Communities In Schools believes that trans-formative relationships are the key to unlocking a student’s potential.
Children and youth deserve a caring community that empowers them to achieve their goals in the classroom and beyond. In order to do so, racism and other inequalities in our educational system and society must be acknowledged and addressed. The Communities In Schools of Washington network exists to build on student strengths and overcome systemic barriers through advocacy, partnerships and individualized social emotional supports.
Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion must lead everything we do. Our mission cannot be achieved without it, therefore we are dedicated to a steady journey of constant learning which consists of openness, discovery, and intentionality.
We commit to recruiting a talented and diverse team, and providing supports that make all staff feel empowered, appreciated, and successful in doing the critical work needed to fulfill our mission.
We serve students who come to us with different backgrounds and experiences in life. We must recognize and celebrate their diverse backgrounds, and help create equitable educational outcomes for them. We must also provide an inclusive environment so that their voices and perspectives can be honored. If this is to happen in a meaningful and authentic way, we must simultaneously do the same work within our own CIS team. We must apply these values and practices in our own day-to-day work, so that we can truly serve students from a place of respect, and ensure that they have opportunities to thrive.
Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion must lead everything we do. Our mission cannot be achieved without it, therefore we are dedicated to a steady journey of constant learning which consists of openness, discovery, and intentionality.
The journey to becoming an organization that truly reflects the diversity of our communities and celebrates the strength of our differences to create a more just and equitable world for all students starts with understanding what we mean when we talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion.
While there are many interpretations of diversity, equity, and inclusion, we at Communities In Schools of Renton-Tukwila define these concepts as follows:

DIVERSITY includes all of the similarities and differences among people, not limited to gender, gender identity, ethnicity, race, immigration status, age, sexual orientation, culture, religion, belief system, marital status, parental status, socioeconomic status, appearance, language, accent, ability status, mental health, education, work experience, job role function, thinking style, personality type, physical appearance, and political perspective or affiliation. In a diverse environment, we believe that individuals with these unique voices and viewpoints must be heard and honored in meaningful, substantive ways. A person is not diverse—they are a unique, individual unit. Diversity is about a collective or a group and can only exist in relationship to others.


EQUITY recognizes and addresses power dynamics by making sure that everyone has equal access to the same opportunities. Equity takes into account that people have different access to resources because of systems of oppression and privilege, and seeks to balance those disparities. Tackling equity issues requires an understanding of the root causes of outcome disparities within our society and taking action to address them.


INCLUSION exists when barriers to participation in decision-making processes are eliminated. It is celebrating, valuing, and amplifying perspectives, voices, and values that have been disadvantaged and/or furthest from educational justice. An inclusive environment creates equitable access to resources and opportunities for all, and helps individuals and groups feel safe, respected, engaged, and valued for who they are and for their contributions to community and society. In other words, inclusion without limits.

With these definitions at the core, we are adopting a multi-faceted commitment to build, refine, and rigorously assess a series of internal and external organizational DEI practices:
Organizational Culture
We commit to a culture that truly prioritizes the values of diversity, equity and inclusion by creating an environment of fairness and equity, and of respect and trust. This generates a meaningful exchange of ideas, fosters dynamic communication and collaboration, and facilitates durable working relationships where everyone can feel safe and free to learn, explore and discover.
Student Supports
We commit to creating the space for ongoing and open discourse about DEI, perpetuating a welcoming culture to create a richer context for community building, and being genuinely willing to consider new perspectives, while appreciating individual similarities and differences.
Talent Practices
We commit to recruiting a talented and diverse team, and providing supports that make all staff feel empowered, appreciated, and successful in doing the critical work needed to fulfill our mission.
We acknowledge the pursuit of DEI is a journey. We won’t get it right every time, but we commit to learning from our mistakes in the pursuit of progress. We aspire to model the challenges and opportunities of change, and the potential impact that can result when we collectively commit to DEI.

Anti-Racism Resources
From HOMEWORD: the official blog of Project Home
Trainings and Courses
- Justice in June
- Institutionalized Racism: A syllabus
- Scaffolding for anti-racist resources
- Talking About Race, National Museum of African American History and Culture
Articles and Essays
- Confronting Prejudice: How to Protect Yourself and Help Others
- 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
- 5 Ways White People Can Take Action in Response to White and State-Sanctioned Violence, by SURJ
- The Case for Reparations, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture, by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun
- White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, by Peggy McIntosh
- A Brief History of Slavery, NY Times
- I’m not White, I’m Jewish: Standing as Jews in the Fight for Racial Justice, by Paul Kivel
- Relinquishing the Patriarchy, adrienne maree brown
- Calling In and Calling Out, by Roxy Manning
- Wear Your Voice Magazine
Resources for Parents and People Who Work with Children
- Talking to Young Children About Race and Racism (PBS Kids Resource Roundup))
- Resources for Talking about Race, Racism and Racialized Violence with Kids (Center for Racial Justice Education)
- Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup
- Talking to kids about race
- How to talk to kids about race and racism, according to experts
- Talking Race With Young Children
- Are Your Kids Too Young To Talk About Race
- Beyond the Golden Rule: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice (Southern Poverty Law Center)
- Preparing Young Children for the Inclusion of Children with Disabilities into the Classroom (National Association for the Education of Young Children)
- Helping Youth After Community Trauma: Tips for Educators
- Understanding Child Trauma
- Age-related Reactions to a Traumatic Event
Videos and Film
- Clint Smith’s How to Raise A Black Son in America TedTalk
- Roots of Justice Front Porch Conversation
- 13th (Netflix Documentary)
- Race: The Power of an Illusion
- I am Not Your Negro
- What Matters: #BLM Documentary series
- The Color of Fear (Documentary by Lee Mun Wah)
- American Son (Netflix)
- Dear White People (Netflix)
- If Beale St Could Talk (Hulu)
- King In The Wilderness (HBO)
- See You Yesterday (Netflix)
- The Hate You Give (Netflix)
- When They See Us (Netflix)
- White Like Me
Podcasts and Audio
- 1619 (NY Times Podcast)
- Code Switch (NPR)
- Show About Race (Panopoly)
- Intersectionality Matters! (Kimberlé Crenshaw)
- Momentum: A Race Forward (Color Lines)
- Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
- Fare of the Free Child (Raising Free People)
- Small Doses (Amanda Seales)
- Therapy for Black Girls (Dr. Bradford)
- Seeing White: Scene on Radio (Podcast series on whiteness)
- Talking about Whiteness (Eula Bliss, On Being)
Social Media
Books
Where to Begin (designed for White allies)
- Me and White Supremacy, by Layla Saad
- Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nahesi Coates
- Stamped from the Beginning, by Ibram X. Kendi
- How to Be An Anti-Racist, by Ibram X. Kendi
- So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
- Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race, by Reni Eddo-Lodge
- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race, by Beverly Daniel Tatum
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarnation in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander
- Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, by Paul Kivel
- Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race, by Debby Irving
- White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, by Tim Wise
- Witnessing Whiteness, by Shelly Tochluk
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism, by Robin Diangelo
- Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color, by Andrea Ritchie
Going Deeper
- killing rage: Ending Racism, by bell hooks
- When They Call You a Terrorist, by Patrisse Cullors
- Eloquent Rage, by Brittany Cooper
- Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements, by Charlene A. Carruthers
- Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi
- I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
- The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin
- Learning to Be White: Money, Race and God in America, by Rev. Thandeka
- The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
- Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
- They Can’t Kill Us All, by Wesley Lower
- Many here Ibram X. Kendi Antiracist reading List
Mental Health Resources
- Therapy for Black Girls
- Dear Black Women Project – therapy resources, daily affirmations, and more
- Black Men Heal – free therapy for Black men
- Men’s Resource Center of Philadelphia – individual, group counseling
- Where to find Virtual Therapy & Mental Health Resources in the Philly Area
- Black Philly therapists are raising $15K to provide free mental health resources to people of color – scroll to the bottom of the article for a list
- 44 Mental Health Resources for Black People Trying to Survive in This Country
- Southeast Addiction Center – This guide offers a list of the top 50 resources to support Black Men who are struggling with addiction or mental illness.
- Live Another Day – Live Another Day believes in equal access to life-saving mental health and substance use resources. This website provides extensive information on the best resources available.
- Detox Local – An excellent resource that features abundant information including mental health and substance use resources specifically for the AAPI (American Asian and Pacific Islander) community.
Mental Health Resources for Black and African American Students
From bestcolleges.com