iMentor’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Our Beliefs
We believe that all people deserve an equitable chance to pursue their ambitions. Our program builds authentic mentoring relationships across difference in order to bring greater equity to our students’ educational journeys. Through these relationships, students increase their access to the knowledge, experiences, and resources required to succeed in college and to pursue their ambitions.
While our work supports all aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), we commit a special focus to addressing the economic and racial divides that exists within the educational system and communities we serve. This choice is rooted in the recognition that our country’s long history of racism and systemic oppression continues to live in our modern-day society. This social injustice continues to drive disparities in the resources schools receive and the outcomes they generate for students of color.
We believe that our schools, our communities, and our workplaces are stronger when they include the full spectrum of talent in our country. This inclusion also sends a strong message of value to those whose voices have been traditionally marginalized. We are committed to the collective work and intentional investment necessary to consistently move in that direction.
Our Beliefs in Action
We continually realign our systems and strategies to thoughtfully identify and eliminate systemic bias and inequity within our organization.
We do this by creating transparency of our operational, programmatic, and cultural systems, and establishing mechanisms to vocalize our beliefs, reflect on our methods, and share outcomes. As we expand our reach and impact to students across the country, we also strive to be a leader in bringing stakeholders and partners along with us in pursuit of these goals. We are committed to a transparent and action-oriented growth process, and one that elevates voices that most closely represent our students across all identities. We hold ourselves accountable – internally to our employees and board members, and externally to the communities we serve.
We employ a process of reflection and collective accountability based on:
- Operating Procedures – Ensuring that we design and administer policies and procedures that reflect equity and inclusion.
- Culture and Capacity Building – Equipping staff and board members with resources, shared vocabulary, and training to collaborate effectively and holistically across differences.
- Program Design – Ensuring our program model, curriculum, and training emphasizes and advances cultural attunement in mentor and mentee relationships, while deepening mentor-mentee understanding of issues of DEI.
- Identity & Profile – Becoming a more active advocate of DEI, advancing the work within our networks and across the country, and strategically aligning ourselves with organizations who support these efforts.
Vision of Success
We believe this work is a journey and we will steadily work toward a world where:
- Students have the resources and ability to use the power of education to navigate social systems and pursue their ambitions;
- Mentors become change agents and advocates for educational equity and access;
- iMentor encourages, celebrates, and leverages diversity in a way that inspires connection and fosters a sense of belonging; and
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion practices are embedded in the overall culture of iMentor in a way that positions the organization as a vocal ally and partner in the fight for educational equality.
