EQUITY & COMMUNITY

You can read our DEI statement and Action & Accountability plan below, documents under continual scrutiny and revision; and we welcome your feedback, questions and participation. 


Click here to view the L.E.A.R.N. outline!


Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The mission of Finnriver is to reconnect people to the land that sustains us and to grow community. We believe that these strong and rooted connections can inspire us to take authentic and more effective care of ourselves, each other, and the landscapes and ecosystems that we inhabit.


We are farmers, students and lovers of the land, and we understand that diversity is one of the key ecological and cultural concepts that allows for healthy life to thrive together. With this reverence and understanding, Finnriver has committed itself to do the personal and organizational work to become a ‘welcoming place for all walks of life.’


We recognize that there are already many kinds of diversity at work in our human communities and we believe that an important component in creating an inclusive and welcoming space involves both encouraging and supporting the diversity in our organization and also building a strong community network that joins us in understanding and prioritizing these values.


Finnriver understands that we need to examine toxic patterns and systemic structures at work in our organization that may be creating barriers to inclusivity, and that we need to intentionally cultivate an inclusive and equitable environment so that the diversity and justice we value can thrive. To uphold these values, we commit to ongoing learning, accountability and repair when we make mistakes, and to open channels of communication for feedback, creativity, problem solving, and community building.


We know that the more diverse our staff and associates, the more perspectives we can draw upon to continue to grow and strengthen our mission. We know the more diverse our community of visitors, the more we will grow and become of deeper service to the healing and wholeness of our culture/society.


We believe our humanity is rooted in building and living in a world that upholds justice while breaking down systems of oppression, privilege, and supremacy. In prioritizing our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, Finnriver seeks to live into the ideal of truly being in “right relationship to our home and each other” (adrienne maree brown). 


We view this as a living document. We recognize our understandings of issues will continue to evolve over time and that the words shared here may require changing. We welcome feedback and request the support of others in guiding us as we deepen our commitment to this work.


You can write to us at claire@finnriver.com to ask us about our DEI Action and Accountability Plan. We welcome input, insights and collaboration as we learn and work together!


The DEI statement above was drafted at Finnriver in April, 2019 after completion of the DIA: Building Inclusive and Equitable Organizations workshop series offered by the Adaway Group, with help from Jane Rioseco and guidance by Jessica Fish of the Adaway Group. It is a work in progress and updates will made here regularly as we deepen our understandings and our skills around the work of becoming a more equitable company and community. 


Action and Accountability Plan

In progress, always. Posted 6/16/2020

Finnriver acknowledges that systemic racism is toxic and deeply harmful to our communities and that it must be transformed through reverent acknowledgment of our shared humanity and the relentless commitment of our community to come together and make change.


Finnriver acknowledges that unlearning oppressive attitudes and transforming social inequity is a long journey and the work of every single day. We recognize that as rural citizens and a local business, we can and must play a role in transforming racist dynamics. We are committed to doing the work to uproot internalized white supremacy and to transform the systemic racism and cultural and social structures that reinforce and perpetuate it. We aspire to grow an ever-expanding community committed to anti-racist values and action. 


We will continue to actively seek resources to learn, unlearn, grow, seed, and imagine together what a world of interdependence, true equity, freedom and justice for all could be like. Here we share our action and accountability plan for doing anti-racist and community transformation work here at Finnriver -- with ourselves, each other and the community.


We humbly acknowledge that as we work to dismantle oppression, we remain settlers on S’Klallam, Chimacum and Coast Salish lands, following in a devastating pathway of colonization. We are grateful to live alongside tribal communities here and will keep seeking ways to collaborate on the work for social equity. See our land acknowledgment here. 


 Here is what we have been working on and offering. This is not an exhaustive plan and we will keep looking for new ways to engage. We welcome your feedback, ideas and participation as we do so. 


Consciousness Change


These are a few of the many wisdom-keepers and change-making visions some of us have studied in the work of shifting consciousness. We are interested to expand this list of teachers or resources and welcome you to share:



Systems Change


The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond Undoing Racism workshop offers a historic and contemporary grounding in how systemic racism was implemented and remains at work in this country and beyond."The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB) focuses on understanding what racism is, where it comes from, how it functions, why it persists and how it can be undone. Our workshops utilize a systemic approach that emphasizes learning from history, developing leadership, maintaining accountability to communities, creating networks, undoing internalized racial oppression and understanding the role of organizational gate keeping as a mechanism for perpetuating racism." 

Several Finnriver core leadership took this workshop and helped galvanize our work over the last several years to analyze and begin to reimagine our internal systems and the larger system we are embedded within.


HR, Policy, PR


The systems we've been embedded in to hire, train, operate and communicate all require questioning, reimagining and reconstructing. Here are some of the ways we've started on that:


  • We have an Equity Guidance Group composed of 6+ rotating staff members, paid to meet monthly to study, propose new policies and practices, and help hold accountability for the work.
  • We work with HR consultants from Full Circle and DEI consultants from the Adaway Group to understand barriers and opportunities embedded in our practices and to advance change 
  • We are revising our email signatures, offering staff education on better practices around pronouns and land acknowledgement
  • We are conducting ongoing staff surveys and all-crew meetings to understand and shape our culture 
  • We are working on storytelling strategies to reflect inclusivity and our community values 
  • We published a Territorial Acknowledgement, which is constantly under revision as we deepen our understanding 
  • We published our DEI Statement, working with consultants and accountability partners to ensure the words were grounded in authentic intent and actionable change 
  • We have committed staff time to projects across the company that advance our DEI intentions 
  • All staff are offered an allocation of paid volunteer time for community service 

 
Staff Training


We are committed to individual/group training and reflection to improve literacy regarding systemic racism, implicit bias, miqrcoagrressions and the many ways white supremacy causes harm— and to understand what we can do to mitigate and overcome actions and biases that are harmful to our mission, values, and community. Equity trainings with Desiree Adaway taught us about the pathway of liberatory consciousness (based on work by Barbara Love): how we must move our anti-oppression consciousness from awareness to analysis to action and to accountability. The following are trainings/workshops we have done:



We have a community library available to our crew and we have offered to purchase copies of the following resources: So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Olou, Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown, My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem for members of the crew.

Community Education & Cultural Programs


We are aware that expanding minds, opening hearts and shifting culture requires listening a wide array of voices, experiencing a diversity of perspectives, celebrating arts from many communities. Here are some of the events we have been doing:


  • Thirsty for Change monthly events (These monthly social and cultural events are fundraisers for the grassroots Jefferson County Anti-Racist Fund (JCARF). While these events are currently postponed due to the pandemic, we encourage you to learn more about JCARF and to make a donation or monthly contribution to support mutual aid and resource sharing with BIPoC folks in this community: www.gofundme.com/f/jcarf-covid-relief-fund)
  • Racial Justice Book Club
  • Sci Fi & Social Justice Book Club
  • Holistic Resistance song circle event
  • Black Banjo Reclamation Project event
  • Hosting a Poet in Residence 
  • Black History Month event
  • Music Series: Live Music on the Land-- seeking to reflect more diversity in artists and genres
  • Mandala Center, Theater for Social Justice events
  • Donated facilities time to local non-profits 


Networking, Collaboration & Community Relations 


  • Advocating for local equity trainings with neighbor and community businesses
  • Working on accountability in our relationships with fruit suppliers around farmworker health and justice 
  • Developing project for 'Social Justice Cider' bottle project-- a fundraising effort to raise awareness and share resources from cider sales with regional organizations that are working for social justice. 
  • Partnering, collaborating and doing business with local/regional BIPOC-owned/led artists, businesses and organizations.

 

Here are some additional cider industry examples of equity efforts and educational resources:


 

We welcome feedback, conversation, ideas, questions! To learn more and share questions or ideas: equity@finnriver.com.


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