As Riverside County’s local arts agency, the Riverside Arts Council is committed to equity in all forms, including, but not limited to, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, culture, age, and ability. Our commitment requires ongoing, concerted, and purposeful action internally through our work environment and externally through our programming and community partnerships.
- We are committed to ensuring that our organizational policies and practices reflect democratic principles of equity and justice. We will implement our policies, programs, and activities to identify and counter barriers to access and negative effects on communities of color and other groups impacted by inequities.
- We will make it a priority to recruit, hire, and retain a diverse workforce and board.
- We believe that bringing together board, staff, volunteers, and community partners with differing backgrounds and life experiences will enhance our ability to increase opportunities for all arts service organizations to succeed.
- We will create space for discussing issues of race, racism, and other forms of inequality in ways that are relevant to our work.
- We will allocate financial and human resources toward our equity work.
- The organization will intentionally identify and build relationships in communities of color and other groups that are of and for those who experience injustice.
- We are committed to the just and equitable disbursement of resources in our grant-making. We will discuss equity issues with our grantees and work with them to incorporate a justice lens into their work.
- We will evaluate our progress toward our equity goals regularly and revise our implementation strategies to advance this work.
Building an equitable culture requires intention and effort and will be an ongoing process. This Riverside Arts Council Equity Statement will inspire greater collaboration internally and with community partners to advance equity across the region. Led by our Equity Statement, we will actively work to integrate equity into our operations and programs and work toward justice, improving both the Riverside Arts Council and our broader community.
