United Way of Central Carolinas works to create lasting change for those most in need through strategic community philanthropy. Our mission compels us to work on improving the lives of historically and systemically excluded or marginalized people. To do this, we must understand and incorporate racial equity in all that we do. We recognize that the social construct of race is the root cause of the systemic inequalities that oppress people of color.

To advance all of these goals, we must have courageous conversations and hold one another accountable for continuous progress.

Therefore, we must work consistently and intentionally to dismantle those systems through a racial equity lens by:

• Recruiting, hiring, retaining, and developing the talent of employees who reflect the diversity of our population

• Establishing a more diverse and inclusive Board of Directors

• Being intentional not to reinforce negative stereotypes through imagery and storytelling

• Analyzing data and information about race and ethnicity so that we might identify disparities that exist within our organization and within the community

• Looking at problems and their root causes from a structural standpoint and naming race explicitly when talking about problems and solutions