Becoming an Antiracist Organization

In the aftermath of the acquittal of three Tacoma police officers charged in the death of Manny Ellis, our hearts go out to his family and community.  As our Goodwill strives to achieve our vision that every person has the opportunity to learn, work, and thrive in all aspects of life, we are committed to continuing our work to dismantle racism and advance equity, diversity, and inclusion.  We join with others who are committed to this critically important work.

Lori Forte Harnick
President & CEO
Goodwill of the Olympics & Rainier Region

Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region is committed to creating and sustaining a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion in our organization and across our communities. This begins with an immediate focus on becoming an antiracist organization that actively works to dismantle structural and institutional racism and condemns racist practices and behaviors in all forms.

With this aim in mind, we will advance and administer antiracist, equity-based policies and champion diversity and inclusion throughout our organization and the communities we serve. Our commitment is foundational to our ability to realize our vision alongside community partners and deliver our mission to all we serve.

We have instituted and strengthened a number of organizational policies and will continue to evaluate our policies and practices going forward. To help guide us on our journey in becoming an antiracist organization, we have developed a strategy map that provides an overview of how we will build antiracism work into the foundation of our organization and integrate strategies and actions throughout all aspects of our operations and service.

Signed by:

Lori Forte Harnick
President & CEO

Eu-wanda Egans
SVP of Workforce Development

Keith Hall
General Counsel &
Chief People Officer

Greg Medlyn
SVP of Retail

Chris Politakis
Chief Advancement Officer

Anne Porter
CFO

Terryl Ross
VP of Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In 2018, Goodwill of the Olympics & Rainier Region (GORR) began a series of employee listening conversations on the topics of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Based upon the perspectives shared in these conversations, the Executive Team of the organization decided to engage with an expert consultant to facilitate a set of foundational learning sessions across the organization. All Goodwill employees (more than 1,300 people) participated in these foundational learning sessions throughout the following year.

When George Floyd was murdered on May 25, 2020, Goodwill recognized that it needed to do more than promote equity, diversity, and inclusion:  it needed to work actively against racism. This recognition was its first step on a journey toward becoming an antiracist organization…a journey that continues today.

“It is not sufficient to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion. In addition, we must act against racism in every way possible.  We must be intentional in our thrift retail operation, in our service to the community, in our relationships with each other and with our partners and supporters, to actively acknowledge and dismantle systemic racism and address its impact on the people of our community,” said Lori Forte Harnick President & CEO of Goodwill of the Olympics & Rainier Region.

With this decision made, we began our journey toward becoming an antiracist organization with our Executive Team engaging in an immersive learning experience with Dr. Karen A. Johnson (now the Chief Equity Officer for the state of Washington) about issues related to antiracism, equity, diversity and inclusion (AEDI) from June 2020 to March 2021. Our Executive Team consisted of seven people and met monthly for all-day learning sessions facilitated Dr. Johnson.

All of the members of the Executive Team members found Dr. Johnson’s teachings to be helpful. Eu-wanda Eagans, Senior Vice President of Workforce Development states, “To share about my journey, my challenges and my experiences as a Black woman, is not something I would have done with this team prior to this work. However, through our various sessions with Dr. Johnson there are two things that stood out to me which encouraged my willingness to share more of my truths with my colleagues on the Executive Team. First, the team was transparent in who they were, what their experiences were and how they were entering this conversation in a vulnerable state. In other words, I felt like I got to see them more for who they were as people and less for the roles that they play in the organization. And, finally, there was a genuine desire by my white colleagues to lean into the learnings about their privilege.”

“The sessions with Dr. Johnson were profoundly important, both in my personal growth and for us as an Executive Team. Sharing this time together provided each of us insight into one another’s perspectives and feelings concerning AEDI as well as a crucial foundation of knowledge from which to develop strategies for addressing these issues within our organization and in our community,” added Chris Politakis, Chief Advancement Officer.

• Reviewed and Refreshed Policies Through an Antiracism Lens

We have instituted and strengthened a number of organizational policies and will continue to evaluate our policies and practices going forward.

• Created an Employee Advisory Group for Antiracism, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

We created an Employee Advisory Group (EAG) on eliminating racism and advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion for all. The EAG has the role and responsibilities, to:

• • Provide insight, make recommendations for, and engage in the implementation of antiracist and equity, diversity, and inclusion strategies and tactics.
  • Assist in the facilitation of a comprehensive bi-annual organizational cultural responsiveness assessment, review, and action plan.
  • Be an ambassador, champion, and model of new tactics and behaviors.

• Engaged with our Suppliers About Their Antiracism, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Journeys

We reached out to our top two dozen suppliers to learn about their organizational journeys related to eliminating racism and advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion and we are continuing these conversations and building this priority into our relationships.

• Conducted Learning Sessions for all Employees and Board Members

Our Leadership Team consists of more than 50 directors and managers and each person spent 12-16 hours in learning sessions facilitated by Dr. Karen Johnson. Similarly, our Board of Directors engaged in 3 deep-dive facilitated learning sessions.  And, our 1,200+ employees took a one-hour course about the organization’s commitment to antiracism and the ways they can support this commitment.

• Created a Board Committee for Antiracism, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (AEDI)

Following its learning sessions, our Board of Directors created an AEDI committee to ensure a continued commitment to its own AEDI journey.

• Hired VP of Antiracism, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (AEDI)

To lead our AEDI work going forward, and ensure its integration throughout our organization, we created a new Executive Team position, reporting directly to the President & CEO, and in August 2021, we hired Dr. Terryl Ross as our Vice-president Antiracism, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.

According to Dr. Ross, the term “antiracism” attracted him to the position.  He states, “I had just quit my job to finish my first book and was not looking for employment, but a friend sent me the job description and I knew I had to apply. Any organization that committed to becoming an antiracist organization had already done the elusive key foundational work that I’ve rarely found in over 30 years of being in this field.”

It’s important to point out that the Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region will be the first to say that they are not yet an antiracist organization. Dr. Ross states, “We like to say that we are working toward becoming an antiracist organization because we have so much more work to do.  We are excited to be on this journey and look forward to collaborating with our employees, Board of Directors, suppliers, and partners in the communities we serve.”

This is the first in a series of articles about GORR’s journey toward becoming an antiracist organization and advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion.

• To help guide us on our journey in becoming an antiracist organization, we have developed a strategy map that provides an overview of how we will build antiracism work into the foundation of our organization and integrate strategies and actions throughout all aspects of our operations and service.

• Poverty Reduction Work Group – 10-Year Plan
• Tacoma Urban League
• Race & Pedagogy Institute
• Graduate Tacoma
• Tacoma Art Museum 
• Greater Tacoma Community Foundation

• Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
• MultiCare Health Systems
• Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber
• Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity
• WorkForce Central
• Pierce County Community Engagement Task Force