Posts Tagged: inclusion
¡Los Naturalistas!
Southern California Mountains Foundation Urban Conservation Corps receive the Corps Network's...
Update on DEI Advisory Council; End of regional stay-at-home orders
Update on DEI Advisory Council
This month I appointed 11 UC ANR employees to an initial two-year term as founding members of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Council for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. The group began meeting to consider the Council's role and structure in November; this appointment is effective retroactively from November 1, 2020, through October 31, 2022.
I am convening this advisory council to support DEI efforts that UC ANR staff and academics have undertaken to improve working environments within UC ANR, as well as to improve quality of life for marginalized populations living in the state of California. Diversity is one of our core values and developing an equitable and inclusive society is one of our Public Values. This Council is a commitment by UC ANR leadership to take division-wide action on the existence and impact of longstanding discrimination within our Division, as well as in our efforts throughout the state.
I am asking the founding members to recommend a formal Charter to document the objectives, organization and functions of the Council. While the initial appointment for founding members is two years, the intent is for members to have staggered appointments to allow for turnover and continuity. I ask that the Council work to develop the Charter and an agenda for an initial meeting with me, AVP Powers and AVP Tran by June 30, 2021.
Council Members
Elaine Lander
Esther Mosase
Fadzayi Mashiri
Gail Feenstra
Katherine Soule
Keith Nathaniel
Laura Snell
LeChé McGill
Mohammed Yagmour
Ricardo Vela
Ron Walker
End of regional stay-at-home orders
On Monday, the state ended the regional stay-at-home order, which means that each county will now revert back to following the four risk tiers for re-opening based on COVID-19 testing and case rates. Currently, all but four counties are in the most restrictive tier (Widespread / Purple), but over the next few weeks we may see some counties begin to open up more as the number of cases declines.
For UC ANR activities, this means that if local County Health Orders allow, standard COVID-19 safety protocols are in place, and you are ready, many of you may begin to gradually increase some in-person activities, including allowing some small (10 or fewer) outdoor meetings, programs or workshops. Indoor meetings, programs or workshops are not allowed until your county reaches the Substantial/Red risk tier.
Please refer to our safety protocols and guidance on the webpage for resuming in-person activities for more details. Safety Coordinators and Directors should also take this time to review and update their site-specific Location Safety Plan to reflect the current operations at their UC ANR location, volunteer programs, and field sites and share those plans and any changes with the staff who are working onsite.
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
A Small Change for a Big Impact
Who can participate in citizen science? Everyone. Our 4,000 certified California Naturalists...
Diversity • Equity • Inclusion
UC ANR and the entire UC community are dedicated to helping create the open and equitable society to which we are all entitled. As we stand with the global outcry against the senseless, tragic murders of Black Americans, we are exploring new paths we can take to support our communities during this time and into the future.
To help us discover those new paths, resources have been created and compiled by colleagues throughout UC to promote dialogue, understanding, connection and healing. You can find UC ANR resources on our Diversity • Equity • Inclusion webpage. There, you can also find resources for confronting gender and sexuality bias, and we are working to add resources that address the breadth of diversity, equity and inclusion challenges in our organization. We welcome suggestions for additional resources to include. Please email suggestions to DEI@ucanr.edu.
Today is Juneteenth, widely celebrated in African American communities as “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day,” to mark the date of June 19, 1865, when the federal orders were read by Union Colonel Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas, informing more than 250,000 still-enslaved Blacks that they had their freedom. The notice came to slaves in the state of Texas more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which became official on Jan. 1, 1863.
On this important day, we are reflecting on our country, its treatment of Black, brown and Native American peoples, and how UC values can help guide us into the future. We must continue to reflect on how our institutions and our culture treat people of color as well as religious minorities, the LGBTQ+ community, and all those who don't fit into dominant cultural norms. Our mission can never fully come to fruition if historically victimized groups continue to suffer hatred and bias. All of us at UC ANR are deeply committed to our mission and will work to build a healthy, peaceful and prosperous California for all.
A Message of Solidarity from the UC California Naturalist Program
For over a week, we've witnessed the pain, helplessness, grief, and anger...
poppies