At Central Texas Table of Grace our mission is to create a loving, nurturing, home-like environment for displaced youth in the Central Texas area that embraces all identities and differences, including (but not excluded to) disability, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, national origin, race, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and thinking. Our organization’s culture thrives due to this embrace of diversity in both the displaced youth we assist as well as in our board, leadership, staff, volunteers, donor, and community
D&I Statement
Diversity & Inclusion Model
Our organizational philosophy believes strongly in showcasing the power of inclusiveness. We continually work to better appreciate the experiences that influence our youth communities of color, LGBTQ youth, and other historically marginalized and underrepresented populations. This has inspired our Diversity & Inclusion model, which focuses on three tenets:
Governance
Both the board and staff meeting frequently to discuss and strategize our progress in meeting the diverse needs of the children we serve. Our recruitment goals for board and staff place value on diverse candidates. Our organization’s CEO and Founder, Stacy Johnson, has set an inspirational tone for the organization. Not only is Stacy’s story of being a graduate of the foster care system herself inspirational, but her success in the private sector and non-profit sector highlights strong, female leadership. Following suit, the board that works with Stacy is 50% female. The leadership team at Central Texas Table of Grace is overwhelmingly female, with over 80% of the leadership positions held by women.
Accountability
Displaced youth under our care are treated with compassion, understanding and love. This requires employees and staff that are continually trained to understand and appreciate the diversity of our community. Our staff is relentless in ensuring completion of training, including those courses that focus on diversity & inclusion to ensure equitable treatment of one another and the youth under our care. We ensure tracking of data around all training completion, as well as demographics of board, employees, volunteers, and youth.
Community
Our staff and board work tireless to create, maintain and strengthen partnerships to give the youth under our care a fighting chance at a happy life. We strive to establish vendor relationships with organizations that support diversity & inclusion principles. In our newest endeavor, Grace 365 (a Supervised Independent Living Program for kids 18-22 who have aged out for foster care), we will research potential long-term community partners that share our focus on inclusion.
