Racial Equity Commitment

The Wallace Center commits to centering anti-racism, racial equity, and inclusion in our programs, operations, and culture. Indigenous, Black, and Brown communities have been violently displaced, enslaved, and disenfranchised to build the foundation of modern farming, fishing, and food systems. Many of these same communities continue to face interpersonal and systemic discrimination resulting in cycles of land loss, exclusion and economic and health disparities. The Wallace Center recognizes that by not being explicitly anti-racist in our approach over the past 35 years, our complacency has reinforced racism and racial inequity. As an organization striving to enact systems change, we recognize the role that race and racism play in the modern food system and are therefore making a public commitment to dismantling racism through our work.

We manifest this commitment by:

  • Deepening our understanding of the history and enduring impacts of racism on our farming, fishing, and food systems,
  • Identifying and naming our own biases and blind spots,
  • Creating spaces for open dialogue, feedback, discovery, and shared learning on race and racism,
  • Intentionally challenging detrimental power structures and centering the representation of communities of color,
  • Respecting and learning from the vision, voices, and leadership of people of color,
  • Upholding an intersectional approach to diversity including recruiting across race, class, and other identities within all levels of our organization,
  • Naming and supporting the disruption of cycles of disinvestment,
  • Creating an institutional culture that celebrates our shared humanity and cultivates empathy, humility, and accountability.
  • Recognizing and celebrating the food cultures, traditions, and contributions of diverse communities to the U.S. farming, fishing and food system.

The journey towards our collective liberation has no endpoint. We are learning. We will make mistakes. As we grow, we need the honest feedback of our community to enact this vision. Please contact us with your questions, ideas, and input.

To learn more about our history and our approach to incorporating racial equity in our work, please read this overview.  

To learn more about our current work and goals around racial equity, please refer to our 2022 goals here.

Guiding Resources

Throughout of our long journey towards becoming a multi-cultural anti-racist organization, we have been guided by the learning resources and tools created by leaders and organizations fighting for racial justice and the dismantling of white supremacy. We have also created some foundational documents that we use and revisit regularly as an organization.

Some of the many resources and tools that serve as compasses for learning and transformation include: