Centerboard Announces Partnership with the Tower Foundation

Centerboard is partnering with the Tower Foundation to offer diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training to 15 local non profit organizations in Essex County over the next 3 years

Centerboard is looking for 5 non-profit organizations that are interested and committed to investing in DEI work for their organization during FY23. Centerboard will assist these organizations to not only intentionally seek to acknowledge differences such as class, gender, race, level, etc., but to truly recognize, understand, and appreciate the impact of these differences in the work that they do in the community, with their colleagues, and, ultimately, with their service recipients.

“I am thrilled, ecstatic, overjoyed, and thankful that the Tower Foundation has funded and partnered with Centerboard in providing community organizations the opportunity to deepen their awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion. What an awesome dream that has come true,” said Judge Baker Children’s Center’s Vice President of Innovation and External Affairs/Senior Diversity Officer and Centerboard’s Diversity trainer Gary R. Lyon, EdD, MPA.

“We are really excited about working with the Tower Foundation to offer DEI training to several nonprofit organizations,” said Centerboard’s Director of Innovation & Planning, Kim Hopkins, LICSW. “We have been engaging in this work for more than a decade now and know how powerful and rewarding it can be for an organization.”

Centerboard has engaged in meaningful diversity, equity and inclusion work since 2011. They use the framework and tools developed by VISIONS, Inc. to recognize, understand, and appreciate differences across many variables - going way beyond Federal and State EEOP requirements.

With the assistance from the Tower Foundation, Centerboard will host three groups of 15 participants each (45 participants total) representing 15 Essex County nonprofits. The first cohort will occur during year one and consist of three representatives from five nonprofits. Cohorts two and three will take place in the following consecutive years. Nonprofits will apply to participate to ensure that they meet the criteria of having a small budget/show evidence of financial constraints, mainly serve participants ages 0-26, and have a focus on mental health, substance abuse, intellectual and/or learning disabilities.

The project consists of each non-profit receiving an assessment of their current inclusion practices during August and September. In October, non-profit participants will begin 20 weeks of cohort training - 1.5 hours per week ending in the Spring. During cohort training, participants will learn the VISIONS, Inc. tools and get feedback on their practice of each tool. Centerboard also plans to begin a podcast for additional support to organizations engaging in inclusion work.

Organizations can apply by emailing Kim Hopkins at khopkins@centerboard.org by July 31, 2022 for the FY23 cohort.

About Centerboard
Centerboard's mission is to revitalize the community by investing in its people and places. The organization supports families and young people through housing, access to employment, education and financial empowerment. For more information, visit https://centerboard.org

About Tower Foundation
A Family Foundation impacting the lives of children, adolescents and young adults. The Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation believes every young person should have the chance to achieve their personal goals, regardless of the challenges they face.