Progress Toward Our Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Goals in 2024

January 30th, 2025

In early 2020, Upstate Forever published our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Statement. This statement laid out the steps our board, leadership, and staff would take in the years to come to ensure that Upstate Forever’s mission to protect our region’s critical lands, waters, and unique character represented and served the full breadth of the Upstate community.

Every January the entire team reflects on the statement we made in 2020, and we set goals that we hope will shape our internal and external DEI efforts in the year ahead. Come December we report on the progress we’ve made across all four programs and among all support staff. We are thankful to all the community partners and leaders who helped us realize our goals this year.

Below is our 2024 status update regarding the goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion set forth in 2020.


OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

We envision a future that is healthy, vibrant, and prosperous. To realize that vision, we know it is vitally important and essential to our core values that we engage the diverse community we serve.

1. To develop and advance long-lasting, equitable solutions for balanced growth and natural resource protection, our leadership is committed to working intentionally to engage a broader base of Upstate residents in the coming years.

Efforts toward this goal include, but are not limited to:

Our Energy & State Policy team:

  • Presented on energy efficiency program offerings from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Duke Energy Carolinas to the Hispanic Alliance and the SC Energy Justice Coalition.
     
  • Partnered with UF’s Land Planning & Policy team as hosts for an Advocacy Happy Hour that educated community members on Duke’s IRP and the Greenville Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). This event was attended by a diverse group of citizens who expressed their interest in staying engaged with UF on energy and land use issues.
     
  • Participated in an initiative lead by Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA) and Duke University’s Nicholas Institute called the Southeast Energy Insecurity Project (SEIP). The focus of this project is to establish a “one-stop shop” for access to all energy efficiency and weatherization programs offered by the State. This resource is being developed with heavy consideration of individuals who live in vulnerable communities around the southeast.
     
  • Shared energy burden survey data with Wofford College and Strategic Spartanburg to help inform their application narrative for the Community Change Grant funded by the IRA. Wofford is hoping to conduct an in-depth study on energy burden specifically in Spartanburg County and use the findings to help influence local and state policy.
     
  • Encouraged participation in Duke Energy Carolinas rate case and Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) proceedings at the PSC. We distributed one-pagers to neighborhood leaders in Greenville that included pointers on delivering public testimony and submitting comments to the Commission.
     
  • Collaborated on a webinar with Conservation Voters of South Carolina (CVSC) that focused on bridging the generational gap between young conservation champions of diverse backgrounds and more seasoned experts in the conservation community.

Our Land Conservation team:

  • Engaged the UF Board and Land Trust Committee about the Little Africa community and are in the process of arranging introductions to landowners in the neighborhood.
     
  • Met with Chief Lamar Nelson of the Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois & United Tribes of South Carolina and are working with stakeholders to determine local solutions to address their desire to access a new pow wow facility.
     
  • Conducted a landowner outreach event in Eastatoe with the intent to reach Black landowners.
     
  • Coordinated efforts, along with the Greenville County Historic Natural Resources Trust, for the Greenville County Open Space Committee to tour important sites around the jurisdiction, including H&G Produce which is among the few Black owned farms in the County.
     
  • Worked with the Palmetto Conservation Corps who try to recruit with diversity in mind. We continue to seek opportunities to engage with a more diverse group of restoration professionals.

Our Clean Water team:

  • Researched funding opportunities focused on addressing water quality and/or quantity issues in vulnerable communities in the Upstate and attended 11 webinars on environmental justice and equity-focused initiatives.
     
  • Contextualized our clean water work related to environmental justice in our quarterly newsletter, The Water Log.
     
  • Continued to provide financial support to low-income homeowners for septic repairs in our 319 grant areas. 319 grants provide cost-share assistance to homeowners.
     
  • Partnered with The Tyger River Foundation to advocate for the inclusion of recreational amenities and projects that would appeal to a wide range of user groups (interests, ages, and ability levels) throughout the Tyger River Recreation Region planning effort.

Our Land Planning & Policy team:

  • Hosted a successful and increasingly diverse Citizens Planning Academy (CPA)
     
    • Attended neighborhood meetings, focusing on communities of color, to promote applying for our CPA and reached out to organizations that work with local communities of color (REEM, Hispanic Alliance, United Way, and the HEAL board) in order to ensure a diverse audience/applicant pool.
       
    • Reported an increase in our 25-54 age group for the CPA this year as compared to previous years.
       
    • In 2023, 83% of CPA participants self-identified as Caucasian and 17% self-identified as a person of color. In 2024, 52% of CPA participants self-identified as Caucasian and 48% of CPA participants self-identified as a person of color. 
       
    • One CPA session featured a moderated panel discussion with a women-led panel, mostly minority women.
       
  • Piloted an offer of child-care vouchers to cover a portion of childcare costs incurred by attendees at our August advocacy training in Greer, attempting to make our programming more accessible to caregivers with young children.
     
  • Successfully advocated for strengthened land policies in several jurisdictions, developing our positions with consideration, evaluation, and analysis of potential impacts (positive, negative, neutral, intended, unintended) on underserved communities and/or communities of color. We collaborated with Impact Greenville, TreesUpstate, and other partners when appropriate to identify where tensions exist between partners' policy priorities and explore mitigation strategies to address unintended consequences.

2. We will build staff knowledge and capacity related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We will frequently ask ourselves — who is impacted by this work, and how is their voice represented in the conservation and advocacy solutions we seek? We will amplify the stories of underrepresented stakeholders in the conservation movement — especially people of color.

Efforts toward this goal include, but are not limited to:

  • Began a year-long effort to evaluate and strengthen our internal work culture with a focus on ingraining DEI into every aspect of our culture and improving a sense of inclusion and belonging among staff.
     
    • In March, the Deputy Director initiated a discussion about organizational culture, focusing on how UF staff perceives the internal culture.
       
    • In June, the DEI facilitator completed the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate through eCornell in December of 2023, which offered courses on Improving Engagement; Counteracting Unconscious Bias; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Work; and Fostering an Inclusive Climate.
       
    • In July-October, the Executive Director, Deputy Director, and DEI facilitator drafted updated organizational values, received staff feedback, and are working to put them in staff materials to help guide work culture moving forward.
       
  • In February 2024, the Communications team conducted an interview with Executive Director of the WeGOJA Foundation Dawn Dawson that was published on the blog and posted to all social media channels. Dawn shared details on The Green Book of SC: A Guide to African American Cultural Sites, which we highlighted in honor of Black History Month.
     
  • In May, the Deputy Director, DEI Facilitator, and Land Policy Grassroots Specialist met with the Chief Diversity Officer of the City of Greenville, Bryant Davis, who offered suggestions for how to create an inclusive workplace culture at UF that occurs by design instead of default.
     
  • In October, three staff members attended the Greenville Chamber’s Diversity and Economic Inclusion Summit. The theme of the summit was EVERYONE, capturing the idea that creating an environment where everybody truly belongs is everyone’s responsibility. Upstate Forever served as a bronze-level sponsor for the event.
     
  • Both the Spring and Fall issues of our publication The Upstate Advocate featured people of color voicing their connection to place. The Spring issue showcased the work of City of Greenville Planning Commissioner, Pamela Adams, and how she empowers others in place-making. The Fall issue showcased a piece about Pearlie Mae Suber Harris — “Where the trains came up the mountains” — who grew up on the Saluda Grade Railway, which is now the Saluda Grade Rail Trail. The article was written by Carolyn Baughman for Conserving Carolina, who granted UF permission to republish it.

3. Finally, we will take deliberate steps to build authentic community partnerships and cultivate new leaders at all levels of our organization — from our membership to our staff to our board — to ensure that we better represent the community we serve.

Efforts toward this goal include, but are not limited to:

  • In January, Land Policy Grassroots Specialist Tre'Dessa Smalls joined UF and the Land Planning and Policy team and has worked diligently to expand UF’s outreach in communities of color in the Greenville area.
     
  • In an effort to build a board that better represents the community we serve, the Board Nominating and Governance Committee continues actively seeking recommendations for community members well-suited for board service who would also expand board diversity. The board includes three members of color, one member from the Hispanic community, and five women. We continue exploring ways to expand the diversity of our candidate pool for open positions.

If you have any questions about our DEI work at Upstate Forever, please contact Elizabeth Swails eswails@upstateforever.org

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