities within our own workplace, the ADR community, and surrounding communities, and toward becoming allies with others dedicated to addressing these issues. Working with a Steering Committee, TMG has taken the following initial steps: 

Internal Work

• We are dedicating a portion of our monthly staff meetings to discussions of race and equity issues including a recent focus on violence targeting the Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

 • We have entered into an engagement with YW Boston who will be using their Inclusion Boston model (https://www.ywboston.org/our-work/inclusionboston/) to lead the organization through a process to address a range of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion issues.

• We are in process of reimagining our Mediation Fellows program to more deliberately address barriers to entry in the ADR field for people of color. We are exploring potential collaborations with other organizations as we develop this program.

External Work

• We have identified a number of local organizations dedicated to promoting social and racial justice with whom we are going to be partnering to provide trainings and workshops at no cost. 

  • Justice at Work https://jatwork.org is a non profit organization in Boston dedicated to providing legal support and community organizing to workers, primarily from Latino and other immigrant communities, in low paying jobs. TMG will be providing a series of Negotiation Skills workshops to their staff over the next several months.

  • More Than Words https://mtwyouth.org “is a nonprofit social enterprise that empowers youth who are in the foster care system, court involved, homeless, or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.” We are beginning a pro bono partnership to support their mission with proactive staff trainings.

  • We are also exploring potential collaborations with other local organizations who are doing good work in this area and will report on those projects as they develop.

• We have made financial contributions to support the efforts of several organizations whose work we admire: These include

 

We are looking forward to digging deeper as we continue this work.

 

UncategorizedKylie Millbern