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Our DEIJ Vision
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

The motivation and guidance for this diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) work is drawn from our mission and vision, our direction from Margaret Cargill, and the caring and compassionate culture we strive for through work with grantees, partners, and each other. Embracing this vision will have a transformational influence on our organization, our partnerships, the work we do, and the impact we ultimately seek.

Our vision for change

At Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, we envision a future in which our philanthropic resources and relationships help remove systemic barriers that limit access to opportunity and marginalize people within communities, as well as help empower and support them as agents of the change they seek. In this way, our joint efforts deepen and sustain the impact we work to achieve.

To achieve this impact, we seek to foster a culture—both internally and externally with grantees, community members, and other strategic partners—where differences are seen and respected, voices are heard, and all individuals feel supported and valued for their authentic selves.

Indigenous woman in a classroom reading on a laptop.

Photo courtesy of American Indian College Fund

Establishing shared definitions

To advance our DEIJ Vision, we need a clear understanding and a common reference point of what these terms mean. We believe it is important to use language that is shared and recognize the expertise of others working in this space. To that end, we have chosen definitions from external sources and have begun to explore what these concepts mean in practice for MACP. Read more here.

We will know we are living this vision when...

1.

We use our different roles (grantmaker, convener, networker, learner, investor, employer, coworker, community member) to advance our vision, mission, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice work.

2.

Our work is transparent. Our commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice are explicit and embedded within both our grantmaking strategies and our organizational practices, and they are supported by clear accountability measures. We confront racism in all its forms within our institutional culture, as well as within the work we support externally.

3.

Our staff and board, together with our partners (including grantees, subgrantees, vendors, consultants, and investment managers), reflect the diversity of the communities where we live and work.

4.

We work together with our grantees, community members, and other strategic partners to understand the systems and structures in which our work is being done and the impact they have on individuals and communities we support.

5.

We engage in sustained learning and development with our staff and board that broadens intercultural competence, examines assumptions and norms, promotes self‐reflection, and expands our understanding of institutional racism and other systemic inequities—including MACP’s role in those systems.

6.

We rely on engagement, trust, and long‐term relationships to advance equity and inclusion in how we work. As a funder, we recognize the power dynamic in philanthropy and build partnerships where the voices of grantees, community members, and our other partners are heard and power is shared.

7.

Our decision‐making benefits from and is informed by a variety of perspectives, and we engage with those who are knowledgeable about the needs of the community.

8.

Our processes and practices are aligned with these commitments and support efforts to address the needs of our grantees and the communities where they work. We empower staff and work to remove organizational barriers so our practices are more equitable.

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Download PDF of DEIJ Vision Here

Where we go from here

We are committed to this long‐term journey. There is a lot for us to learn, knowing our culture and practices do not yet fully reflect the diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice we want to see in our work. We appreciate this journey will require significant intention and sustained effort, and that by its nature, the work needs to challenge us and push us out of our individual and collective comfort zones. We also realize we can’t do this alone, and we seek to engage with, learn from, and support our grantees, community members, other partners, and each other.

This DEIJ Vision statement is not an action plan; it is a framework to guide our shared efforts. Developing an action plan and specific steps to achieve our DEIJ Vision will be a participatory process, involving our board, staff, grantees, and other partners.

The work ahead will be significant, and at times, it will be messy. We must give ourselves and each other grace, knowing we are all at different places in our journey. Some of our initiatives will succeed, and others may fail, while still providing valuable learning opportunities. We also recognize that steps to advance this vision are already in place across MACP at individual, team, and organizational levels, and we will continue supporting that work.

Holding ourselves accountable

We commit to establishing methods that hold us accountable with both internal and external audiences, including soliciting regular feedback and sharing our progress. And as we learn from the work we are implementing, we will update this Vision statement accordingly.

Photo courtesy of Humane Society of the United States