Equity Statement:

Mercy Volunteer Corps, in alignment with our mission statement, denounces all forms of hatred and oppression. We commit to dismantling racism and acting against systems which marginalize, dehumanize, disenfranchise, and oppress. With full support of the staff, Board of Directors, and the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, MVC commits to be an anti-racist institution and to foster a sense of belonging that leads to a just and peaceful world community and the liberation of all beings.

Acknowledgement of History and Bias:

MVC acknowledges our impact has not always aligned with our intent when we have perpetuated bias and supported structures and policies which maintain white privilege and power. We have been complicit through our recruitment process, mentoring, staff culture, board makeup, and donor pools.

We recognize that foregoing a salary to serve in a yearlong program assumes a level of privilege and even the term “service” can imply a problematic power dynamic. In addition our program structure, both historically and presently, has most benefited those who identify as white and middle to upper class. 

Furthermore, volunteerism lacking critical reflection can breed harmful saviorism ideology.

Equity Journey:

MVC understands that becoming an inclusive, intercultural, and anti-racist institution is a continuous process. Following years of awareness building and education, we moved to a concerted effort in 2020 with staff attending implicit bias and anti-racism training. We then engaged in a reflection process about our vision of equity. These reflections revealed areas of inequity in our program policies and practices which need to be addressed. This led us to scrutinize and update our identity statements and publications to more clearly reflect our values and commitment to equity work. 

MVC is committed to strengthening the service experience, particularly for Black, Brown, Indigenous, AAPI, and LGBTQIA+ identities. To be an organization where all people are uplifted and find belonging, we have started implementing additional layers of support including identity mentoring and processing groups.

MVC is investing time, finances, and resources to become an inclusive, anti-racist institution. We have partnered with an equity consultant to develop a plan to address the inequality existing in our organization and to create goals for furthering efforts toward diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Our plan and goals for moving forward will be completed and shared publicly in the Fall of 2023.

Equity Charter:

Progress and changes will be shared with transparency. See the Equity Charter below.

Call to Action:

Mercy Volunteer Corps is an ever-evolving organization comprised of various groups, including volunteers, staff, board members, alumni, support teams, donors, service site staff, and the wider Mercy community.

In the journey to be a more inclusive place of belonging, we invite those in the MVC community to share their experiences and suggestions, in part to engage a variety of voices and to keep us accountable to what changes need to take place.

If you have any comments or questions please fill out the contact form below.

Thank you for joining with MVC in our commitment to cultivating a more just and merciful world.

DEIB Charter

DEIB Goal Tree

Goal 1:  Enact an ongoing process of accountability with transparent communications

Action:  Ensure internal and external communications are representative of the transformation to a more inclusive and belonging culture/organization.

Goal 2:  Center Policies and Practices around DEIB 

Action:  Review of organizational policies and practices to ensure alignment with MVC’s mission and values; while dismantling structures which uphold economic privilege.

Goal 3:  Create Initiatives that Foster Belonging Across the Organization 

Action: Develop guidelines that create a culture of support and acceptance so that there is an environment of authenticity, inclusion and a deep reverence for human dignity.

Goal 4:  Education 

Action:  Develop an ongoing educational program around DEIB that is based on a growth mindset where curiosity and questioning are key components.

Goal 5:  Evaluate all organizational resources to ensure they align with DEIB vision

Action:  Work towards an equitable distribution of resources across department lines

Our dedicated team has crafted a five year plan with measurable objectives and target completion dates.

You can explore these goals and the timeline by visiting this link to gain insights into our intentions and progress.

A) Set up a review committee so that all communications are aligned to the DEIB vision

In an effort to be accurate and transparent, MVC has invited alumni and the MVC community to be a part of a DEIB Working Group. As part of this group, they will offer assistance to the staff in moving forward MVC’s DEIB goals and objectives. Action items can include researching best practices, suggesting resources, or providing feedback.

B) Establish a plan for open and ongoing communication with all stakeholders

To build on our effective DEIB communications to all stakeholders, MVC created a DEIB Communications Plan. The purpose of this plan is to provide DEIB Five-Year Plan progress and updates to all MVC stakeholders in a clear, concise, transparent, and timely manner. In addition, if needs are not met, the Communications Plan provides step by step procedures to address any issues and promote accountability.

C) Create guidelines for transparent sharing of past, present and future DEIB initiatives

As a part of our DEIB commitment to transparent sharing, MVC crafted an internal DEIB Communications Checklist for staff to evaluate all messaging and ensure that MVC’s communications align with our mission, values and DEIB statement. The checklist includes a rubric and ranking system to ensure thorough evaluation.

D) Share additional opportunities to receive feedback and foster collaboration with our networks and make changes when appropriate

MVC encourages all stakeholders to engage in our DEIB visioning, journey, and commitment. All inquiries, including feedback and collaboration opportunities, can be sent through our DEIB Contact Form (located at the bottom of this page).

All DEIB updates and events will be announced through our newsletter A Moment with MVC and on our social media platforms @mercyvolunteers.

A) Review the following policies and practices utilizing a DEIB rubric

MVC compiled and analyzed various DEIB rubrics used across non-profits and academic institutions to create a rubric that would evaluate our policies and procedures. We invited staff and committee member feedback on and then finalized the rubric based on this feedback.

B) Update policies and practices in the above areas to center MVC mission and values while acknowledging past harms and initiating healing.

This rubric was used by staff and committee members to review the volunteer handbook and service agreement. Changes were then made to the handbook policies and service agreement based on that feedback. 

The Committee members’ fresh and varied perspectives were integral to the process. Their feedback helped staff to look at the policies from a broader perspective that is difficult to see in day-to-day work. 

C) Establish a schedule for future ongoing evaluation of policies and practices

This rubric is now incorporated as part of the workflow into the annual handbook and service agreement review. There is a timeline to look at remaining parts of the organization through the DEIB lens that the rubric provides.

A) Build affinity groups that extend to all of our stakeholders to create a safe space.

MVC released a survey inquiring about interest in affinity spaces for our community. Due to the lack of responses, we did not prioritize this effort, but instead directed those interested to attend groups offered through Catholic Volunteer Network. Each year MVC continues to offer mentoring partnerships to current volunteers who seek to be matched with someone who aligns with their personal identifiers.

B) Align organizational culture to DEIB vision so that it allows individuals to be their authentic self.

MVC incorporated questions in our program evaluation focusing on a volunteer’s experience of belonging within our community as well as the DEIB training offered throughout their yearlong commitment.

C) Assemble a list of diverse speakers.

MVC created a list of all speakers who engaged with volunteers, staff, local support teams and board members in recent years. Categories include age, gender identity, race, spiritual/religious affiliation, sexual orientation, and field of expertise. This list is regularly updated.

A) Provide resources for continuing education around DEIB for volunteers, staff, board and alumni.

In an effort to provide a resource for continuing DEIB education and training, MVC is creating an internal incident response plan whose purpose is to identify incidents that may occur related to DEIB and to outline appropriate response protocols.

MVC is building a central repository with books, articles, videos, etc. around DEIB that will be continually updated with new resources.

B) Initiate a plan to engage a variety of voices by collaborating with, and identifying other resource partners who can support our work in realizing our anti-racist identity (a contact list that is updated regularly).

MVC is actively collaborating with DEIB practitioners for volunteer, staff, alumni, support teams and other stakeholder trainings. In addition, MVC is creating an internal contact list of DEIB practitioners from within and outside of MVC, Mercy, and Sisters of Mercy circles.

C) Develop a schedule for dissemination of information and opportunities based on the needs of each group, keeping DEIB work at the forefront and involving all members of the MVC community.

MVC incorporated DEIB training as part of each yearlong volunteer cohort. Volunteers participate in three workshops throughout the year in order to deepen their understanding of DEIB, particularly as it relates to their volunteer experience.

MVC staff is committed to continuing DEIB education through training during staff retreats, virtual webinars, book group discussions, and implementing our DEIB Plan.

A) Research and implement best practices to attract and recruit BIPOC individuals for positions as volunteers, staff, board members and partners

MVC staff has met with other mission-aligned social justice organizations to learn more about their organizational approaches and strategies as they relate to this goal.

B) Ongoing review of current financial resources to ensure funds are allocated to DEIB efforts (education, training, recruitment, volunteer funding) and explore new opportunities for funding DEIB efforts and equity fund for future volunteers

MVC staff members evaluated all organizational resources to ensure they align with our DEIB vision and Equity Plan. We incorporated DEIB priority line items into our annual operating budget to ensure consistent execution and ongoing training towards our DEIB vision. We also developed an Equity Fund to help support extenuating financial, family, or personal obligations or situations that might prohibit Mercy Volunteers from serving or successfully completing a volunteer year. 

C) Investments – Monitor investments to ensure they are aligned with mission and critical concerns, and provide socially responsible investing guidelines by request

MVC maintains a working relationship with Mercy Investment Services (MIS) who monitors all investments closely to ensure they’re mission-aligned with the Sisters of Mercy’s Critical Concerns. Guidelines for socially responsible investing continue to be available to our stakeholders by request. MVC board and staff are also planning for a virtual educational session from MIS to learn even more about their work.

• Created mentorship program for connecting volunteers to community members related to a personal identifier (i.e., person of color, LGBTQIA+, gender identity) (est. Winter 2019)
• As a staff, participated in antiracism training facilitated by Crossroads. Training covered topics surrounding implicit bias (est. 2020-2022)
• Staff-led and facilitated Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents book group (est. Fall 2021-2022)
• As a staff and Mercy Volunteer communities, participated in webinars with the Director of the Institute Office on Anti-Racism and Racial Equity (est. Winter 2021)
• Revamped MVC’s mission statement and tagline (est. Spring 2022)
• As a staff and Mercy Volunteer communities, participated in Sr. Ivette Diaz’s presentations on interculturality (Fall 2022)
• As a staff, participated in webinars with MVC’s DEIB consultant (est. Spring 2023)
• Planned and implemented MVC’s DEIB Statement and drafted DEIB Plan
• Visioning and charter (est. Summer 2023)
• Launched DEIB Goals (est. Fall 2023)
• Created DEIB Focus Group to review DEIB Plan (est. Winter 2024)
• Follow our ongoing journey with our DEIB Plan (est. Winter 2024)