Since before the founding of our republic, government on every level – local, regional, state, and federal – has played a role in creating and maintaining racial inequity. Inequity creates division, and division prevents us from aligning with our national ethos of opportunity for individual prosperity and success based in liberty, self-government, equality, individualism, diversity, and unity. Disrupting structural, institutional, interpersonal, and individual racism requires concerted intention and effort.
Community is the cornerstone of CYFA. The impact of systemic racism transcends generations and is antithetical to the community. CYFA is committed to working against the multidimensional impacts of racism and building a race equity culture that promotes pathways of equitable opportunity for all youth, families, and communities.
CYFA is dedicated to being a force for change in the world by centering power and lifting-up diverse voices in the communities we serve. Our work will not be complete until the ideal of “equal opportunity” is true for every member of our community.
Words without action are performative. CYFA pledges its commitment to focus on the following three core areas:
- Normalizing Racial Equity. Internal and external conversations about race, racism, and racial justice are fundamental to CYFA’s culture.
- Operationalizing Racial Equity. Racial equity is CYFA’s core value, and it informs all aspects of our organizational culture and the way we think about and approach our programming.
- Advancing Racial Equity. CYFA is explicit in its commitment to racial equity, and our social justice efforts will be based in responsible and culturally-competent data collection, analysis, and publication of findings.