Focus on equity
We are committed to creating a culture of inclusion, self-reflection, and personal growth.
At p:ear, we respect and celebrate the diversity, creativity, and strength of our community. To foster individuality and truly give space to the value that each person brings — from the youth we serve daily to our staff, board, and volunteers — we must continuously work at creating an environment that is equitable and inclusive.
Our organization was built on a foundation of compassion and love, but we know we must confront the systems of oppression that are embedded throughout our community and ingrained in ourselves to truly create a compassionate and loving environment for all. This means seeing and understanding how systems of oppression such as racism, white supremacy, classism, sexism, transphobia, imperialism, colonialism and ableism impact our everyday lives, while taking intentional steps to combat them.
Ongoing work toward building an equitable and inclusive organization is a priority at p:ear. We are committed to examining our weaknesses as well as our privileges, and to examining the institutional and individual behaviors and attitudes that may perpetuate the very inequities we wish to change.
To achieve this, we are committed to creating a culture of inclusion, self-reflection, and personal growth. We are committed to using our time and resources — including our social capital — to combat these systems of oppression and create more opportunity. This means applying an equity lens to our decision-making processes, using our Equity Plan as an ongoing organizational guide, and updating that plan as we continue to learn and grow. This work will create more opportunities for individuals to thrive — from the youth we serve to our staff, board, and volunteers.
