At Feedback Labs, we are dedicated to the pursuit of equity and inclusion as guiding principles that inform every aspect of our work. From the beginning, we’ve believed that listening and responding to feedback is the right, smart, and feasible thing to do for any entity seeking to create positive social change. In addition, we believe that equity and inclusion are inextricably linked to high-quality feedback. It is these fundamental beliefs that drive our intentional and explicit commitment to ensuring equitable and inclusive positions, actions, and policies within our organization.
Equity, for us, means that every individual – regardless of their background, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual identification, ability or disability status, neurotype, history of institutionalization, or any other characteristic that has been historically or currently marginalized and or oppressed – has the inherent right to make choices about their own lives, free from systemic barriers, discrimination, and exclusion.
Equity and inclusion are not merely goals but an ongoing journey that demands our continuous listening, learning, reflection, and action.
We commit to:
1. Centering Marginalized Experiences: At the heart of our equity commitment is the vital practice of listening to those most impacted by systems of oppression. We recognize that those who experience inequity firsthand possess invaluable insights into the challenges they face, the solutions that would work best for them, and the visions they have for their own lives. We understand that their perspectives must be crucial in shaping the programs, policies, and initiatives of our organization. We commit to prioritizing marginalized experiences and perspectives, in our own work and in spaces where we have influence, as the foundational bricks that will create the path toward the equitable future that we envision. We will actively seek out and elevate the voices of marginalized individuals and communities, trusting and valuing their feedback and direction.
2. Inclusion and Full Participation: We recognize that diverse perspectives and unique identities are assets that enrich our organization, and our work, and they contribute to our overall mission of promoting equity and positive social impact. We commit to intentionally creating environments that value “culture add” over “culture fit”. We will invite our community to share their unique identities, backgrounds, and experiences in ways that they feel comfortable. By fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment, we aim to create spaces where individuals from all backgrounds have the opportunity to participate and make a meaningful impact in the world.
3. Informed Decision-Making: One of our goals is to ensure that the people at the heart of an organization’s work have a real and meaningful say in that work. We acknowledge that feedback is a powerful tool that helps us learn, grow, and continuously improve. We commit to foster a culture of inclusion within our organization, where diverse perspectives are not only welcomed but also inform and are deelply integrated into our decision-making processes. It is our responsibility to listen attentively to the feedback we receive from stakeholders, especially from those who are often marginalized, and to take meaningful action in response. Who do we consider our stakeholders? A Feedback Labs stakeholder is anyone who has a manifest or latent interest in what our organization does, how it operates, and the growth and shaping of the feedback field as a whole. Our leadership and teams commit to actively engage with, learn from, and make decisions with input from all stakeholders of our community, prioritizing feedback from stakeholders with the greatest manifest interest and closest to impact.
4. Continuous Learning: We acknowledge that the journey towards equity, inclusion, and full participation is ongoing and requires cultural humility on our part. As a field-building organization, we are often leading in new spaces. Trying something new means that we may not get it right the first time (or second time!) but we are committed to continuous learning and self-examination, actively seeking opportunities to grow, adapt, and improve our efforts.
5. Recognizing Our Own Relationship to Power & Privilege: As we navigate our commitment to equity and inclusion, we commit to deeply reflect on our own positions of power and privilege within societal structures. Effective critical reflection on the relationships and dynamics of power, privilege, exclusion, and inequity must take place at both the individual level and the organizational level. At the organization level, we recognize that Feedback Labs holds a measure of access, power, and privilege and we commit to leverage these assets as tools to challenge systemic inequities and drive meaningful change. We can demonstrate the results of critical reflection both internally through our policies and practices as well as externally in how we equip and support organizations in engaging in social change through inclusive and equitable feedback practices. We commit to actively ensure that our organization’s privileges and access don’t overshadow or silence the voices and experiences of those we aim to amplify, but instead serve as a platform to uplift them. By being self-aware and proactive, we strive to harness our organizational influence in ways that advance our organization’s mission of equity and inclusion as well as grow and support the feedback field overall.
6. Transparency: We commit to communicating openly with our community about our goals, progress, and challenges. We will be transparent about our intentions, actions, and outcomes as we work to influence and create positive social change. We commit to “closing the loop” on feedback from our community and share both what we heard and what we will do to address it, even if imperfectly.
7. Accountability: We take responsibility for the impact of our work. We commit to regularly evaluating our progress toward equity, inclusion, and full participation, making adjustments as needed. We will make every effort to learn from past mistakes and to make it a priority to address harm, make amends, restore relationships, and improve our actions moving forward.
8. Collaboration: We recognize that no single organization can address the complexities of inequity and exclusion on its own. We are committed to building relationships and partnerships that foster a collective approach to achieve equity, inclusion, and full participation.
We believe that the best way to move our organization and our work forward is by building a feedback community through listening to those at the heart of our work, nurturing relationships, effectively engaging them, and responding to their needs. It is through these commitments that Feedback Labs will do its part to make a meaningful contribution to creating a world where everyone has the power to shape their own lives.