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Inclusion initiative continues to gain momentum in Vermont

By PATRICK McARDLE
RUTLAND HERALD
A Declaration of Inclusion policy that has roots in Rutland County is on track to be approved by 50 municipalities, possibly in time for Vermont’s Inclusion Week (May 8-14).

It is also the subject of a webinar hosted by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility scheduled for April 26.

A sample version of the declaration, posted at vtdeclarationofinclusion.org online, gives local leaders a template that can be used by just adding the name of the municipality.

“The (municipality) condemns racism and welcomes all persons, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, age or disability, and wants everyone to feel safe and welcome in our community. As a town, we formally condemn all discrimination in all of its forms, commit to fair and equal treatment of everyone in our community, and will strive to ensure all of our actions, policies and operating procedures reflect this commitment. The (municipality) has and will continue to be a place where individuals can live freely and express their opinions,” the declaration states.

Al Wakefield, one of the proponents of the Declaration of Inclusion initiative said it has been adopted by 44 municipalities with one more town close to approval and another five possibly joining in by May. Some of the most recent to become part of the initiative are Wallingford, Morristown, Newfane and Stowe. Clarendon officials are talking with Wakefield and other proponents.

Wakefield said the organizers have estimated about a third of the state’s population, about 210,000 residents, live in towns that are part of the initiative.

“We’re working with the governor’s office to hopefully bring greater recognition during Inclusion Week in Vermont,” he said.

Bob Harnish, one of the main organizers, tracked the origins of the initiative to an invitation he got from his cousin, Dave Bennion, to attend a meeting of the Franklin Select Board, where Bennion serves as vice chair. Franklin adopted a declaration of inclusion at the meeting in September 2020.

“I was so intrigued with just the moral correctness of it and also the economic value to Vermont, so I presented it to the select board in Pittsford. We presented it at one meeting and at the next select board meeting, there was a motion to adopt and it was adopted unanimously,” he said.

Harnish said the declaration was adopted in Brandon and around that time, he reached out to Wakefield.

“I said, ‘Gee, I think this thing might have legs,’” he said.

Wakefield and retired attorney Norman Cohen joined the effort.

Wakefield said he thought part of the success was the relative small size of Vermont.

“You can make things happen in Vermont that you can’t make happen in other states. Somebody is related to somebody else in one way or another, somebody is in contact with somebody or another. The way we’ve made this work is not because we have any kind of political power or unbelievable influence and contacts, we’ve gone to people that we know in one way or another who know people. They thought this cause is right from a moral standpoint and an economic standpoint, and they’ve taken it to their towns,” he said.

Harnish said he, Wakefield and Cohen rarely present the policy to towns but look for community members with “gravitas” and local respect in a municipality whose leaders are considering it, and ask those local residents to endorse the concept.

While Harnish said one is hopeful that something like the inclusion initiative will find acceptance, he said with the embrace of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, the proposal got “more credibility” and took a “huge step forward.”

Another boost may come from the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility webinar, during which Wakefield will be joined on a panel by Betsy Bishop, president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce; Milton’s Town Manager Don Turner; Jude Smith Rachele, co-founder and CEO of Abundant Sun Limited; and Ted Brady, executive director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. The panel will talk about the initiative and how a business or municipality can adopt their own version of the policy.

Roxanne Vought, executive director of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, said it was a “no-brainer” to seize the opportunity to bring more visibility and awareness about the inclusion initiative to the business community as Inclusion Week nears.

She said employers have a huge influence on their community.

“They create workplaces, which can be places of welcoming and belonging and inclusion and that’s what we hope and strive for and what our organization aims to support and inspire. … As pillars and cornerstones of their community, businesses also have an immense responsibility for the culture of the communities and helping to create and nurture a culture that is welcoming and inclusive,” she said.

Vought said about 100 people already are signed up for the webinar. She said the event builds on ideas brought forward at an earlier webinar co-hosted by Curtis Reed, of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, on the subject, “Bigotry is Bad for Business.”

“I’d like to tie it together with our vision which is, ‘A just, thriving and transformative economy that works for all people and the planet.’ The only way it’s going to work for all people and it’s going to be just and thriving and transformative is if we create communities of belonging and inclusion,” she said.

The webinar, “Vermont’s Declaration of Inclusion: Why it Matters & What it Means for Your Organization,” will start at 10 a.m. on April 26 and is expected to last an hour. More information can be found at vbsr.org. The webinar which is free and open to the public.

The inclusion initiative has its own web page at vtdeclarationofinclusion.org that includes a list of municipalities that have already adopted the declaration and a document that can be used for what organizers are hoping will be the next phase: Adopting a plan to implement the declaration’s intent into meaningful action.

“Our vision is that Vermont will become known as the most welcoming and safe place for all people in the country,” Wakefield said.

patrick.mcardle @rutlandherald.com

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