Legal Services of CNY’s Commitment to Anti-Racist & Equity Strategies
(CARES)
Legal Services of Central New York believes everyone deserves to thrive in a world with access to resources, justice, and community. Yet, we see firsthand how white supremacy, racial capitalism, and other oppressive systems and ideas shape the daily lives of our communities, our clients, and ourselves. We are striving to be an anti-racist organization because all our struggles are interconnected, and it will take all of us working together to build the world we envision.
Becoming a truly anti-racist organization requires us to embrace cultural humility. Examples of this idea include acknowledging that we live on colonized lands, thinking critically about how power is defined and who holds it, as well as actively unlearning racist practices, language, and history.
As an organization, we have the power to contribute to the dismantling of these harmful systems over time, but only if we take deliberate actions to create better, more equitable ones.
While we know that the work is never done, we actively commit to put our principles into practice by:
- Utilizing an anti-racist lens to examine our own organizational structures, policies, and systems
- Continuing our efforts to hire more Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and people with marginalized identities to better reflect the diverse communities we live in and serve.
- Seeking out and listening to our BIPOC colleagues, clients and community members to understand their experiences and intentionally creating pathways for them to be included in decision-making and leadership roles within our own and other organizations.
- Listening to community needs and tailoring our practice to those who need us most.
- Investing resources to develop, organize, and support community initiatives that foster anti-racism.
- Ensuring that individuals in decision-making positions and key stakeholders across the organization represent the diversity of the BIPOC spectrum and demonstrate best practices in diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Providing financial means within the budget to support and advance our commitment to being an anti-racist organization.
- Examining best practices to eradicate poverty and close wage gaps within communities of color.
- Acknowledging the existence of racism in the history of the profession and committing to learning from and correcting our mistakes.
- Addressing the empathy gap between white employees and clients of color.
- Promoting anti-racism through professional development, public education, and racial justice advocacy. Maintaining an ongoing commitment to continue our conversations with our staff and partners about action and advocacy that builds on our goal of being an anti-racist organization.
Respectfully,
Legal Services of Central New York
*This statement was approved and adopted by the LSCNY Board of Directors on February 21, 2024*