American Legion Department of New Jersey Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Mission Statement, Vision, & Objectives 2024

It is our mission to support a diverse membership that incorporates a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences that improves decision-making and leverages the positive impacts of diversity in each of our New Jersey Posts of the American Legion. Our top leadership supports the institution of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which is the cornerstone to our recruitment and retention. Our department leaders also endorse diverse membership which includes and not limited to race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, age, or sexual orientation.

It is our goal to achieve a diverse, equitable, and inclusive department that collaborates with members to improve retention and avoid membership turnover. We aim to increase recruitment and foster a more creative and innovative team as well as a positive working environment.

Five ways to support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workplace:

• Foster a workplace culture that is inclusive and safe for all members to share their experiences.
• Encourage and remove obstacles for participation in our membership.
• Implement diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and training that are accessible to all members.
• Acknowledge important cultural holidays.
• Create diverse, equitable, and inclusive teams.
• Communicate the importance of managing bias.
• Be aware of unconscious bias defined as the underlying attitudes and stereotypes that people hold about certain groups.
• People often form judgments based on these stereotypes and at times, this process happens automatically, outside of one’s conscious awareness.
• When unconscious bias goes unnoticed, it can cause an individual to make ungrounded assumptions that lead to discrimination (which is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of someone based on their perceived association with a certain group)
• Building awareness and understanding of your own unconscious bias is a first step towards real change.

Ultimately, as an organization, we seek to develop a sustainable association that reflects all the constituents we serve by:

•  Seeking to recognize, recruit, retain and promote diverse talents.
•  Seeking to provide diverse members of our organization with paths for advancement and success.
•  Working to ensure that American Legion Department of New Jersey in all programs involving staff and/or members, provides a welcoming, safe, and collaborative environment for people of all backgrounds to help them reach their maximum potential.
•  Working to foster an organization that respects and values all its members by recognizing and understanding the variety of experiences.

Vision

Conquer all biases in conjunction with knocking down prejudices that are based on various personal characteristics to include but not limited to: race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, age, or sexual orientation.

• Actively promotes opportunities for all without regard to the above characteristics and promote and recognize based on merit and performance.
• Assists our staff and members through accessible training and education to help eliminate all biases based on personal characteristics and perceptions.
• Employ a diverse team that is reflective of our community, environment, and the organization’s values.

Mission

To make this vision a reality, American Legion Department of New Jersey is committed to acting in the following areas to help our organization address the problem of prejudicial attitudes among ourselves and others that place barriers to the hiring, advancement, and overall success of people due to implicit biases, rather than on merit and performance including:

·      Building awareness of unconscious bias and/or internalized prejudice which may be rooted in a post’s social characteristics, while in turn, creating a safe, trusted environment to discuss and hold each other accountable for the growth and change that improves and eliminates any unconscious bias.

• Understanding the differences and similarities of another’s background to bridge a level of discernment to how perceptions and attitudes towards others are formed over time. We will consciously work to accept and understand people who have had different experiences based on their race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, age, or sexual orientation.
• Strengthening the department through diversity, equity, and inclusion by promoting and accepting different experiences and knowledge which can help the organization and its membership to operate as successfully and collaboratively as possible.

Objectives

Improve Communications by:

• Understanding the impact that tone, words, and phrases carry
• Fostering opportunities for difficult conversations appropriately and hearing what is being said during those conversations with the intent to listen consciously to create awareness and take appropriate actions.
• Creating an awareness of unconscious bias and actively working to minimize its impact.
• Develop a resource center with books, articles, and other forms of media to educate independently such as a diversity, equity, and inclusion bulletin board.
• Identifying educational resources to further define and understand diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Develop an openness that allows others to be receptive to different ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving without feeling challenged or threatened.
• Consultant to work with diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership in the Department staff.
• Incorporate and develop programs including webinars, virtual and in-person events.
• Develop effective strategies to create a more diverse leadership staff by recruiting and attracting a more diverse representation of constituents for leadership positions.
• Develop, improve and/or modify training materials so that they are culturally sensitive and accessible to all.
• Develop and foster a productive, healthy, and safe work environment that is free of bias, micro aggressions, harassment, and bullying.