In early 2021, the Food Bank hired Mariah Murrell as our Vice President of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). Thanks to Mariah’s leadership and the support of employees, volunteers, and donors, we continue to elevate the EDI work being done at the Food Bank. We asked Mariah to share more about the efforts we’ve made over the last year:
Food Bank staff have been working diligently to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion within the organization and beyond. We are extremely proud of the steps we have taken to address barriers to equity as we work to achieve our mission, and to also ensure a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for our staff. Internally, we have completed hours of trainings related to the diverse identities and experiences represented at the Food Bank, we have recognized various cultural and identity celebrations to promote inclusivity and have developed a strategic plan that positions EDI as an all-encompassing value. That value is reflected in our strategic initiatives that focus on providing access to food and resources for historically resilient communities.
We have worked to learn about and distribute culturally meaningful foods to reflect the preferences of members of various communities and have shared information and resources in Spanish to reflect some of the linguistic diversity of our neighbors and clients. We have engaged with communities and community groups to create and further develop relationships and partnerships that will help us to better address the needs of those experiencing hunger. We have prioritized addressing the root causes of food insecurity. These are only a few highlights, but most importantly, we have committed ourselves to centering equity in our approaches to ending hunger within our service area.
Mariah leads two internal committees, the Culture Impact Committee (CIC) and the Latinx Empowerment Outreach Network (LEON), of Food Bank employees that will continue to develop internal and external strategies to promote EDI. One of these initiatives includes our Culturally Meaningful Food Boxes, which members of LEON have been working on distributed in Wake County.
Keep up with our EDI efforts through our social media channels and in future blog posts. This piece also appears in our 2021 Impact Report which you can view in full here.
