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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI)

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, and INCLUSION POLICY

 

LWV is an organization fully committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in principle and in practice. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to the organization's current and future success in engaging all individuals, households, communities, and policy makers in creating a more perfect democracy.


Discrimination
or harassment of any kind will not be accepted within the League, including but not limited to race, socio-economic status, age, ability status, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, or marital status. The League is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging for all people. The League is an organization that respects and values the richness of our community and our members. The collective sum of our individual differences and life experiences represents not only our culture, but our reputation and the organization's mission and achievements as well.


L
WVTC Board Approved 8/28/24


Land Acknowledgement

Today, we acknowledge the original stewards of the land we call Thurston County: the Nisqually, the Chehalis, and the Squaxin Island people who thrived here for thousands of years. We also confront the truth that their land was unjustly taken, causing generations of trauma to its people.

 

Acknowledgement is just the beginning. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves on the history of these tribal nations, on our joint history, and on the role they continue to play in the Thurston County community.  We must create authentic connections with our neighbors, amplify their voices, recognize the unique concerns they face, and support their continued call for justice. 




DEI & JUSTICE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETINGS


 

Join us: 

Thursday, April 10 

On zoom  6:30-8:00p

 

Agenda:

  Strategic Planning Conversation - Come to our next meeting with measurable goals for getting more members involved in DEI & J work 

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 845 4221 0315
Passcode: 988669




 

DEI Upcoming Events: 

 

Conversations about Civics

 

We meet on Zoom on Saturdays in April 10:30am-12pm to learn how treaties and state and national laws affected our rights in the past and continue to affect them. We read selected chapters of the LWVWA textbook, The State We're In: Washington, and reflect on other resources.

Join us for in depth conversations as we create a learning community for our members.  Please register so we can send you the zoom link. Go to the homepage and click on Conversations about Civics under EVENTS to register.

INTRODUCTION TO CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CIVICS


 




Women's History Month


Look into What's Offered  by the National Women's History Museum 

https://www.womenshistory.org/


 

DEI Recent Events:


Committing to Equitable, Inclusive K-12 Schools:
An Informational Forum held 
March 04, 2025 can now be viewed.

WATCH FORUM

 

 


 

DEI Resources  
THIS WHOLE SET OF RESOURCE LINKS NEED REVIEW, EDITING, ETC

 

DEFINITIONS


LWVWA Definitions 

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Links to inclusive language, including non-binary pronouns
Links to inclusive language, including non-binary pronouns

REFERENCES & resources

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Books
Books
  • Trailblazing Black Women of Washington State, Marilyn Morgan
  • How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, Clint Smith
  • The Sum Of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone And How We Can Prosper  Together,  Heather McGhee*
  • Murder At The Mission: A Frontier Killing, Its Legacy of Lies, And the Taking of the American West, Blaine Harden*
  • Against Civility: The Hidden Racism in our Obsession with Civility, Alex Zamalin*
  • Caste:The Origins of Our Discontent, Isabel Wilkerson*
  • The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
  • Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates*
  • So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo*
  • Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, Mahzarin Banaji
* Titles read by the Let's Talk About Race Book Group
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Articles
Articles
  • The Language of Anti-Racism (excerpted from, “Stay Woke, A People’s Guide to Making All Black Lives Matter," Candis Watts Smith and Tehema Lopez Bunyasi, February 2020
  • Before you rage against Critical Race Theory, it might be helpful to know what it is, Marcus Harrison Green, February 2022
  • The Dictionary Definition of Racism Has to Change, John McWhorter, The Atlantic June 2020
  • Ta-Nehisi Coates Revisits the Case for Reparations, The New Yorker, June 2019
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Movies & Websites
Movies & Websites
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Recorded Workshops
Recorded Workshops

CIVICS & CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE EDUCATION

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The State We're In - Your guide to state, tribal, and local government
The State We're In - Your guide to state, tribal, and local government
The League produces two compelling civics textbooks, The State We're In: Washington. A new version is designed for elementary grades 3-5, and  the eighth edition of the original is for grades 6 and up.

LEARN MORE


LWV dei event recordings

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A Look at Local Tribal Approaches to Health Care
A Look at Local Tribal Approaches to Health Care

Link to recorded forum coming soon.

LWVTC Event
Featured speakers:

  • Vicki Lowe, Executive Director of the American Indian Health Commission for Washington State (AIHC)
  • Angela Tobias, Family Medicine Doctor and former Skokomish and Squaxin Tribe physician
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Native American Women and the Suffrage Movement
Native American Women and the Suffrage Movement

 LWVUS Webinar - Native American Women and the Suffrage Movement


COMMUNITY PARTNERS

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The League of Women Voters of Thurston County is proud to co-sponsor events and educational opportunities to:
The League of Women Voters of Thurston County is proud to co-sponsor events and educational opportunities to:
Amplify concerns and  work together with community partners to face inequities of historically marginalized people. 

Act when we can, after study and based on the teachings of those with knowledge of appropriate actions that are responsive to community.

Community partnerships have included:
 


Immigrant Rights have been on the LWVTC DEI Agenda for Years

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Consensus Meeting for the study:
Welcoming Immigrants to Washington

LWVTC members will discuss questions and determine consensus
on those questions.  Read the study and the questions
prior to this meeting:
 
https://lwvwa.org/immigration

Location: Olympia Universalist Unitarian Congregation
 2306 E End St NW Olympia.
We encourage you to attend in person.

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 845 4221 0315
Passcode: 988669



BOOK GROUP: Let’s Talk about Multicultural America

Warrior Girl Unearthed

Next Meeting: April 8, 2025 6:30 PM on Zoom 

We  meet every other month to read  about people of various cultural, economic, indigenous, ethnic, racial,
gender, and immigrant backgrounds to better understand the diversity around us
. After our discussion,
members suggest 
books they've read and appreciated for the next time. 

For more information about the book or to access the Zoom link group contact 
 Annie Cubberly



DEI  TIME LINE

2019 LWVTC Board adds monthly "Let's Talk About Race"
agenda item.

2020  LWVUS Adopts DEI Policy

2021  LWVTC Adopts SPEAK OUT FOR EQUITY
(SO4E) PROGRAM
 

2023 LWVTC Holds 1st JURISDICTIONAL FORUM


2024 LWVTC Holds 2nd JURISDICTIONAL FORUM


2025 LWVTC Holds 1st K-12 Equity FORUM




info@LWVThurston.org

P.O. Box 2203
Olympia WA 98507