September 15, 2020

Dear IslandWood Community,

This past June, we shared our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests sparked by the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others. We acknowledged that in 2019 IslandWood committed to operationalizing JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) principles throughout the organization, and that while we’ve made good progress in some areas, in other areas there is still much work to be done.

As part of our work to operationalize JEDI throughout the organization and to be transparent about that work, we committed to providing quarterly updates to the community. In this first update, we share the advancements we’ve made and also where we’ve fallen short.

· You can see our fiscal year 2020 (July 2019 – June 2020) priorities and also an update on the progress we made on each priority here.

· You can read about our first quarter priorities for fiscal year 2021 (July 2020 – September 2020) and our progress on those priorities here.

· You can learn more about the racial demographics of our staff and board members here.

· And, you can read more about the changes we’ve made to incorporate JEDI into our recruiting and interviewing efforts here.

The work of operationalizing equity at IslandWood requires a continual commitment to learning, reflection, and meaningful action. Thank you for taking the time to read through this first update and for holding us accountable.

You can expect to see our next JEDI update in late January. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at [email protected] with feedback, questions, or thoughts. As a learning organization, we value your voice as it helps guide our continual improvement toward showing up in a way that best serves the needs of our communities and the planet.

Warmly,

Megan Karch