Please read the Participant Agreement below and then provide your contact info on this form and we'll be in touch with you soon!
PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT:
At the Sierra Club, people are our most vital resource. Together, we create change in the world for a cleaner, healthier, just and sustainable Idaho, where all people benefit from clean air and water, protected landscapes and access to and connections with nature, and clean, affordable, renewable energy. As a volunteer, you are helping us work towards the mission of the Sierra Club in Idaho, and together we uphold the shared values of community, justice, inclusion, and sustainability.
The work is not always easy, and people do not always agree. We are committed to creating an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive place for people to engage in the work of creating change and achieving our mission and vision. This necessitates working to understand how people are disproportionately impacted by social and environmental injustices, and affirmatively working to reduce harm to volunteers, staff, and community partners through our awareness and the ways we interact. To create a welcoming and inclusive space, and broaden our movement, we are committed to upholding these principles and expectations among our volunteer leaders and staff. It will take all of us, working together in solidarity to create a new world, and we are committed to empowering one another with our principles as we learn, grow, and struggle together.
We ask that Idaho Sierra Club volunteers become familiar with and commit to the Idaho Chapter Equity Vision Statement, the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing, our Organizing and Campaign Principles, our Communication Norms, and our Standards of Conduct.
Idaho Chapter Equity Vision Statement
We are continually striving to be an inclusive organization with staff, volunteers, members, and supporters who are representative of the demographics of the region we work in, which includes BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabilities communities. We are working to build diversified partnerships and authentic, long term relationships with organizations and communities who represent those most impacted by environmental and social injustice. We aim to be an organization that is a force for fundamental progressive change.
Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing
The Sierra Club has committed to the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing. In December, 1996, forty people of color and European-American representatives met in Jemez, New Mexico, for the “Working Group Meeting on Globalization and Trade.” The Jemez meeting was hosted by the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice with the intention of hammering out common understandings between participants from different cultures, politics, and organizations.
The principles are (further explanations of each here):
- Be inclusive
- Emphasis on bottom-up organizing
- Let people speak for themselves
- Work together in solidarity and mutuality
- Build just relationships among ourselves
- Commitment to self-transformation
Idaho Sierra Club Organizing and Campaign Principles
These principles guide our interactions, planning, and advocacy in Idaho. We work together to uphold these principles.
- Anyone committed to our mission and principles may join us and contribute.
- We prioritize relationships to support one another in our challenging work.
- We share power with others in the movement and particularly those on the frontlines.
- We prioritize leadership from the local communities where we are engaging.
- We recognize and acknowledge historical and ongoing inequity in the Sierra Club as an organization and in our work, and we strive for equity, inclusion and justice*. We understand this requires a commitment to ongoing listening and learning.
- We focus on solutions in our campaigns and organizing work.
- While we are working on urgent issues, we recognize that how we do the work is as important as the work we are doing.
- As we work to address the climate crisis, our energy systems must be rooted in equity and democracy and lead us to climate stability.
- Our relationship with the natural world must be one of respect, humility, sustainability, and regeneration.
- *Definitions for Equity, Inclusion and Justice (shortened from this Sierra Club reference):Equity: Equity transcends fairness, creating an environment that ensures equal access and opportunity for everyone.
- Inclusion: Inclusion is not just accepting someone for who they are, but embracing and celebrating each person because of who they are so that they feel valued as their full selves.
- Justice: A commitment to justice means working towards a world where all people are treated with dignity and respect, have their basic human needs met, and have the freedom and self-determination to make choices for themselves without fear of persecution, discrimination or violence.
Image credit: Center for Story-Based Strategy
Communication Norms
In order to practice non-violence in our communications as well as our actions, and to create inclusive spaces, we adhere to these communication norms in our intentional conversations and meetings as well as informal spaces.
- Speaking from personal experience: We can each only speak for ourselves, not for others’ experiences. Therefore, we avoid using generalizing statements or speaking for others. Instead, we practice using ‘I’ statements. For example, one could say ‘I am frustrated that this meeting is taking too long’, rather than ‘You’re taking up too much time’.
- Making space, taking space: All of us have different levels of comfort with taking up space, and experience power dynamics differently in different groups. We work to maintain awareness of our own impact in a group, and consider why we are - or aren’t - talking and sharing ideas.
- When possible, call each other “in”: We aim to create an inclusive environment in which all of us are working toward self-transformation. When someone makes a racist, sexist, transphobic, or other hurtful comment or action, our group must address it head on and call each other “in” to discuss how that comment or action was hurtful so we can learn from our actions and prevent harm in the future. We are all learning how to have the courage to speak up, and our goal is to create an environment in which everyone feels comfortable and capable of participating in these discussions. Unwillingness to work to repair and prevent harm may lead to removal from the group. See Sierra Club’s Affirmative Standards of Conduct (below) for a definition of misconduct and the process for addressing conflict.
- Notice intent, lean towards impact: Notice and take responsibility when your actions or words affect others differently than you expected or intended.
Standards of Conduct
Sierra Club seeks to be an equitable and just place to work and volunteer. All Sierra Club activity should be rooted in equity and justice, to build a Sierra Club that is inclusive, diverse in culture and lived experience, and respectful of our members and the communities in which we work. Volunteers and members have the responsibility to abide by these standards and to hold others accountable for their conduct. Please familiarize yourself with Sierra Club's Standards of Conduct.
