Trans and Queer Youth Collective

Equity Statement

At TQYC a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace is one where all staff members, community stakeholders, and program participants whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, are affirmed as their authentic selves and respected. We are committed to an intersectional and uplifting approach and provide equitable opportunities for employment and advancement in all our departments, programs, and structures. We hold a deep respect for our community’s diversity and value their lived experiences and ensure voices that are currently and historically oppressed and marginalized are centered, valued, and heard.

We are committed to modeling diversity and inclusion for the entire 2SLGBTQIA+ youth serving industry of the nonprofit sector, and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.

To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, TQYC strives to:

- See diversity, equity, and inclusion as connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our staff members and the communities we serve.

- Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report organization progress.

- Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.

- Advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.

- Continue to pivot practices and policies to reflect the constant change in frameworks that support DEI strategies and practices.

- Seek to uplift QTBIPOC staff members into positions of leadership consistent with our goal of maintain TQYC as a POC/Queer/Trans led organization.

- Help to challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader at our organization, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.

- Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions.

- Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, committee, and advisory bodies.

- Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all employees to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.

TQYC abides by the following action items to help promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace:

- Pursue cultural intelligence throughout our organization by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies that reflect DEI policies curate directly from voices and practices in marginalized communities.

- Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of our world society.

- Pool resources and expand offerings for underrepresented community stakeholders by connecting with other grassroots organizations committed to diversity and inclusion efforts.

- Develop and present sessions on diversity, inclusion, and equity to provide information and resources internally, and to our communities.

- Continue to refine our practices for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the hiring, promoting, or evaluating process. Train our hiring team in equitable practices.

- Include wage transparency on all hiring materials, internally with staff members, and externally to the public.

- Advocate for public and private-sector policy that promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity. Challenge systems and policies that create inequity, oppression and disparity.