ARLINGTON, VA. -  On August 31, the Arlington Chamber of Commerce's Community Action Committee hosted their Nonprofit Forum: Incorporating Belonging in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts at Mastercard's Arlington office. This event included a

panel discussion with Veritas Culture President, Co-owner and Chief Technology Officer, Vince Brantley, PathForward CEO, Betsy Frantz, and OAR of Arlington Alexandria and Falls Church Executive Director, Elizabeth Jones Valderrama. Arlington County Deputy County Manager, Chief Race and Equity Officer, Samia Byrd moderated the event. 

"My hope today is that we have a better understanding on how we evolve and move forward, making space and understanding how these concepts actually build on one another, because every single one of them is needed," said moderator Samia Byrd. "There is no belonging without addressing race, there is no recognizing diversity without making space for inclusion, there’s no creating equity without recognizing systems that will lead to justice.” 

Left to right: Arlington Community Federal Credit Union Community Impact Manager Megan Niewold, NAACP Arlington Branch President JD Spain Sr., Arlington County Deputy County Manager, Chief Race and Equity Officer, Samia Byrd, OAR of Arlington Alexandria and Falls Church Executive Director Elizabeth Jones Valderrama, PathForward CEO Betsy Frantz, Veritas Culture President, Co-owner and Chief Technology Officer, Vince Brantley, Arlington Independent Media CEO, Whytni Kernodle, Bean, Kinney, and Korman, PLLC, Shareholder, Doug Taylor

The hour long panel focused on the challenges and successes that each panelist has seen and the solutions that they found to be successful. Through this panel discussion, attendees were able to learn how to incorporate strategies to strengthen diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) in their workplaces.

"This isn’t about what we didn’t do right before, this is about what we believe we’re doing right now and we’re still on the path," said Betsy Frantz , CEO of PathForward. Betsy described her personal experience as the new CEO of PathForward and her role in shifting her workforce during the summer of 2020. "The first thing we did was create a DEIB task force with an emphasis on belonging, and an emphasis on people. This DEIB taskforce was comprised of our workforce, not our leadership, with one person selected from every department." She went on to describe how both OAR of Arlington Alexandria and Falls Church (OAR) and Veritas Culture were used as resources for her organization during this shift.

OAR is a community based nonprofit that envisions a safe and thriving community where people impacted by the legal system can enjoy civil and human rights. Veritas Culture serves as an industry expert in facilitating DEIB dialogue and leadership solutions. 

“It starts with do they see it? Do they see it as a problem and do they see it as their problem to solve?” said Vince Brantley President, Co-owner and Chief Technology Officer of Veritas Culture, on how an organization can start to focus on DEIB in their workplace. Vince went on describe the concept that workplaces should stop looking at how 'everyone' feels in the organization and ensure that they are able to recognize 'anyone' and their needs in the work culture.

OAR Executive Director, Elizabeth Jones Valderrama went on to describe the ways in which their workplace has created a safe space for their BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) staff. "We wanted to create a place of belonging for the BIPOC cohorts, and to open up a space that was truly pro-Black," said Elizabeth. "We are in spaces created for and by WP (White people), so we don’t get a chance to be ourselves and feel fully supported. This space is about love and joy and they are able to spend three hours per week here."

Each panelist emphasized that the real work starts with the individual. "Systems are important, but for us it’s also about individuals because people make up systems, so if people in systems aren’t actually doing what they’re supposed to do which is working on themselves, then we’re all complicit in the system," said Elizabeth Jones Valderrama.  

This program was a product of the Chamber's Community Action Committee which serves to connect the business and nonprofit communities and provide educational opportunities specifically for nonprofit Chamber members. More than 100 nonprofit organizations are members of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.