Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Effective July 1, 2022, Via Services officially became affiliated with AbilityPath, making the newly combined nonprofit one of the largest providers of services for individuals with developmental disabilities on the Peninsula, offering the most comprehensive portfolio of services throughout a person’s lifetime. Both organizations share a common mission and vision for the future, which includes valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Better Together, Better with YOU

Our mission to acceptrespect, and include people of all abilities extends to every member of our community. As an organization, we are committed to the lifelong process of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) learning and application as we continue to build a more inclusive culture, where everyone plays a role in advancing DEI and has opportunities to represent themselves authentically. We aspire to use our advocacy to challenge ableism and all corresponding systems of privilege and oppression through our programs and services. We will always have work to do, and we look forward to doing it TOGETHER!

 

Via Services recognizes that systems of privilege and oppression impact our community – from our partners, to staff, to the children, adults, and families we support. As we work to challenge and disrupt ableism in our DEI journey, we know that our approach must also be intersectional because the United States of America is shaped by white supremacy and other “isms” (colonialism, classism, anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ sexism, etc.).

“Ableism is connected to all our struggles because it undergirds notions of whose bodies are considered valuable, desirable and disposable.” – Mia Mingus, disabled activist and educator

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices begin with our mission. We are working towards full inclusion for all marginalized groups through:

  • Annual DEI goal-setting in each of our departments, with specific action items and projects to complete throughout the fiscal year.
  • Dedicated spaces for DEI education and application (ie. monthly DEI Alliance meetings, monthly sub-group meetings and quarterly trainings/workshops)
  • Ongoing partnerships with external DEI educators and leaders to advance and broaden the vision of inclusion in our classrooms, workplace, and community.
  • Established Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to support affinity-based community building, retention, engagement and learning for staff members.