At A Step Ahead Chattanooga, embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is fundamental to achieving our mission and vision. We believe that everyone should have access to high-quality health care, accurate information about their bodies, and the contraceptive method that is right for them, regardless of their race, ethnicity, income, primary language, disability status, religious beliefs, immigration status, age, political views, sexual orientation, gender identification, or any other aspect of their identity.
We recognize and respect that all people have their own unique lived experiences and believe that when information and resources are readily available, every person is capable of making a decision about what contraceptive care and resources are right for them.
Our Commitments
To that end, here is how we will work to embrace DEI both within our organization and in the broader community:
We commit to ongoing DEI training for our staff, board, and volunteers, recognizing that any effort to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion in the world must begin internally.
We will continue to prioritize diversity and inclusion in its fullest sense on our board, among our staff, and with our volunteers, ensuring that a wide range of backgrounds, identities, and experiences are represented and that our working environment embraces the inherent value of each individual's unique lived experience.
We will continue to solicit feedback from our clients about their experiences. We will prioritize seeking feedback specifically about any barriers that our clients face in accessing the contraceptive care and resources that are right for them, so that we can continue our work to remove those barriers without making assumptions about what those barriers may be. Client feedback will remain a driving force in how we develop and refine our programming and processes.
With our clinic, community, and referral partners, we will continue to embrace equity and inclusion. We will advocate for patient-centered care, free of bias or coercion, in an effort to improve reproductive health outcomes for clients who may otherwise experience disparities in both treatment and health outcomes because of their identity.
We will remain transparent with our funders about our values and ensure that any formal projects we engage in align with our mission and organizational values.
We will sustain a DEI Committee of board members and staff to ensure that we are carrying out our commitments related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
This is our starting point. We will assess our alignment and progress towards these goals at least annually and will revise them as our work and our world evolve. We hope you will join us in this process.
Approved by the ASAC Board on September 15, 2021 · Updated by the ASAC Board on July 15, 2026
