Cleveland APL Board of Directors

Emeritus

STATEMENT ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

Diversity encompasses the innate characteristics that make individuals and their thoughts different from another. Equity is providing fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people and eliminating barriers that have prevented the full participation of all groups. Inclusion is creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate. The Cleveland APL Board of Directors is committed to actively promoting and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the APL.

The Cleveland APL’s Board of Directors believes that:

• Diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical to the advancement of the Cleveland APL mission in that our work for animals is grounded in the humane treatment of one another;
• Having a Board of Directors and staff team that is of diverse gender, age, race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity, along with varied skills and perspectives, enhances our balance and effectiveness and better positions our team to address the changing needs of the organization and the communities and animals we serve;
• The Cleveland APL needs to continuously strive to ensure that our decisions, processes, staff, Board and programs reflect, include, and benefit all the communities we serve and depend on to help us achieve our mission; and
• Success in achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion requires commitment from Board and staff leadership that must extend over time, with an understanding that this will be an ongoing process with no “quick fixes.”

 The Cleveland APL’s Board of Directors and staff leadership team will:

• Advocate for and support Board level thinking about how systemic inequities impact the APL’s work and how diversity, equity, and inclusion are connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our team, animals, and the communities we serve;
• Lead with respect and tolerance;
• Continuously examine and update diversity and inclusion initiatives that will enable and encourage participation by a wide variety of voices;
• Acknowledge and challenge existing inequities, facilitate positive change, and dismantle any inequities that may exist within our policies, systems, programs, and services;
• Strive to diversify the membership of our Board by exploring and challenging potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that may interfere with diversity and inclusiveness;
• Commit to achieving more diverse representation on our Board, staff, and volunteer teams;
• Support the election of qualified, effective, and diverse candidates to the Board; and
• Expect every member of the Cleveland APL team to embrace its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and reflect them in all Cleveland APL interactions and everyday practices.

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