At The Staten Island Foundation, we recognize that all of us carry implicit biases and unconscious stereotypes, which is part of being human. When those biases go uninterrupted, however, they can cause real harm. As a Foundation that actively supports systems change to address quality of life issues, we strive to center diversity, equity and inclusion in all of our work. This means we pay attention to what the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity has described as “the deepest, most complex ways in which racism permeates political, cultural and economic norms—and what is required to truly uproot it.”
Building on Staten Islanders’ shared values of opportunity, community and equity, we embrace the perspective that “racial justice elevates the positive vision of activists and their communities, and highlights the goal of fundamental systemic transformations.”