30 | CHARITIES USA

By Troy Zeigler
COMMITTED
TO INCLUSION
Each of us who work within the Catholic Charities network has a responsibility to exercise our
leadership skills in the advancement of diversity and inclusion. Catholic Charities USA has dem-
onstrated its committed to this issue through its publication of Poverty and Racism: Overlapping
Threats to the Common Good in 2008, the annual Keep the Dream Alive Mass and Awards, and
the Racial Equality and Diversity (REDI) Professional Interest Section, originally established in
2007 as the National Board Committee for the Advancement of Racial Equality (CARE).
Further, CCUSA has long offered scholarships for its annual Leadership Institute to individuals
who are from historically underrepresented backgrounds. The week-long Leadership Institute fo-
cuses on strengthening both the knowledge and skills of participants in a variety of key lead-
ership qualities. This institute, now in its thirtieth year, has demonstrated its value through the
number of Catholic Charities leaders that are among its graduates, including the recipients of
the REDI scholarships, who have enhanced the quality of diverse leadership within our network.
While this national level emphasis is important in the work that we do, it is meaningless without
follow-up at the grassroots level. Therefore, we call on all our Catholic Charities employees and
Exercising Leadership as a Network to Advance Inclusion
SPRING 2014 | 31
volunteers to take advantage of the resources provided and ensure
proper emphasis of this work in your local agencies and surrounding
community.
We have no doubt made progress, but we cannot ignore the numbers
of our underrepresented populations that remain in poverty. When we
look at those who serve in our network, and those who are served by
our network, this discrepancy becomes increasingly clear. It is obvious
that diversity is much broader than race and gender, and extends to
religion, culture, disabilities, and age. This leads to a need to focus on
inclusion, providing a place for all at the table, providing all with op-
portunity to participate and grow. Therefore, we must not only ensure
that all who come to our agencies are welcome, but also strive con-
tinually in our work locally to create broader acceptance and inclusion
of those we serve into the mainstream of our communities. This en-
sures the opportunity for all to share in the potential inherent within
our American society.
With this focus, the REDI Professional Interest Section moved forward
last year with its development of the Cultural Competency Assessment.
This evaluation tool currently is undergoing pilot tests at two Catholic
Charities agencies to identify any further enhancements that might be
required. The document will be fnalized and distributed to all of our
member agencies once the feedback is received and the document
updated. Regular cultural competency assessments will better posi-
tion our agencies to ensure that their staff and services refect the
values we all share in this endeavor to enhance inclusivity. n
Troy Zeigler is director of training and consulting for Catholic Charities USA.