Diversity plan

(The following document was included in a 2019 NC APPPL grant application to the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.)

The current APPPL board has carefully considered the plan and requirement for increasing our diversity. It has always been our intention to expand the diversity of the board and organization over time, and we hope that this grant will give us the needed funding and motivation to accomplish this objective.

Our current bylaws allow for no less than three, and no more than 13 board members. The current board Consists of 11 members:

  1. President: Tom Clark
  2. Director & Vice President: Steven Norris      
  3. Director & Treasurer: Greg Yost                   
  4. Director & Secretary: Drew Hudson              
  5. Director: Jerome Wagner
  6. Director: Hwa Huang
  7. Director: Gary Grant
  8. Director: Cathy Buckley
  9. Director: Kay Reibold
  10. Director: Mac Legerton
  11. Director: Marvin Winstead

Of the 11 current members two are women (18%) and two are people of color (18%), one Asian and one African American. All of the current officers are white men.

Our bylaws further state that “The terms of any member of the Board added prior to March 27th, 2019 shall end on March 27th, 2020. Each term is for one year, and there are no limitations on the number of terms a director may serve.” That means that, because of the long process in registering the corporant, applying for non-profit status and receiving this grant that we are proposing this plan on a 1 year timeline beginning late March, and that the present board will continue with few adjustments between now and that time. The specific timeline of deliverables and benchmarks is contingent upon receiving the grant because many of the activities require us to find and retain staff or contractors.

Attachments:

  • NC APPPL approved bylaws as of March 2019
  • ACP county populations and demographics

Objective: Create and maintain a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion inclusion on the Board (Board President and all board members, ongoing)

  1. Goal: APPPL Board study and self reflection to better understand our roles and objectives as they relate to Diversity, equity and inclusion.
    Benchmarks
    1. Upon receiving the Grant draft a diversity plan with clear Objectives, goals and timelines to improve the policy and practice of APPPL’s commitment to Diversity equity and inclusion (March 2020, Board Secretary)
    2. Within 3 months of receiving the grant complete an online diversity training such as Google’s unconscious bias training and a diversity worksheet to establish baselines, assumptions and define goals for board and organizational growth over the next year. (May 2020. Board President with participation from all members)
    3. Within 1 year of receiving the grant complete an in-person, facilitated DEIJ training with an outside trainer as part of a board retreat. (March 2021 Board President with participation from all members)
    4. Within 1 year of receiving the grant Update this plan and all accompanying documents and re-commit the board to DEIJ goals and process for the next year. (March 2021 Board Secretary with participation from all members)
  2. Goal: Change the structure and membership of our board to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve
    Benchmarks:
    1. Upon receiving the Grant hold our first board election and confirm the current roles and vision of the board, including this DEIJ plan (March 2020, Board President with participation from all members)
    2. Within 3 months of receiving the grant Create a separate advisory or steering committee of interested volunteers with different roles from our current governing structure so that more people can participate in our leadership without being elected to the board. Note that  (May 2020 Board Vice-President with participation from all members)
    3. Within 3 months of receiving the grant Add additional board roles and committees, such as an executive committee, to differentiate the work overseeing staff and budget from the work setting the direction and policy of the organization. (May 2020 Board Vice-President with participation from all members)
    4. Within 3 months of receiving the grant Post a job description for our board at http://boardnetusa.org/, https://www.glassdoor.com/ or similar website to demonstrate that we are seriously recruiting new, volunteer, board members (May 2020 Board Secretary)
    5. Within 1 year of receiving the grant Add, replace, or re-elect a total of three, or more than 30% of the toal board, african american board members. (March 2021 Board President)
    6. Within 1 year of receiving the grant Add, replace, or re-elect a total of two, or more than 20% of the toal board, Native American or Indigenous board members. (March 2021 Board President)
    7. Within 1 year of receiving the grant Add, replace, or re-elect a total of five, or more than 50% of the toal board, female, trans, or non-binard gender board members. (March 2021 Board President)
    8. Within 1 year of receiving the grant Add, replace, or re-elect a total of one, or more than 10% of the toal board, latinx, asian, or other people of color board members. (March 2021 Board President)
    9. Within 1 year of receiving the grant Replace at least two of the board officers, or more than 50% of the officers, with people of color and women. (March 2021 Board President)

Objective: demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusion publicly, and use these goals and metrics in our work to stop

  1. Goal: Draft a statement of Diversity Equity and Inclusion and use it to inform and measure our work
    Benchmarks
    1. Within 1 month of receiving the grant Have the Board adopt and post a statement of commitment to Diversity, Equity and inclusion on the APPPL website: Example, Example, Example (April 2020, Board Secretary)
    2. Within 1 month of receiving the grant Adapt the DEIJ statement above to be included in all hiring notices for staff and contractors. (April 2020, Board Secretary)
    3. Within 1 month of receiving the grant Develop a hiring plan that focusses recruitment of staff and contractors on historically under-represented communities and communities of color – for example recruiting at HBCUs and Historically indigenous universities and colleges. (April 2020, Board President)
  2. Goal: Meet directly with impacted communities we serve to discuss our work and our goals — including our goals of adding new and more diverse board members.
    1. Within 3 months of receiving the grant Each Board member will reach out to 2 or more people they know personally to discuss the APPPL Board and our goals and objectives for DEIJ to solicit feedback and improvements to this plan (May 2020, All Board members)
    2. Within 3 months of receiving the grant Hire 2-3 staff or contractors including a project coordinator. Staff and contractors will live in and be a part of the impacted communities we serve, and  (May 2020, All Board members)
    3. Within 3 months of receiving the grant organize and plan two open-meetings – one in the North and one in South that include a presentation of this plan and discussion of ideas for ongoing DEIJ education and work in all counties. (May 2020, Staff with Board support)
    4. Within 1 year of receiving the grant organize and hold at least one open-meetings in every county impacted by the ACP that includes a presentation of this plan and discussion of ideas for ongoing DEIJ education and work in all counties. (March 2021, Staff with Board support)