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Our Commitment to DEI

Communities In Schools® (CIS®) believes that transformative relationships are key to unlocking a student's potential. We will succeed by including in our strategies, ingraining in our culture, and reflecting in our behaviors, principles and practices of diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a result, we break down immediate and systemic barriers to create and sustain equitable outcomes.  

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES STUDENTS FACE?

Many of our students are facing multiple issues, which were exacerbated by the pandemic.

  • Poverty
  • Systemic racism
  • Lack of access to resources
  • Emotional trauma, and more

Watch the video to learn more. 

DEI Video

Creating New Pathways to Achieve Equitable Learning for All

Now more than ever, we must reimagine public education and find new ways to create equitable conditions for learning for ALL students, with students at the center, surrounded by a caring community with access to all necessary resources.

 

story Steffan's Full Circle: From CIS NOVA Student to Site Coordinator

Steffan's Full Circle: From CIS NOVA Student to Site Coordinator

Steffan Barahona's senior year of college was quiet. The pandemic emptied out Washington College campus and classes were virtual, leaving him a lot of time to think about how he could most meaningfully apply his psychology degree after graduation. He kept coming back to a big reason he was graduating from college to begin with, his CIS NOVA site coordinator from high school, Amanda Gallardo.

Read more

 

More Stories

STAND UP FOR JUSTICE

We’re calling on YOU to help us create equitable learning environments that benefit and support all students.


THREE WAYS TO MAKE AN IMPACT

3 teenagers, one with their thumb up, smiling in black graduation cap and gowns
2 children, one of them folding their arms and the other with their hands in their jacket, in a school hallway smiling
3 young children, a teenager, and 3 site coordinators smiling while looking at the camera
Nadia Hernandez
We need to understand that a lot of our students come already with many traumas. We need to provide services that will help them and guide them.
Nadia Hernandez
DEI Sr. Project Associate, CIS National
Cynthia Silva Parker
As you work with your stakeholders to launch and move through your DEI journey, you will want to create dialogues and planning sessions where they can voice their concerns, apply their insights, and build toward agreement on actions.
Cynthia Silva Parker
Interaction Institute for Social Change
Aisha Robinson
On our journey towards becoming an equity-minded organization, awareness is our starting point. But it’s not a passive awareness that suggests only ‘I heard we’re doing something about DEI.’ It’s an active awareness that constantly looks for ways to better understand definitions in ways that are unique to the CIS family.
Aisha Robinson
CIS of Chicago
Sharon Vigil, Chief Operations Officer
In pursuit of equity, innovation will be the key to our success. We are identifying nontraditional staff recruitment opportunities. We will provide DEI training plans for each staff member that is specific to their area of work and aligned to our mission and goals.
Sharon Vigil, Chief Operations Officer
CIS of Central Texas

Resources and Latest News

DEI Resource Guide

DEI Resource Guide

This resource guide will lead you through comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion readings, tools, and other resources.

DOWNLOAD NOW

Join Our Alumni Community of Changemakers

The future of our country starts with our students and continues with our alumni. If you are a CIS alumni,
we encourage you to join our community of changemakers. To support alumni engagement efforts, we also have a new Alumni Activation and Resource Guide, which you can download below. 

Get Connected      Download Guide

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