Equity Commitment

Metris strives to deepen its commitment to equity through both our work products and internal company processes.

What do we mean by equity? We have adopted the definition advanced by Grantmakers in the Arts:

Equity is the fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups. Improving equity involves increasing justice and fairness within the procedures and processes of institutions or systems, as well as in their distribution of resources. Tackling equity issues requires an understanding of the root causes of outcome disparities within our society (Grantmakers in the Arts, 2015).

What does Metris’ equity lens look like in practice?

  • Metris views clients as active partners and particularly desires relationships with entities that are open to critical learning and innovation. Our ideal client already holds equity at the core of its work or seeks to strengthen its commitment to equity.
  • We reflect on a list of questions during the arc of each project, from project design to reporting and presenting findings. We use these equity reflection questions primarily for our research and evaluation work. We adapt some of these questions for our cultural planning work and draw on PolicyLink’s Cultural Equity Plan Toolkit. These questions help us check our assumptions and make our work accessible to and reflective of the people at the center of each project. We make our “check list” and the resources we drew on to craft it, publicly available.
  • As an equal opportunity employer, we commit to equal employment and promotion opportunity regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.
  • To help us pro-actively create and maintain a work environment in which people are treated with dignity, decency and respect, Metris has developed a formal “Workplace Conduct Policy.”
  • We maintain a virtual library of resources on equitable evaluation, research, and planning, as well as research and case studies on equitable creative community development.

Download pdfs: Glossary of Terms | Equity Bibliography | Equity Reflection Questions | Workplace Conduct Policy