DEIJ STATEMENT

Leading with Justice: Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

As the United States continues to confront its history and perpetuation of white supremacy, misogyny and other forms of oppression, nonprofits must do their own work to understand how these systems have shaped their organizations. Partnering with Elizabeth Schroeder Consulting (ESC), Guerrera Strategies works with nonprofit organizations to identify the ways in which they uphold white supremacy and other systems of oppression in their organizations, whether through policies, procedures, or practices. 

Guerrera and ESC have worked across many movements, including racial justice, LGBTQ+ liberation, reproductive health, rights and justice, economic justice, sexuality education and gender justice, and have more than sixty years of experience in non-profit management and leadership.  We fundamentally believe that social change organizations will not succeed - no matter how innovative, strategic, or well-managed they are - unless they center racial equity and the dismantling of white supremacy in everything they do. This analysis is grounded in our values, our lived experiences advocating for racial equity and justice, and our own identities and learning journeys.

Our approach to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work is based in these values:

·       We center intersectionality. Our work is centered in intersectional approaches that highlight the connections between white supremacy and misogyny, homophobia and transphobia, ableism and additional biases and prejudices.

·       We embrace flexibility, transparency and collaboration. Like any good transformational process, ours is flexible – including our approaches, timeframes and practices. We embrace open, ongoing feedback, and value the opportunity to collaborate with our clients to determine whether our approaches, deliverables or deadlines need to shift in order to best serve the clients’ needs.

·       We work through a culturally humble lens. The US is a diverse country with a diverse representation of attitudes, values and beliefs. We approach our projects with the knowledge that our experience and expertise must be tailored to the context of the communities we, our clients and their constituents and partners serve.

·       We maintain a commitment to inclusive and affirming best practices. Our approaches are centered in social and racial justice. We pay close attention to the power dynamics at play, even in the most minor interactions, and we pay particular attention to who is represented in leadership, programs, policies and procedures. This does not only apply to how we approach our work; when we notice power imbalances within organizations during any stage of a project, we share this information with our clients in the spirit of working to improve their practices and procedures.