The Young Storytellers Worldview: A Reflection and Where We’re Going
At Young Storytellers, we believe in the power of storytelling and the impact it can have on individuals and the communities we come from. In 2020, so many events (the killing of George Floyd, the rapid rise of movements like Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, and #StopAsianHate in response to widespread violence and hatred, the COVID-19 pandemic) made it clear that we needed to make sure everything we do, from our programs to the way we operate internally, was centered in equity and anti-racism.
Starting from staff discussions, to conversations with our board and community members, to educating ourselves through research and trainings, we wrote the YS Worldview as a living guide for our work. Since we wrote this as a changing document, we’re committed to regularly reflecting on what we’ve accomplished so far and sharing our goals so that we are addressing equity in every part of the organization.
What We’ve Accomplished:
Integrated regular equity and anti-racism conversations, trainings, and ongoing development at all levels of the YS community, including staff, volunteers, and Board. Examples of this include: DEIBAR specific goals as part of quarterly team goal-setting, year-long staff and board work with outside DEIBAR consultants, the creation and integration of a DEIBAR board committee, integration of DEIBAR trainings into the volunteer onboarding process, and creation and integration of DEIBAR goals as part of the most recent strategic planning process.
Including Equity as one of our core organizational values so that it is centered in everything we do.
Continuing to research and revise curriculum to integrate culturally competent social emotional learning opportunities and social justice standards, and to be centered in anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, so that our students feel respected and comfortable with expressing themselves.
Continuing to recruit, hire, and onboard people into our community (volunteers, staff, interns, and Board) through a DEIBAR lens so that the voices guiding and representing our students are reflective of their communities and the world we live in.
Continuing to invest in our staff in holistic ways, including: monthly team-wide Wellness Days, team-wide paid breaks that do not count against vacation days, salary transparency among staff and in job postings, and establishing a process for an Executive Director succession and transition plan that centers the staff’s needs.
Giving annual financial donations through Community Gifts to BIPOC-led and BIPOC-serving organizations that meet the full spectrum of needs of the students we serve.
Integrating Community Centric Fundraising principles in our fundraising activities, including: recognizing gifts of time and money equally, prioritizing the good of our students and families in all decisions, and communicating these decisions with our community regularly.
Continuing to evaluate our systems through an accessibility lens so that we can eliminate as many barriers as possible to experiencing Young Storytellers, including: providing alt text for images on our website and social media, integrating an accessibility widget for our website, making our entire website available in Spanish, making tickets to our annual fundraiser Biggest Show donate-what-you-can, and providing different options for accessing volunteer trainings and events.
Current Goals:
Creating structures to ensure that our program can be accessed by traditionally excluded communities, including: creating a multi-factored school selection criteria, assessing current curriculum and materials to increase supports for students with disabilities and ELL students, and creating and integrating a training module for mentors that offers best practices for supporting students with disabilities and ELL students.
Continuing to invest in our internal staff processes, including: developing an internal way to address harm, completing an internal audit of team culture, and refining coaching and feedback processes that are effective for team members and supervisors.
Continuing to intentionally diversify volunteers of all identities (ethnic background, race, age, sexuality, ability, etc.) so that our students can see themselves reflected in those that directly engage with them.
Helping YS corporate partners — especially those who provide volunteer mentors for our programs — to understand our diversity goals and measures. We will work with them to recruit and train volunteers with our diversity and inclusion goals in mind.
Prioritizing outreach for YS summer and fall intern cohorts to community colleges and universities in the geographic areas that we serve. We will continue to pay our interns as a part of our larger commitment to equitable wages for all, starting at minimum wage and increasing salaries as possible.
Establishing a gift acceptance procedure in cases of receiving gifts from individuals, businesses, or groups whose actions, mission, or values are in conflict with the mission and values of Young Storytellers and/or actively harm others (i.e., physically, emotionally, financially, etc.).
Glossary
Anti-Racism: Anti-racism is a process of actively identifying and opposing racism, on individual, institutional, and structural levels. Being anti-racist means to continuously take action against policies, behaviors, and beliefs that perpetuate racist ideas and behaviors.
Belonging: This is the belief that originality and individuality are things to be celebrated, and the cultivation of a community where everyone gives of themselves and is able to speak fully from their unique perspectives.
BIPOC: BIPOC is an acronym that stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and is meant to be inclusive of non-white people. While meant to be inclusive, many say that by not naming other non-white people, this acronym creates hierarchy and division. We recognize that it is an imperfect and likely temporary term.
DEIBAR: An acronym that stands for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Anti-Racism.
Diversity: Diversity includes all the ways in which people differ. It is all-inclusive and recognizes every person and group as part of the diversity that should be valued. A broad definition includes race, ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, physical appearance, ideas, perspectives, and values.
Equity: Equity ensures that all people with different identities are given access to the same opportunities, while taking into account the barriers and advantages that exist for different people. It is more than simply giving people the same things; it involves truly understanding people’s needs, obstacles, and strengths.
Inclusion: Authentically bringing traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups into processes, activities, and decision-making in a way that shares power.
Justice: The fair treatment of people in situations of harm caused by oppression or an imbalance of power. It places decisions in the hands of those who have been most affected by harm, and is meant to repair harm, heal broken relationships, and address the underlying reasons for the harm.
Nonprofit Organization: A nonprofit organization (non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution) is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit. Though the staff of nonprofits are paid, and many nonprofits maintain reserves of savings for operations and emergencies, they do not create profits for its staff, board, or constituents in the way that a for-profit company does. In the United States, nonprofits were created as a way for the wealthy to practice philanthropy while receiving tax benefits.
Social Emotional Learning: Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process by which we, both children and adults, learn and apply skills that help us to make sense of our surroundings, interact with others, and move through the world. These skills are self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and social awareness. These skills should be taught through a lens of equity and justice, as we learn these skills in different ways according to our culture, race, and background.
*Definitions drawn from CASEL, Racial Equity Tools, Center for the Study of Social Policy, and Young Storytellers values.
