Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The community health center movement has roots in social justice work and community organizing. CHCANYS strives to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and will continue the work that is needed to ensure these principles drive our mission, thoughts, and actions.

CHCANYS’ DEI Committee

CHCANYS’ leadership implemented a DEI Committee Employee Resource Group in July 2020. The Committee is comprised of staff from different departments, diverse backgrounds, and representatives from the organization’s Senior leadership, Clinical Excellence & Innovation,  Workforce Development Initiatives,  Policy & Communications, Finance & Operations, and Data & Technology teams. As part of the Committee’s charter, a mission statement recognizing racism as a public health issue and CHCANYS’ role in fostering diversity, equity and inclusion has been established.

Vision

Racism and social injustice are public health issues, and CHCANYS plays a unique and essential role, along with its member FQHCS, in addressing health disparities. 

Mission

CHCANYS will take transformative action to ensure that it is a healthy and high-performing organization that fosters and respects diversity, equity, and inclusion, and ensures that all staff members feel a deep sense of belonging.  

The Committee’s work is in alignment with CHCANYS’ organizational and board efforts to address bias and health inequities, and to promote anti-racism. 

The tagline: 
ACT: Awareness. Collaboration. Transformation.  
summarizes its overarching goals. 

Land Acknowledgement Statement

CHCANYS is committed to continuing efforts in promoting justice and equity. And in promoting justice and equity, it is important to acknowledge what has been buried by honoring the truth. As the primary care association for New York’s federally qualified health centers, also known as community health centers, we acknowledge that CHCANYS, and the community health centers located across NYS that we represent, are standing on the ancestral lands of Indigenous Peoples including:

•    The Haudenosaunee Confederacy (hoe-dee-no-SHOW-nee or
     hoe-den-oh-saw-nee) comprised of the Mohawk (MO-hawk),
     Oneida (o-NY-da), Onondaga (on-nen-DA-ga), Cayuga 
     (ka-YOO-ga), Seneca (SEN-i-ka), and Tuscarora 
     nations (tus-ka-ROR-a)
•    The St. Regis Mohawk (MO-hawk)
•    The Shinnecock (shi-nuh-kaak)
•    The Munsee Lenape (MUN-see leh-nah-pe), and many more.

It is important to understand the longstanding history of harms and wrongs perpetuated against Indigenous Nations throughout history and how that history has brought us to the land we stand on today, so that we may begin to understand our place within that history. Please join CHCANYS in learning, honoring, and acknowledging the history of the land we stand on and let us pay our respects to the Indigenous Peoples’ past, present, and future, and to their continuing presence. 

This Land Acknowledgement is one small step in CHCANYS’ ongoing commitment to work on efforts and initiatives that will promote health equity and justice for all New Yorkers.

To learn more about the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the significance of Acknowledging the Land click this link: https://youtu.be/Kn1wxc1_HR4 

Join us by learning more about the land on which you stand on today by clicking here: https://native-land.ca/