A Message From the Executive Director
Our country has struggled since our founding to live out the concept of “Equity for all.” We’ve seen throughout our history that many social movements have led to great changes for people of color, women, the LGBTQ population, laborers, people experiencing ageism, and more. But this work is far from done, and while I assume that most Americans are aware of systemic racism, passive racism, microaggressions, and other related inequalities, I think we were all appalled to see the murder of George Floyd. His passing became the catalyst for a strong movement to call attention to the forms of racism that occur in our country even though they are often not overt enough to make headlines. But with this very important movement afoot, we are also starting to see other groups of people (primarily law enforcement) become the focus of many people’s anger. And whenever I see an entire group of people lumped together based on one arbitrary characteristic, such as their profession, I have to assume that the sentiment directed at the whole group can’t truly apply to every member in it, because for the same reason other stereotypes are faulty, human beings are unique and don’t all fit a particular mold.
Having thought about these challenges and tensions and their relevance to the workplace, I couldn’t help but wonder if some of these issues might find themselves present here at VOC. And as I am fully in support of change for the better in our communities and in our workplace, I also subscribe wholly to Martin Luther King’s philosophy to “choose love, because hate is too great a burden to carry.” I know that everyone is processing the turmoil in our country in their own ways, but I asked VOC staff to please think of MLK’s words relevant to their colleagues and the veterans we serve. I also asked them to consider a concept we learned in the military about diversity. When I joined the Army in 1996, I clearly remember being told, “In the Army, we’re all green. Some light green, some dark green, and every shade in between. But there is no room for racism in the Army. Here, we’re all lean, green fighting machines!” The phrasing is a little trite, but the message is spot on.
Lastly, I want to share with you how we plan to address the concepts of diversity and inclusion more fully in our own workplace.
Recruiting a more diverse membership within our Board of Directors, enhancing our staff recruiting efforts to focus on diversity, and developing programming that is both sought after and marketed to our clients that is culturally sensitive to the uniqueness of the individual.
We are creating a diversity and inclusion business case and strategy that spells out exactly how much our agency gains when we are more diversified.
We will also conduct a survey of all employees to ascertain how staff feel we do in terms of diversity and inclusion, hiring, cultural climate, and client programming.
Finally, we will be putting together an internal diversity and inclusion task force driven by a cross-section of our employees. This group will work toward making recommendations to leadership about policies, response to sensitive issues, or any other related concerns they might have.
As we continue to learn and grow as an agency, I hope we can come together as a strong, unified team, to carry out the mission of the VOC. I am proud to publically share our strategy and look forward to the enrichment it will no doubt provide to the VOC team.
Sincerely,
Laura Stradley
Executive Director
Veterans Outreach Center
U.S. Army Veteran