The Crane Institute of Sustainability, the nonprofit home of the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN), is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace and culture that embraces individual differences and creates equal opportunity in accordance with established anti-discrimination principles and laws. 

We recognize that diversity enhances organizational innovation and effectiveness, consistent with research demonstrating improved problem solving outcomes in heterogeneous groups. We are strategic about not discriminating against any group, regardless of cognitive, demographic, and other dimensions of diversity. We reject the zero-sum paradigm, defined as "the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others," and recognize the benefits we gain when people come together to accomplish what we simply can't do on our own.¹ 

We aim to be an anti-racist organization, and acknowledge the importance of addressing unconscious bias in decision-making processes and organizational practices. Our organization strives to create an environment where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect, and to advocate for systemic changes that promote fairness and equal opportunity across educational institutions, businesses, financial systems, governance structures, and civil society. 

We integrate equal opportunity principles throughout our organizational structure and mission. We provide ongoing professional development opportunities regarding inclusion and anti-discrimination practices for our staff. We actively recruit diverse candidates for our board of directors, staff positions, internships, steering committees, and working groups in accordance with equal employment opportunity principles. We continuously improve our practices to ensure a respectful workplace environment within our organization and network activities, which we believe contributes to employee and member retention. We prioritize diverse representation and viewpoints in all our programmatic activities.

Learn more about our ever evolving programmatic work on these topics via the IEN Initiative page.

1: McGhee, H. C. (2022). The sum of us: What racism costs everyone and how we can prosper together (Paperback edition). One World