EarthJustice DEI Plan

EARTHJUSTICE 

DEI Plan

Our mission is to wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion at EarthJustice: We will continue our work to recruit and retain multi-culturally sophisticated employees and to build a stronger culture of inclusion. We will work to diversify our clients, partners, donors and supporters to ensure that we are serving all communities impacted by environmental issues….Earthjustice is showing leadership in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We have been able to compare our efforts alongside some of the largest and most significant environmental groups, and the initial results of the demographic data show that Earthjustice is more racially diverse than other environmental organizations. We ended 2019 with an impressive growth to 40% of our staff consisting of people of color. And yet, the work that we do is not only about numbers. Beyond the statistics, we continue to make diversity, equity, and inclusion a top priority year in and year out, and the foundation of our success starts with our staff.

Goal 1

Attract and hire diverse and multiculturally sensitive staff.

Steps:

  1. Assess how the hiring guidelines are being implemented and provide any needed clarification and guidance: 
  2. Assess lessons learned and provide clarification of hiring tools, including creating a 

frequently asked questions list and additional in-person training. 

  1. Seek input from various hiring committee members. 
  2. Review and potentially revise the current slate of interview questions. 
  3. Broaden potential new hire applicant pool by increasing outreach to different colleges, law schools, programs, communities and professional organizations.

Assessment: 

Was an assessment of the hiring guidelines conducted? Were needed clarifications to hiring guidelines and any necessary training provided? 

Was outreach increased to different colleges, law schools, programs, communities and professional organizations?

Goal 2

Review current promotional pathways.

Steps:  

  1. Finalize and publish a list of job families, as created by Human Resources and SLT, that will define the various levels within each family (e.g. Litigation Assistant I and Litigation Assistant II). 

Assessment: 

Were job families finalized and published to the organization?

Goal 3

Increase partnerships that could lead to the representation of new clients.

Steps:

  1. Develop a process to build the capacity of our partners through trainings—hosted by the organization at Earthjustice—regarding topics such as fundraising, social media, communications and permits. 
  2. Continue with the creation and dissemination of a Client Survey to assess Earthjustice’s performance regarding cultural competency and respectful partnership building. 
  3. Fully utilize the partnership toolkit through better communication and training, including visiting regional offices/programs to promote the toolkit. 

Assessment:

How many sessions did we offer to our partners to increase their capacity on various topics? 

Did we implement the client survey? 

How many trainings did we provide to increase knowledge and use of the partnership toolkit?

Goal 4

Develop a 21st-century donor constituency and expand portfolio of donors/funders to make it possible to take on new partners and clients.

Steps:

  1. Finalize and disseminate Development Toolkit to our partners to increase their capacity regarding development practices. 
  2. Rebrand the organization’s mid-level donor program. 
  3. Assess outreach strategies to all donors at all giving levels.

Assessment:

How many partners received our Development Toolkit? 

Did we rebrand the organization’s mid-level donor program? 

Did we conduct assessments of the organization’s outreach strategies?

Goal 5

Improve employee engagement, recognition, culture of trust, support, respect and inclusion.

Steps:

  1. Engage in cross-office learning about what the regional offices and headquarters are doing regarding their internal culture. a. Form a local committee of staff from their respective offices or groups to encourage more events or points of discussion. b. Facilitate more opportunities to form connections with colleagues. c. Determine ways to increase inclusion efforts through Atlas. 2. Continue the yearly BUDS program 3. In addition to continuing with the annual Peer Nomination Awards, determine how we can express appreciation on an ongoing basis.

Assessment: 

Did we engage with staff from regional offices and headquarters and develop ways to improve internal culture? 

How many staff participated in the 2018-2019 BUDS program? Did the participants find the program to be beneficial? 

Were recommendations for additional means of expressing staff appreciation determined?

Goal 6

Expand lifelong learning program for all employees.

Steps: 

  1. Continue with year 2 of the 3-year comprehensive organizational DEI training plan and develop mechanism for capturing feedback. 
  2. Assess current role of the Internal Resource Team and the potential for expanding duties to include, for example, facilitation and consultation. 

Assessment:

What were the organization-wide trainings provided and was the feedback that was captured utilized in informing future trainings? 

What were the agreed upon duties of the Internal Resource Team members?