WCMGA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee - Washington County Master Gardener Association

The WCMGA DEI Committee is a group of Washington County Master Gardeners who are working to help the chapter grow our efforts in the areas of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We developed the WCMGA land acknowledgment that is read at chapter meetings and is posted at both our demonstration gardens, as well as accessibility and inclusivity assessments for our public events and volunteers. (Accessibility and Inclusivity assessments available below.) We planned and staffed a Master Gardener booth at the 2024 Hillsboro Pride Party and are working towards having a presence at diverse Washington County events in the future.

We meet in person at the Washington County OSU Extension Office on the second Tuesday of each month from 10am to 11am. We invite WCMGA members to join us! Allies welcome!!

Please contact Larina Hoffbeck at hoffbeck@frontier.com for more information.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Vocabulary

December, 2024: Human Rights

“Human rights are standards that recognize and protect the dignity of all human beings. Human rights govern how individual human beings live in society and with each other, as well as their relationship with the State and the obligations that the State have towards them.

Human rights law obliges governments to do some things, and prevents them from doing others. Individuals also have responsibilities: in using their human rights, they must respect the rights of others. No government, group or individual person has the right to do anything that violates another’s rights.”

–https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/what-are-human-rights

December recognizes National Human Rights month. Please check out the following links for ideas on how to learn more about Human Rights:

The members of the WCMGA DEI committee recognize that the terms and phrases used when discussing topics related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion may be unfamiliar or confusing to many people. Definitions may also change over time. Since gardening is for everyone, we’d like to help foster understanding of DEI vocabulary with our members and other readers of Chapter Chat and the WCMGA website.

This is the final installment of our words/phrases definitions series. We hope that those of you who read these articles as well as clicked through to the expanded information on our website have a better understanding of DEI vocabulary. We certainly do after researching and gathering content for this series! Please continue to check our page going forward for more DEI related information and resources.

WCMGA and OSU Extension DEI forms and resources:

WCMGA Public Event Accessibility and Inclusivity Assessment WCMGA Volunteer Accessibility and Inclusivity Assessment An Introduction to Inclusive Excellence in Extension (Free online course available on demand to OSU Extension volunteers)

Growing Your Own promotional flyer (English)Su Propio Cultivo promotional flyer (Spanish)Gardens are for Everyone: Ideas for Accessible Gardening

Statewide Growing and Belonging Committee Information:

The Culture of Gardening : The voices of gardeners growing plants to connect with their heritage, culture, and identity

How's the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work Going? : Introducing the Growing and Belonging Committee

Links to outside organization information and resources:

The QUARTUX Journal : Critical Indigenous Perspectives This is Kalapuyan Land/5 Oaks Museum: A declaration of perpetual stewardship by the Kalapuyan people Land Grab Universities : How the United States funded land-grant universities with expropriated Indigenous land The Confluence Project

Disability Sensitivity Training Video (Links to dcGovernment Youtube)Eliminating Microaggressions: The Next Level of Inclusion (9-minute video)Centro Cultural de Washington County - educational and cultural center in Cornelius that offers aid and other services to Latinos Adelante Mujeres (Forest Grove) - offers Latina women and their families holistic programs and the tools to achieve self-determination in the areas of education, leadership training, and enterprise OSU Smallfarms - Black and Brown Farmers of Color in Oregon Feed'em Freedom Foundation - creating educational pipelines to agriculture for Black and BIPOC youth, Land Stewardship, Regional Food Security response, and economic prosperity as a means of gaining sovereignty for Black Oregonians.