DIGNITY & HUMANITY

We will strive to understand the impact of trauma upon our clients, ourselves, and our community.

We will prioritize and promote an accepting, respectful, and patient workplace. We will be compassionate and empathetic to those we represent and each other.

We will respect and honor every person. We will value each other’s expertise – we all bring different expertise to the table, from our lived experience and academic backgrounds, whether in law, social work, training and education, data analysis, administrative work, other specializations, other skills, and knowledge.

We will strive to push the legal system and other related systems to respect and honor our clients.

COLLABORATIVE AND HOLISTIC ADVOCACY

We will approach our practice through a collaborative, interdisciplinary and team approach that leads to holistic client representation. We will recognize the value of every Defender team member’s role in our organization and engage in cross-unit and cross-functional problem solving to promote successful outcomes. We will prioritize collaboration with our community partners to build better support networks for our clients.

We will be unified in promoting and practicing the Defender mission.

We will zealously advocate for systemic change for the betterment of our community, organization, and clients. We will be persistent and forceful in pushing the legal system and other related systems toward fairness, dignity, and honor for our clients and for each other.

PROFESSIONALISM

The Defender Association will operate in a highly professional manner. All Defender employees will take it upon themselves to lead by example and strive for excellence. We will demonstrate respect, fairness and equity, and practice accountability to ourselves, our colleagues, and our clients. We will build strong interpersonal relationships by communicating in a positive, clear, and professional manner.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

The Defender will make diversity, equity, and inclusion a hallmark of its day-to-day operations, advocacy and client representation.

We will practice with cultural awareness, competence and respect for our diverse client population, Defender staff, and community.

To help our organization thrive, we will work towards strategic, measurable, and actionable changes to achieve diversity in race, ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity, neurodiversity, religion, ability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, native language, pregnancy, genetic background, citizenship status, or any other defining characteristic. We will also participate in opportunities outside our organization to support diversity and inclusion initiatives in local communities.

• We are committed to antiracism as a key ideal which drives our organization forward. We will actively combat racism in all forms, including explicit bias, implicit bias, and systemic racism.
• To affirm and support historically minoritized individuals in the workplace, we will center equity and accessibility in our processes, interpersonal practices, client representation, and organizational decision-making. We will strengthen our organizational diversity through recruiting, hiring, mentoring, and retaining talent at all levels of our organization.
• We will encourage open dialogue and communication and will foster a work environment where Defender staff and clients can confidentially disclose instances or perceptions of bias, discrimination, bullying, and/or harassment without fear of retaliation.