Commitment to Anti-Racism
Victory Garden Initiative stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. We are fully committed to a more just society, ending police brutality, dismantling systemic racism, and tearing down white supremacy. As a historically white-led organization, we recognize that truly supporting this work means that we need to uncover and redress the biases and racist practices embedded in our own organizational culture.
We want to share with you some of the work we have begun and our commitments for future:
De-center Whiteness at all Leadership Levels. VGI commits to:
recruiting and hiring Black staff, executive directors, and board members so that we may be a majority Black-led organization working in the majority Black neighborhood of Harambee.
Anti-racism Training. VGI commits to:
holding anti-racist training for all staff and board members led by local experts.
evaluating organizational practices, programs and culture based on our learning.
Organizational Culture and Values. VGI commits to:
calling out microaggressions to staff, volunteers and community members engaged in our work.
a collaborative leadership model where power is shared. This looks like having co-executive directors, staff meetings that are led by team members, and authentic engagement with Harambee community members to help us shape our programs and work.
raising our salaries and benefit packages to family sustaining and competitive levels.
developing revenue streams for paid workers to decrease reliance on program volunteers and unpaid interns.
partnering with other community members and organizations that are committed to these same values to achieve a more just and equitable Milwaukee.