SUMMIT, New Jersey, June 16, 2023 – Family Promise was recently awarded a Silver Telly Award for one of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) training videos it produced for its network of Affiliates nationwide. The video was created in conjunction with the production company Boundless Creative and featured insight from members of the Family Promise Racial Justice Council (RJC).
“Helping create this video gave us the opportunity to shed light on unconscious bias, prejudice, and inequity—especially in its most subtle and underlying form,” said LaVeeta Hamilton, an RJC member.
The video will be implemented across the country to help Family Promise Affiliates train their volunteers to harness empathy, grace, and respect while interacting with families receiving services.
“To be recognized with such a prestigious award is very exciting,” said E’Tienne F. Easley, an RJC member. “The energy and passion behind our work came from an authentic place, so to be recognized for it truly means the world to all that made it possible.”
Family Promise began investing in its DEIA efforts following the death of George Floyd in 2020. The first step was forming the RJC, which has since created a DEIA volunteer training video series and hosted numerous webinars that delve into topics like microaggressions and white allyship.
The Telly award-winning video was a result of recognizing the need to educate a national volunteer base on how to confront and navigate the power dynamics that exist between volunteers and families being served by Family Promise.
“At the heart of DEIA work for me is sharing our own and deeply listening to one another’s stories,” said Beth Bojarski, an RJC member. “We must get curious about how we got here and where we’re going while paying attention to whose stories and perspectives are being overshadowed or missing entirely.”
About Family Promise
Founded in Summit, New Jersey, in 1988, Family Promise is the leading national nonprofit addressing the crisis of family homelessness. The organization, comprised of approximately 200 Affiliates, tackles the range of issues that can lead to homelessness. From prevention services to emergency shelter to post-program stabilization, Family Promise ensures families develop vital skills, have access to critical resources, and receive ongoing support to achieve lasting independence. The organization has served more than one million individuals since its founding. For more information, visit familypromise.org.
