Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Earthworks is committed to challenging and dismantling systemic oppression. Earthworks’ Board and staff understand that promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) both within and beyond Earthworks is critical to carrying out our mission to protect communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of resource extraction.

We recognize that environmental burdens and benefits are not distributed equitably, and that Black, brown and Indigenous communities disproportionately suffer from environmental injustice. Consequently we prioritize anti-racism in our commitment to recognize and address these disproportionate historic and current disparities.

We strive to practice the Jemez Principles and Principles of Environmental Justice in our work, and know we are better suited to do so when we practice these principles internally.

We strive to make Earthworks a thriving and equitable organization for our staff, board, and volunteers. To that end, we seek to build a culture of transparency, trust, mutual support, and accountability to principles of equity and inclusion. Some concrete examples of how we are implementing this include:

• Holding diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings for our staff to foster deeper understanding of these issues and affirm organization-wide commitment to action.
• Maintaining community agreements to cultivate a culture of respect, professionalism, accountability, justice, equity, inclusivity, and authentic communication. We revisit these agreements at our staff retreat.
• Committing to learning new practices that promote these values in our day-to-day work and how we interact with one another.

We accept that our commitment to DEI means a dedication to constant learning—we will make mistakes, but we are determined to learn from them and to improve. We will review our actions and practices related to all of these policies and will report back to our staff, board, and community to hold ourselves accountable to our DEI goals.

Progress Towards Being More Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive

Our strategic plan integrates equity and inclusion into our advocacy and organizational health goals and we evaluate our progress towards DEI objectives in our plans twice a year. According to our 2022 demographic survey:

• 38% of our staff identify as female, including 88% of the senior leadership team. 7% of staff are gender nonbinary or prefer to not provide this information
• 18% of staff identify as LGBTQIA+
• 30% of staff identify as Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC)*
• 10% of staff and 18% of the Board of Directors report having one or more disabilities
• Our Board of Directors are 66% women
• Our Board of Directors has increased BIPOC representation to 42% 

Additionally, in the previous year:

• A Director of Talent and Equity has been hired as part of the senior leadership team. 
• More equitable hiring practices have been implemented, including posting the salary for every job opening and ensuring a diverse candidate pool for every hire.
• All staff participate in workshops, trainings, and efforts to unlearn racism.
• A staff salary review was undertaken to ensure fairness of pay and all staff salaries were adjusted as a result.
• For the second year, donations have been made to anti-racist organizations recommended by staff and partners.
• Fundraising goals include providing financial support frontline partners and assisting them in building relationships with donors.

* BIPOC staff at Earthworks identify as Indigenous; Asian or Asian American; Black, African American or African origin; Latino/a, Latinx, Hispanic or Spanish origin; people reporting multiple races/ethnicities and people reporting another race, ethnicity or origin that is not on this list. 

According to our 2022 demographic survey, Earthworks Board of Directors includes:

• 2 people reporting one or more disabilities
• 3 people who identify as BIPOC
• 4 members for whom we do not have data

Earthworks staff includes

• 4 people reporting one or more disabilities (out of 39)
• 7 LGBTQIA+ people (out of 39)
• 12 people who identify as BIPOC* (out of 39)
• 4 people for whom we do not have data

Jobs

We’re looking for the right folks to join us in standing with communities to protect the environment from the destructive impacts of oil, gas, and mining, in the U.S. and worldwide.

How We Work

We support frontline communities, reform policies, and hold fossil fuel and mining companies accountable while changing the way they operate.

Our Impact and Successes

Earthworks is changing the rules of the game by which the oil, gas, and mining industries are allowed to operate.