An Important Message On DEI From Our Executive Director

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is under attack from the highest levels of our government, but I want to affirm to the CRWA community that we remain committed and indeed passionate about centering equity and reducing barriers to access to a healthy environment.

We are more effective when we attract and retain staff and board members from a wide range of backgrounds, expertise and perspectives, and foster a culture of belonging in which all feel valued and respected.

We see our impact grow when we prioritize outreach and relationship development among a broader set of constituents in the watershed, including marginalized people and communities.

There is both a moral case and a practical case to be made for DEI. Making the Charles River clean enough to swim in will require modernizing our aging infrastructure. How effective will we be in building public support for those investments if we are not engaging everyone? How effective will we be in persuading the public to join us in calling for dam removal if we are not engaging and educating all residents of the risks they face? And when it comes to protecting people and property from climate-exacerbated flooding, what happens upstream doesn’t stay upstream; water does not respect political boundaries, cultural boundaries, or wealth boundaries – we are all in this together.
With your continued partnership, we will continue to make progress toward a cleaner Charles for all.