The Aprendamos Family of Services organization is once again honored to partner with the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico and Ivy Child International to present the 2024 Advancing Social Equity Initiative! The goals of the Advancing Social Equity Initiative (ASEI) are to support and empower nonprofit organizations working towards social equity, resulting in impactful work and engagements that advance racial and social justice in Southern New Mexico.
Over the past two years, ASEI has successfully supported and empowered nonprofit organizations working towards social equity. In 2022, Jardín de los Niños and CAFéNM were selected as the grant recipients and nonprofit partners, while Play Sharity and Bold Futures made up the 2023 cohort. By offering the participating nonprofits intense diversity, equity, and inclusion training, these organizations were given the tools to embed their learnings into their work, policies and procedures, and workplace cultures.
This year we are introducing an innovative approach by bringing together the alumni from cohort 1 and cohort 2 to participate in an Alumni Work Group. This will allow the four nonprofits to continue to strengthen their sustainability practices, build collaborative networks, and amplify their long-term impact. We hope by combining these cohorts, they can come together in community to share success stories, best practices, and build upon and further develop the impact they are having in diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.
Over four months, the alumni cohort will gather to collaboratively address DEI sustainability challenges and develop a strong foundation for long-term impact. By fostering knowledge-sharing, providing capacity-building support, and promoting collaborative efforts, it is our hope that the four participating nonprofits will achieve sustainable growth and continue to foster lasting social equity in their communities. Our goal is to use their success stories to build a toolkit that can be used by other organizations that are eager to deepen their commitment to advancing social equity.
Laura Elmquist, Culture, Equity and Belonging Champion for the Aprendamos Family of Services organization said, “The four nonprofits are doing amazing work in our community and we are thrilled to have them come together to learn from each other. It is exciting to know that our collective impact will create positive outcomes for our community!”
The Advancing Social Equity Initiative is made possible through the generous support from the Aprendamos-Covarrubias Family Foundation Fund and the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico in partnership with Ivy Child International. For more information on ASEI, please contact Laura Elmquist at lelmquist@aitkids.com.