This is completely up to you and your firm. NOMA NW found that it worked best when one person (oftentimes, leadership, HR or a JEDI committee member) took the lead with the support of a JEDI/DEI team. We also encourage firms to set up a project number so the work is paid and tracked. Treat this work like you would treat your sustainability work, or any other project with a scope, schedule and budget so you can actively manage involvement at a level that works for your business.

We are not expecting firms to achieve perfection on the commitments. It is expected that most commitments will be in progress, and complete for others. This is the start of a journey. We also understand that there are economic uncertainties. With this in mind, we still encourage all firms to sign on and start the work. This is a unique opportunity for firms to take advantage of the program and have the guidance of NOMA PDX. We want to normalize JEDI work in our industry, similar to sustainability. Think of the 2-year program as training wheels and then your firm will have the framework to continue the work independently. The more work you put into it, the more you benefit.

There is no cost for the first class* signing up for the CTA in 2024, however each participating firm must have the primary contact as a member and/or a sponsor of our chapter. This may be subject to change in future years and classes.

*A class is a collection of firms who have committed to the Call-To-Action together during a shared set of four reporting periods that take place over two 12-month years.

This is a great resource for understanding cultural competency. 

The cultural competency interview should be conducted to gauge where your firm stands in their cultural competency at the leadership level and firm-wide. This is imperative to setting your firm benchmark – it is essentially your firm’s starting point. Every firm will have a different starting point, and this is expected. It is important to start with firm leaders first. They create/adopt policies and set the framework for how your firm operates. Once firms know where they stand, they can work with the cultural competency facilitator to design training specific to your firm's needs.

If firms, organizations, or individuals are attending the cultural competency trainings held by AIAO, you will get exposure to a range of topics.

Is there a definition or specific requirements we should be following?

The following resource provides information on Caucus and Affinity groups. https://www.racialequitytools.org/resources/act/strategies/caucus-and-affinity-groups

These topics will be addressed by the cultural competency trainer or facilitator. These topics are very common for cultural competency training and will already be incorporated into the curriculum.

When we sign the pledge, do we need to provide submission materials for the prerequisites or do we have until the first reporting period to provide those materials?

No, please provide all reporting materials and responses at the bi-annual reporting dates.

Do you have information on what the reporting process will look like? (Just so we can better plan ahead for how to gather and submit information.)

An online form is available for firms to fill out before each reporting form deadline. The information on how NOMA PDX will be assessing the information was made available in the welcome package that was sent to signatory firms in February 2024.

How is information shared between the CTA pledge participants? (We are excited to have the opportunity to learn from others!)

Members of our CTA Committee works to set up events and resource sharing opportunities. Stay tuned for upcoming events!