Building Inclusive and Equitable Communities
PHILOSOPHY & MISSION
The 4 in Bridges 4 Justice
1. Teaching
Bridges 4 Justice believes that we must teach the ever-evolving needs of our society and the complexities of creating more diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities and workplaces to leaders and teams. We engage our clients regularly in continuing education and professional development in order learn, grow, and create equitable, culturally responsive and inclusive environments.
This includes the development of racial literacy. Racial literacy provides the framework by which to learn about, understand, and confidently talk about race, power, and privilege. These efforts allow organizations to envision new policies and practices that allow all team members to feel respected and valued for their ideas, their perspectives, and their skills.
2. Advocacy
Bridges 4 Justice exists to advocate for and create a more just and a more inclusive world - a world where we all work together to remove barriers of inequity keeping human beings from reaching their full potential.
This includes developing the skills to engage in courageous conversations about white supremacy, power & privilege, homophobia, transphobia, religious intolerance, sexism, ableism, etc. and a willingness to name these systemic barriers in our communities, our schools and in our society.
We hope to instill a sense of urgency in community and organizational leaders to inspire the will to take action, change policies, and to teach each community to learn how to face their own biases and resist all forms of discrimination.
3. Community
Bridges 4 Justice believes that inclusive and equitable communities are central to creating vibrant and healthy communities and democracies.
We teach you how to build authentic relationships. We teach you how to have honest conversations and how to validate the experiences of all people, in particular, folks from underrepresented communities, so that all individuals may become true partners in creating equity, inclusion, and belonging.
We empower you to demonstrate and communicate visible and consistent support and solidarity with underrepresented communities. We insist that underrepresented folks are made to feel fully supported and valued by organizations.
4. Legacy
Imagine a world where there are no longer acts of discrimination.
Imagine a world where individuals and communities feel truly accepted and safe and know that their ideas, their talents and their potential matter...
Imagine a world devoid of deficit mindsets and full of cultural responsiveness, awareness and fluency...
Imagine a world that works to educate our leaders and our employees, students, and community members to be inclusive not just in word, but also in deed...
Bridges 4 Justice seeks to create that world - now and for future generations - one community, one organization, one individual at a time.