Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity

We expect that any member of the Burlington Children’s Space community will maintain, advocate for, and respect our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statement. If you feel like you do not align with these values, Burlington Children’s Space likely isn’t the place for you. If you’d like to learn more and practice these values, please come grow with us. 

 

At BCS…

• We recognize the power and benefits of diversity and inclusivity.

• We honor Vermont’s Indigenous people, primarily members of the Abenaki, who have cared for and continue to care for the land we sit on.

• We expect all staff, families, and community members to take responsibility for biased actions, even if unintended, and actively work to repair the harm. 

• We expect all staff, families, and community members to build awareness and understanding of their own culture, personal beliefs, identities, values, and biases.

• We expect all staff, families, and community members to acknowledge and seek to understand structural inequities and their impact over time.

• We expect all staff, families, and community members to view their commitment to cultural responsiveness as an ongoing process.

• We expect all staff, families, and community members to recognize that the professional knowledge base is changing. 

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Definitions:

• Bias: favoring one type of thing, person, or group over another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.

• Culture: the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.

• Cultural Responsiveness: understanding and respecting that each person brings many different variables, experiences, and perspectives to each interaction.

• Diversity: the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds.

• Equity: the quality of being fair and impartial.

• Inclusion: providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized.

• Marginalized: treated as insignificant or secondary.

  • Examples include: People of color, Indigenous people, immigrants, LGBTQ+ folks, people living in poverty, people with disabilities, women, and people with mental illness. This is a list of those most often referred to as marginalized, but we recognize there are individuals who do not identify as part of these categories who are also marginalized.

• Structural Inequities: differences in wealth, resources, and other outcomes that are the result of institutions (such as legal, educational, business, government, and health care systems) discriminating against certain groups and not others.