Committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Foundation to Advance Vascular Cures is a leading non-profit within the field of patient-centered vascular care and research. We choose to pledge our continued and dedicated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in all that we do and represent. Vascular Cures welcomes the opportunity to engage and promote the kind of equitable and just work that should define this space, while actively working to address existing disparities.
We pledge to continue learning about the experiences and needs of underserved communities, including Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color, as well as those communities that have been historically marginalized due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, socioeconomic backgrounds, and other factors. We acknowledge that existing systems have bias and can lead to the oppression of these communities, and we commit to listening to these communities through dedicated efforts to learn about their experiences and incorporate their guidance and needs into the work we do to partner with and serve them.
In particular, vascular health inequities are often caused and perpetuated by systematic racism, classism, ableism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination that are propagated through existing systems of health care, health research, and even health advocacy. These institutions and structures can continue to disadvantage underserved communities, unless determined effort is dedicated to understanding the root causes and effects of these biases, and to consequently move forward by designing our work and processes in inclusive and equitable ways.
Specifically, we are committing to the following:
Working with patients and caregivers to outline important diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and processes
Promoting voices and leadership roles from and within underserved communities through dedicated programmatic efforts and marketing initiatives
Consistently and publicly prioritizing health equity work within the field of vascular health
Ensuring that research is conducted ethically and with recognition for the need for inclusion of underserved communities, equitable and transparent practices and outcomes, and respect for all
Promoting an inclusive work environment internally and within our external working groups, boards, committees, and other convenings
Creating a learning-based DEI culture, which prioritizes the active inclusion of representative and historically silenced voices
**This pledge is adapted from that of the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits. It has been updated to reflect the nation-wide scope and reach of the Foundation to Advance Vascular Cures.
