Starting in 2016, members of Maria L. Baldwin Community Center recommitted to the organization’s long and winding journey of addressing institutional and structural racism through reflection on the programs we offer to our community and the manner in which they are delivered; our own policies and practices as an organization and their impact on our staff and program participants; and the ways we partner with institutions and participate in our wider local community.  

Where we’ve been…

(Click here to Learn More)

• 2017 
  • grant received from Community Health Network Area 17 (CHNA 17) to attend learning community workshops
  • Anti-Racism Stewards set initial goals, establish communication agreements, begin to collect resources and create a tool of key terms to then facilitate discussions with MLBCC staff
• 2018
  • Anti-Racism Stewards begin holding spaces for all staff, program leaders, and administrators to discuss personal reactions to key terms related to race, racism, equity
• 2019
  • Executive Director, Children’s Programs director and hr coordinator attend trainings and workshops centered on racial equity, begin to adjust elements of hiring process
  • members of children’s programs teaching team lead an effort to update library
  • board of directors invited to join in antiracism work
  • staff begin conversations around sustainability and self- and community-care, share resources for further learning
  • children’s programs site directors lead conversations around race and equity in youth work
• 2020
  • community member introduces proposal to change neighborhood name due to Agassiz’s theories on polygenism and their roots in white supremacy
  • COVID-19 pandemic forces agency to go into emergency operations, operating food pantry delivery service and taking on case work to support hardest hit community members and address issues of access to essential services and resources
  • board of directors vote to begin efforts to change the agency name 
• 2021
  • agency staff hold space for neighborhood council, local residents and local government to address neighborhood name change (learn more here and here)
  • Children’s Programs and Maud Morgan Arts Center begin new framework to deliver essential childcare programming 
• 2022
  • deeper internal work across many areas, from personnel to agency name change
  • staff anti-racism curriculum planning begins
  • Maud Morgan Arts Afterschool curriculum elevates youth voices on social justice matters
  • agency partners with Trinity Boston Connects to facilitate listening sessions among smaller communities within the organization’s staff, including members of the board
• 2023
  • identifying and supporting points of growth and learning opportunities for staff and community
  • community-wide announcement celebrating organization name change and new leadership model
  • agency continues partnership with Trinity Boston Connects to plan and conduct Organizational Equity Practice assessment Share Backs and Learning Sessions
  • organization hosts first BIPOC staff affinity space

Where we are going…

• Ongoing learning opportunities for our staff
• Sustaining Equity and Access Scholarship Awards for program participants
• Learning and adopting restorative practices within our community, uplifting joy, resilience, and belonging

Donate Today! [select anti-racism designation in drop-down menu]

Who we are…

Anti-Racism Stewards
Kelsey Chaplain
Allegra Fletcher
Maria LaPage
Phoebe Sinclair
Ashley Yee

Past members
Eric Delisle, Read “Remembering Eric Delisle” on p. 11 of the February 2019 Whistler 
Micah Eglinton-Woods