Camp Blodgett’s Big IDEA
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Access Plan
Introduction
Camp Blodgett’s Big IDEA is more than a plan, it is a framework by which we view our work and our impact on the children we serve. The purpose of this document is to describe the framework and identify areas of growth we plan to tackle over a specified period.
At the end of this document we have included specific approved diversity and inclusion related policies and standards adopted by our board of directors.
What’s the Big IDEA?
IDEA is an acronym describing the pillars we believe are essential to best serve children. These are not the dictionary definitions of the words shown below, rather they are descriptions of the lenses by which our services are delivered:
Inclusion
We create a culture of belonging by which children feel accepted, appreciated and included for who they authentically are. All children desiring to engage in our programs will be welcomed to, regardless of age*, ability*, education, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, income*, language*, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
*Age: Our camp license allows us to serve children ages 8-17 as campers. Children under the age of eight cannot engage in our programs. *Ability: We will make every accommodation within our means and existing structure to ensure a child can be included in our programs. Unfortunately, there are sometimes accommodations we cannot make possible due to the nature of our programming, i.e. rock wall requires ability to hold hands and feet on small blocks while looking up. *Income: We were founded on the principle of including children who could not otherwise afford summer camp and continue to use this income-based model as the center of our inclusion. We intentionally focus on serving children who live in families with low incomes. *Language: We ensure capacity for English and Spanish speaking campers and will work with families to provide services in other languages, based on our resource capacity to do so.
Inclusion indicators:
1. Campers and staff indicate they feel safe, welcomed and included in satisfaction/feedback surveys.
2. Camp Blodgett’s youth programs are diverse in ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, income* (see above), language, nationality, race, religion and sexual orientation.
3. A minimum of 75% of campers come from low-income families, each year.
Diversity
We represent the children we diverse children we serve through organizational leadership, i.e. staff, board and volunteers. Specifically, this representation focuses on children being able to see themselves in the adults representing Camp Blodgett regardless of age, ability, education, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, income, language, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
Diversity Indicators:
1. Staff and volunteer composition reflects the diversity of children that Camp Blodgett serves.
2. Organizational leadership (executive leadership, board and board committees) represents the diversity of children served.
3. Ongoing training on the importance of diversity and the experience of diverse communities is provided to staff at a minimum of twice annually.
Equity
We respond to the inequities that poverty has created and continues to create with targeted strategies to invite children to join Camp Blodgett who may not otherwise have access to such recreational and educational services.
Equity Indicators:
1. Annually implement a comparison to identify service dis-proportionality of race and ethnicity of children we serve compared to available statistics on race and ethnicity of children in poverty for the communities we serve.
2. Annually analyze outcome data by gender, race and ethnicity to identify potential inequitable service outcomes.
3. Adjust services and practices based on this data.
Access
We create access for children who would not otherwise have such opportunity. Such access prioritizes children whose family income may limit engagement in recreational and educational programs and whose environmental, cultural or social situated-ness results in lack of exposure to outdoor programs and educationally focused enrichment activities.
Access Indicators:
1. Percentage of Spanish speaking families served at Camp Blodgett reflects the Kent and Ottawa County community of low-income families.
2. Camp Blodgett facilities can be accessed regardless or one’s physical ability, with reasonable accommodations.
3. Camp Blodgett campers of all gender identities and sexual orientations feel included in our programs.
Camp Blodgett Diversity & Inclusion Policy
Camp Blodgett exists to ensure that all children in West Michigan have opportunities to experience the educational, leadership, and life lessons of camping in an inclusive community. Therefore, diversity and inclusion are central to Camp Blodgett’s mission.
We aspire to cultivate, champion, and sustain an organizational culture and reputation in the community as a modern, high-performing organization that prioritizes people, equity, diversity, and inclusion in all we do. In addition, Camp Blodgett affirms that our work in the community is enhanced and strengthened by having a diversity of voices, viewpoints, and skill sets around our organizational table – including board members, management, staff, volunteers, contractors, and the families and youth we serve.
Accordingly, Camp Blodgett acts intentionally to create diversity in its board, staff, volunteers, contractors, and the families and youth we serve. We are also committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of this extended organizational community. We accomplish this through our leadership, core values, policies, and practices.
We define diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, color, religion (or creed), gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin (or ancestry), physical ability, height, weight, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, and socioeconomic status. We respect and value different experiences, worldviews, and cultures across this diversity and will work to create environments in which all people feel supported, recognized, and rewarded in making their best contributions to the mission of the organization.
The board membership and recruitment pipeline shall be made up of skilled, engaged, and knowledgeable individuals with demonstrated leadership ability from diverse racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual identity, cultural, professional, age, ability, familial, and class backgrounds.
To accomplish this diversity, the board and Executive Director will set plans and goals for intentional outreach and recruitment and will adopt appropriate benchmarks to measure progress annually toward these goals. The board will monitor and report its progress toward diversity objectives, and if Camp Blodgett is not meeting these goals, the board will assess what additional actions must be taken in order to meet targeted benchmarks.
Camp Blodgett Diversity & Inclusion Operational Standards
• We will contract with a diverse group of individuals to meet our part-time and contract needs.
• The organization will honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by closing the Camp Blodgett offices for United Way’s Day of Service each January.
• The organization will respect the holiday observances of all groups, will use inclusive language to describe holiday seasons in all marketing materials and correspondence, and will make appropriate accommodations for stakeholders and constituents who celebrate holidays that differ from the organization’s holiday calendar.
• We – including staff and board – will actively engage in learning experiences and community events that foster a racism-free community, and we will document these activities as they occur. These activities will include but not be limited to the following:
• We will ensure compliance with ADA accessibility requirements.
• We will translate 100% of client marketing materials into Spanish.
• We will evaluate progress toward diversity objectives annually and adjust strategies as needed.
Camp Blodgett’s Big IDEA is more than a plan, it is a framework by which we view our work and our impact on the children we serve. The purpose of this document is to describe the framework and identify areas of growth we plan to tackle over a specified period.
At the end of this document we have included specific approved diversity and inclusion related policies and standards adopted by our board of directors.
What’s the Big IDEA?
IDEA is an acronym describing the pillars we believe are essential to best serve children. These are not the dictionary definitions of the words shown below, rather they are descriptions of the lenses by which our services are delivered:
Inclusion
We create a culture of belonging by which children feel accepted, appreciated and included for who they authentically are. All children desiring to engage in our programs will be welcomed to, regardless of age*, ability*, education, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, income*, language*, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
*Age: Our camp license allows us to serve children ages 8-17 as campers. Children under the age of eight cannot engage in our programs. *Ability: We will make every accommodation within our means and existing structure to ensure a child can be included in our programs. Unfortunately, there are sometimes accommodations we cannot make possible due to the nature of our programming, i.e. rock wall requires ability to hold hands and feet on small blocks while looking up. *Income: We were founded on the principle of including children who could not otherwise afford summer camp and continue to use this income-based model as the center of our inclusion. We intentionally focus on serving children who live in families with low incomes. *Language: We ensure capacity for English and Spanish speaking campers and will work with families to provide services in other languages, based on our resource capacity to do so.
Inclusion indicators:
1. Campers and staff indicate they feel safe, welcomed and included in satisfaction/feedback surveys.
2. Camp Blodgett’s youth programs are diverse in ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, income* (see above), language, nationality, race, religion and sexual orientation.
3. A minimum of 75% of campers come from low-income families, each year.
Diversity
We represent the children we diverse children we serve through organizational leadership, i.e. staff, board and volunteers. Specifically, this representation focuses on children being able to see themselves in the adults representing Camp Blodgett regardless of age, ability, education, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, income, language, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
Diversity Indicators:
1. Staff and volunteer composition reflects the diversity of children that Camp Blodgett serves.
2. Organizational leadership (executive leadership, board and board committees) represents the diversity of children served.
3. Ongoing training on the importance of diversity and the experience of diverse communities is provided to staff at a minimum of twice annually.
Equity
We respond to the inequities that poverty has created and continues to create with targeted strategies to invite children to join Camp Blodgett who may not otherwise have access to such recreational and educational services.
Equity Indicators:
1. Annually implement a comparison to identify service dis-proportionality of race and ethnicity of children we serve compared to available statistics on race and ethnicity of children in poverty for the communities we serve.
2. Annually analyze outcome data by gender, race and ethnicity to identify potential inequitable service outcomes.
3. Adjust services and practices based on this data.
Access
We create access for children who would not otherwise have such opportunity. Such access prioritizes children whose family income may limit engagement in recreational and educational programs and whose environmental, cultural or social situated-ness results in lack of exposure to outdoor programs and educationally focused enrichment activities.
Access Indicators:
1. Percentage of Spanish speaking families served at Camp Blodgett reflects the Kent and Ottawa County community of low-income families.
2. Camp Blodgett facilities can be accessed regardless or one’s physical ability, with reasonable accommodations.
3. Camp Blodgett campers of all gender identities and sexual orientations feel included in our programs.
Camp Blodgett Diversity & Inclusion Policy
Camp Blodgett exists to ensure that all children in West Michigan have opportunities to experience the educational, leadership, and life lessons of camping in an inclusive community. Therefore, diversity and inclusion are central to Camp Blodgett’s mission.
We aspire to cultivate, champion, and sustain an organizational culture and reputation in the community as a modern, high-performing organization that prioritizes people, equity, diversity, and inclusion in all we do. In addition, Camp Blodgett affirms that our work in the community is enhanced and strengthened by having a diversity of voices, viewpoints, and skill sets around our organizational table – including board members, management, staff, volunteers, contractors, and the families and youth we serve.
Accordingly, Camp Blodgett acts intentionally to create diversity in its board, staff, volunteers, contractors, and the families and youth we serve. We are also committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of this extended organizational community. We accomplish this through our leadership, core values, policies, and practices.
We define diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, color, religion (or creed), gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin (or ancestry), physical ability, height, weight, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, and socioeconomic status. We respect and value different experiences, worldviews, and cultures across this diversity and will work to create environments in which all people feel supported, recognized, and rewarded in making their best contributions to the mission of the organization.
The board membership and recruitment pipeline shall be made up of skilled, engaged, and knowledgeable individuals with demonstrated leadership ability from diverse racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual identity, cultural, professional, age, ability, familial, and class backgrounds.
To accomplish this diversity, the board and Executive Director will set plans and goals for intentional outreach and recruitment and will adopt appropriate benchmarks to measure progress annually toward these goals. The board will monitor and report its progress toward diversity objectives, and if Camp Blodgett is not meeting these goals, the board will assess what additional actions must be taken in order to meet targeted benchmarks.
Camp Blodgett Diversity & Inclusion Operational Standards
• We will contract with a diverse group of individuals to meet our part-time and contract needs.
• The organization will honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by closing the Camp Blodgett offices for United Way’s Day of Service each January.
• The organization will respect the holiday observances of all groups, will use inclusive language to describe holiday seasons in all marketing materials and correspondence, and will make appropriate accommodations for stakeholders and constituents who celebrate holidays that differ from the organization’s holiday calendar.
• We – including staff and board – will actively engage in learning experiences and community events that foster a racism-free community, and we will document these activities as they occur. These activities will include but not be limited to the following:
- At least once per year, training on diversity, inclusion, and/or cultural competency will be included in a regularly scheduled board meeting.
- Board members and staff will be made aware of additional educational opportunities on diversity, equity, and inclusion – and will be encouraged to attend for board/professional development; these opportunities will be paid for by Camp Blodgett, if needed.
- Each year as part of Summer Camp Staff training, we will bring in a trainer/facilitator to educate summer staff on issues of poverty, race and other forms diversity, focused on how they impact the children we serve.
- The organization will engage in local groups that are committed to a racism free community, i.e. Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance (LEDA), Partners for a Racism Free Community (PFRC).
• We will ensure compliance with ADA accessibility requirements.
• We will translate 100% of client marketing materials into Spanish.
• We will evaluate progress toward diversity objectives annually and adjust strategies as needed.