At the Leadership Foundation and B:CIVIC, we have always believed that the most effective civic leaders are inclusive. While we use Colorado’s Civic DNA™ to guide us, we recognize our responsibility to play a larger role in building a more inclusive region. To maintain a vibrant community for all, we have to show up differently. As an organization, we plan to take larger steps with our initiatives around diversity, equity and inclusion to support the necessary behavior and systems changes to make sure all leaders in our community are equipped with the tools to be part of this important work. It is our mission to educate and inspire leaders who want to make a difference, and we recognize our responsibility and the urgency to invest in our approach toward building racial equity.
Several weeks ago, we responded to the systemic racism we are seeing by making this promise: “At the Leadership Foundation and B:CIVIC, we have a responsibility to show up for people of color in our communities in ways we never have before.” Today, we want to share some of the ways we seek to keep that promise moving forward:
Revisiting Our Values – We believe that Colorado’s Civic DNA represents the spirit of what makes our community great while painting a picture of the community we want to see. Like our community, our understanding of how we live those values has evolved. We plan to work with our alumni and community to refresh Colorado’s Civic DNA to better reflect a community where everyone can prosper.
Staff Training and Organizational Evaluation – We commit to being intentional in evaluating our programs and organization to ensure we foster inclusive spaces, beginning with the values that guide our work. Feedback from our community will help direct our investment to ensure our team has a high level of cultural competence and can support all leaders with whom we work.
Education and Skills Development – We believe that you cannot be an inclusive leader unless you are anti-racist. We plan to implement learning models in our programs (racial caucusing, facilitated dialogues, resource sharing and workshops) at a higher standard to better equip leaders to learn, discuss and act in building racial equity in our community. And, we’re committed to removing barriers and providing leadership development access to as many people as possible in our community through our Leading Colorado Scholarship Fund.
Amplifying Community Work – We recognize our community is full of organizations and civic leaders advancing work to make sure Black and Indigenous communities and people of color can prosper. We are committed to being more intentional in amplifying their work and providing our participants and alumni with opportunities to grow and understand our communities more deeply.
Strategic Partnerships – Systems change is only possible when we work toward a common good. For this long, hard work, we need determined, resilient, inclusive leaders who can build partnerships. We will accelerate our work through strategic initiatives, such as Prosper Colorado, and strategic partnerships, like our emerging collaboration with diversity and inclusion practitioners. We will build from the enormous potential of a business-led, cross-sector collaborative of experts and resources to advance racial equity in our community.
Transparency – In order to foster inclusivity, we recognize the need to be accountable to our community. We plan to share what we learn in our journey to be a more inclusive organization and intentionally use those learnings to engage in meaningful dialogue on The Network.
As an organization, we will take on greater responsibility with our initiatives around diversity, equity and inclusion to make sure all leaders can thrive and that leaders are equipped with the skills and experience needed to enact meaningful change. We believe everyone can lead from where they stand, and this starts with us. We look forward to working with you as we pursue this important work for our community.
Dan Lewis is the executive director of the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation and Kirsten Vermulen is the executive director for B:CIVIC.