As CMF seeks to embolden and equip our community of philanthropy in the relentless pursuit of equitable systems and the embrace of inclusive diversity, we are highlighting learning journeys across our network. This week the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation (GTRCF) is sharing insights from its own diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) journey.

“We cannot fully accomplish our mission unless we’ve integrated diversity, equity and inclusion into every aspect of our work,” Dave Mengebier, president and CEO of GTRCF and CMF trustee said. “The first steps have been around listening and learning from the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) leadership in our community.”

GTRCF provided staff and board with training in 2020, including an anti-racism training led by Julie Ann Rivers-Cochran of Blackbird Consulting for Nonprofits and an Anishinaabek culture training, facilitated by GTRCF board member, JoAnne Cook.

“All of our staff are white, and we have found through our training that we have a lot to learn and to understand,” Mengebier said.

The staff also formed a DEI working group dedicated to exploring how to embed DEI into all aspects of the organization’s work. Mengebier shared a few examples of internal shifts the GTRCF has made, informed by the community foundation’s ongoing learning journey.

The GTRCF:

• Adopted an anti-discrimination statement as part of their Youth Advisory Council (YAC) youth policy.

• Updated their scholarship application gender identification section to be inclusive of all gender identities.

• Recognized the need to explore a land acknowledgment statement in recognition of the historical and cultural connection that Indigenous people have with the land that we are all living on today.

The community foundation is also:

• Working towards ensuring their digital communications are inclusive in terms of accessibility and diverse representation.

• Developing a DEI glossary to ensure the community foundation staff can express themselves in ways that are inclusive and respectful of other people’s background, diversity and lived experiences.

Mengebier shared that in addition to the internal work and shifts underway, the community foundation is focusing on equity within their grantmaking.

“We are looking at ways to ensure that our grantmaking is more equitable and that it’s reaching BIPOC communities and the organizations that support them,” Mengebier said. “I think that the lesson other funders can take from our own experience is to reemphasize the need to listen and learn as an organization to BIPOC leaders and to not simply take action without really understanding the context, implications and history.”

GTRCF issued a public statement amidst the national reckoning for racial justice and a recent statement on the need for civil discourse – first of its kind statements for the community foundation.

Last month GTRCF published a column in the Traverse City Record Eagle urging local units of government to engage in more civil discourse following an incident where a county commissioner displayed a firearm during a virtual public meeting.

“Working collaboratively and for the collective good also necessarily requires a commitment to civility,” Mengebier shared in the column. “Actions to discourage respectful dialogue, like the recent display of a firearm during a public meeting while a community member was expressing their opinion, does not support the civil discourse that is central to the functioning of local, state and federal government and runs counter to the standards of conduct we expect from our local officials.”

Mengebier lifted up CMF’s calls for civil discourse and engagement as an example of how foundations can lead in this space and in the communities in which they serve.

“I think CMF’s increasing leadership role in the public policy arena, engaging with local, state and federal policymakers on issues that directly affect our community but also affect the communities and the people that we’re serving has been a great example of how community foundations can engage in this area, which for some, has not been their traditional role,” Mengebier said.