Our Commitment to Diversity

The Role That Diversity Plays In The Operations Of The National Early Childhood TA Center

Any organization that seeks to initiate and sustain diversity efforts must first come to a common understanding of what is meant by diversity. Most people think race and gender when they use the word "diversity". Though diversity includes both of these, it also refers to disabilities, ethnicity, age, socio-economic status, religion, and geographic location. Cultural competence refers to the ability to think, feel, and act in ways that acknowledge, respect, and build upon ethnic, sociocultural, and linguistic diversity. This concept is a process, not an outcome. Seeking cultural competence is a life-long process of learning, beginning with increasing awareness of one's own culture.

At the National Early Childhood TA Center, we believe that cultural diversity enhances our personal and professional experiences, strengthens our organizational functioning, and improves our ability to provide quality technical assistance to our clients. We strive to understand, value and incorporate issues related to diversity into our work in order to help our clients to provide appropriate and outcome-focused services to children and families. Our ultimate concern and concern of service delivery systems is that children and families receive services that are culturally appropriate and responsive to their individual needs.

The literature indicates that initiating and sustaining diversity efforts within organizations has certain requisites. These efforts must be:

• intentional
• dispersed and infused into all aspects of the organization
• re-examined and assessed regularly and carefully for the desired outcomes
• championed by senior leadership
• embraced by all staff
• celebrated symbolically
• integrated structurally
• a regular topic of discussion, both explicitly and implicit in other topics of concern
• informed by an appreciation of cultural and ethnic diversity as intrinsic to the quality of outcomes/products/services for which an organization is responsible

Therefore, we are committed to celebrating the diversity within our organization, examining the ways that diversity impacts national and state - policy, service delivery and implementation issues, understanding how to infuse diversity into our TA activities and promoting the understanding of the role that diversity plays in ensuring positive results and outcomes for young children (birth through five) with disabilities and their families. We hope that this commitment will make us a better organization whose individuals will continuously learn from diverse thinking and perspectives.