The Xerces Society is committed to establishing and maintaining a diverse and inclusive community that collectively supports our mission: to protect the natural world by conserving invertebrates and their habitat. We recognize that climate change, biodiversity loss, contamination of water, soil, and air with pesticides and other toxics, and many other environmental challenges have disproportionate negative impacts on communities with fewer economic resources.
Invertebrate diversity is vital to sustain life on this planet. Invertebrates help us all by pollinating nutritious food, processing plant and animal waste, cleaning our rivers, and feeding the myriad other animals on this planet. The benefits of conserving invertebrates truly help everyone—no matter their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, education, or disability. The inverse is also true—to maximize invertebrate conservation, everyone must have a role. The conservation of invertebrates will take an all-hands-on-deck approach. Diverse communities must benefit from and be included in this work to help protect these vital animals.
To ensure that the Xerces Society can best serve communities of all backgrounds, we embrace diversity in staffing and our program services. At the Xerces Society, a diverse, inclusive workplace is one where all employees and volunteers feel valued and respected. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provide equal opportunity for employment and advancement. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages, and work to ensure that all voices are valued and heard. The Xerces Society strives to increase inclusion in our conservation and education programs.
As part of building an inclusive and diverse community within our organization and in our conservation and education programs, the Xerces Society strives to:
- Ensure that all staff members feel that they are critical members of the Xerces Society community.
- Support diversity and inclusion as connected to our mission to educate everyone about invertebrate conservation, and ensure the well-being of our staff and the communities we serve.
- Step back to listen to all voices.
- Engage and include as broad a constituency as possible.
- Always collaborate with fairness and respect.
To achieve these goals, the Xerces Society is moving forward with the following action plans to help promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace and our program services:
- Attracting, hiring, and retaining a diverse and multi-culturally sensitive staff and board.
- Improving employee satisfaction and engagement by building a work culture of trust, support, cultural sensitivity, respect, and inclusion.
- Connecting with and building a diverse base of supporters and funders who will help us achieve our mission.
- Furthering the mission of Xerces by reaching, educating, and engaging a broad range of communities where the outcome is mutually beneficial for the conservation of invertebrates and the relationships built within those communities.