Timeline of IDEA Initiatives

Throughout our organization, we work intentionally to align our actions with our values. Here is an overview of impactful initiatives to support IDEA year after year.

  • 2023
    2023
    • Included opportunities to highlight local commitment, focus areas and progress in IDEA on website.
    • Updated gender policy and elevated gender inclusivity position across the council network.
    • Updated all policies through an IDEA lens.
    • Piloted new curricula and new National Coach Training.
    • Creating Gender Inclusive Spaces — Organization-wide (recorded webinar)
  • 2022
    2022
    • Set goal for all councils to develop an IDEA strategic plan by 2023. Developed IDEA Strategic Planning Toolkit and began the facilitation of IDEA Cohorts within the council network.
    • Updated Girls on the Run curriculum to pilot in 2023 with new IDEA-centered topics, relevant scenarios and examples, and opportunities for participants to share their experiences.
    • Updated National Coach Training to pilot in 2023 with goal of further elevating coaches’ ability to provide a safe, positive, inclusive space for all participants. New training ensures inclusion and representation of our diverse pool of coaches.

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    • Created new council websites with IDEA woven throughout both the product and the process. Including: inclusive and diverse photos and graphics, accessibility plug-in, readable font size and colors, and alt text on images. Translated council website into both Spanish and French and provided funding for local custom translation needs.
    • Updated National Coach Training to pilot in 2023 with goal of further elevating coaches’ ability to provide a safe, positive, inclusive space for all participants. New training ensures inclusion and representation of our diverse pool of coaches.
    • Developed resources to reach and engage more non-native English speakers.
    • Conducted multiple listening sessions on gender across the council network and engaged a gender expert to review curriculum and coach training.
    • Supported councils across 27 states in recruiting 52 staff members using the inclusive hiring program.
    • Updated board recruitment resources and piloted with councils.
    • Lunch n’ Learn with Move United Strategic Alliance — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Where Do We Go From Here? Owning the Deep Commitment to Help and Not Harm — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Navigating Cultural Conflict in the GOTR Ecosystem — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Successful Strategies for Board Diversification — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Using Coaching Skills to Build Staff Leadership — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Culturally Responsive Behavior Support: What, Why and How — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Strategic Staff Recruitment for Impactful Change — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • The Changing Gender Landscape — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Unpacking IDEA: Social Justice and Cultural Responsiveness in GOTR Programming — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Being An Ally: A Culture Workshop — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Values-Based Communications In a Divided Landscape — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Community Engagement and Collective Impact: Building Coalitions in Your Community — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • IDEA at The Heart of What We Do — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Chasing Rainbows: In Pursuit of Gender Inclusion in a Binary World — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Let’s Meet the Moment: How GOTR Can Support Girls to Meet Their Most Pressing Needs — Council Staff and Board (live webinar)
    • Strategies and Tools to Build a High-Performing, Connected Culture — Council Staff and Board (live webinar)
  • 2021
    2021
    • Assessed IDEA within curriculum, coach training, development/evaluation process and program model/delivery method to ensure all participants, across all intersecting social identities, have a meaningful and engaging experience.
    • Engaged Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium to conduct an equity-centered external review and assessment of existing materials, completing secondary research and conducting a constituent evaluation. Overall, participants, families, and coaches overwhelmingly felt that Girls on the Run was inclusive, promoted diversity, and was accessible and equitable.
    • Established subcommittees comprised of council representatives charged with developing initiatives that advance IDEA Strategic Imperatives across the movement.
    • Forged a partnership with Move United to help bridge the gap between individuals with and without disabilities while they are young.
    • Launched inclusive recruitment program designed to provide education, resources and support to diversify staff and leadership representation, with a goal of 50% of new hires identifying as BIPOC between 2021 and 2023.
    • Developed a data dashboard to monitor representation in job candidate pools. Identified correlations between representation and other factors such as location, department and level of position. Tracked preservation of representation throughout the recruiting process – from application to offer letter – and used any noticeable changes as an opportunity to critically reflect and assess potential causes.
    • Formed our first-ever national employee resource groups called Strength Through Connectedness groups. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ groups foster a sense of belonging and inclusion where individuals can authentically engage with one another across the movement.
    • Launched extensive three-part justice, equity, diversity and inclusion training for Girls on the Run HQ staff.
    • Selected as one of Charlotte Business Journal’s Best Places to Work in 2021.
    • IDEA Strategic Planning & Resources Webinar — Council Staff and Board (live webinar)
    • Sharing Our National IDEA Strategic Imperatives — Council Staff and Board (live webinar)
    • Overview of Findings from Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium equity-centered Assessment — Council Staff and Board (live webinar)
  • 2020
    2020
    • Expanded gender policy to include nonbinary and gender-nonconforming children.
    • Established IDEA Commission to develop strategies that leverage and guide our financial, intellectual and human resources to advance inclusion, diversity, equity and access.
    • Added social identity and bias modules to coach training in partnership with DEI expert.
    • IDEA Commission Informational Overview — Organization-wide (live)
  • 2019
    2019
    • Hired independent research firm to conduct national parent/guardian engagement survey to better understand the perspective of diverse families with children in the program. Found that 95% of Hispanic, 94% of Black and 92% of white parents/guardians felt like their child belonged at Girls on the Run.
    • Updated National Coach Training to include disability inclusion, trauma-sensitive coaching and sexual abuse prevention.
    • Updated performance management system to include behaviors aligned with core values. Launched an ‘Own Your Growth’ individual development strategy to encourage personal empowerment.
    • Disability Inclusion: Training, Resources and Tools — Council Staff and Board (recorded webinar series)
    • Conversations that Matter
    • Elevating Safety and Inclusion at GOTR — Council Staff and Board (recorded webinar series)
    • Trauma-sensitive training — Council Staff and Board (live webinar)
  • 2018
    2018
    • Developed end-of-season coach and parent surveys to assess perceptions of belonging, impact and overall experience to measure inclusion across the network.
    • Piloted disability inclusion council training and developed a disability inclusion guide.
    • Launched Culture Committee comprised of diverse HQ staff to reinforce an inclusive and vibrant workplace that embodies our core values.

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    • Extended paid family leave of up to six weeks and adopted a flexible PTO policy to allow HQ employees to celebrate holidays that are personally significant to them.
    • Go Where the Girls Are: Successfully Working with Community Based Organizations — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Expanding our Definition of All: Curriculum Adaptations for Girls on the Run — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • What is Access & Inclusion – Really? — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Beyond Diversity Rhetoric: Cultural Intelligence for our Global Village
    • The Art of Hiring Top Talent — Council Staff and Board (Summit + recorded webinar)
  • 2017
    2017
    • Collaborated with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability to develop a disability inclusion strategy.
    • Released resources and tools to councils to support the engagement of diverse coaches.
    • Updated participant and site recruitment materials to represent the diversity of girls served and showcase outcomes.
    • Hired first full-time HR director to ensure employment processes were inclusive and transparent.
    • Access & Inclusion 4-Part Training Series: Self Identity, Bias, A&I at GOTR, and Goal Setting — Organization-wide (recorded series)
    • Serving Girls & Sites with Limited Financial Resources: Training, Resources and Tools — Council Staff and Board (recorded webinar)
    • Tools to Build and Diversify Your Coaching Pool — Council Staff and Board (recorded webinar)
  • 2016
    2016
    • Trained staff on IDEA to deepen employees’ understanding of and commitment to an inclusive culture.
    • Launched National Coach Training to prepare coaches to provide a positive, inclusive space for all participants. Coaches engage in exercises to reflect on their own identities and how these influence their coaching. Also provided concrete tools and strategies to enable them to work with participants from all backgrounds.
    • Improved representation and access in hiring processes by: implementing an online applicant tracking system to attract a diverse candidate pool, creating tactics and standardizing recruitment processes to mitigate bias during hiring, and expanding reach to diverse organizations and platforms to share job postings, including organizations such as the Black Chamber of Commerce, the Latin American Chamber of Commerce, DiversityJobs.com, and local HBCUs.

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    • Retained a multicultural agency to identify barriers for diverse volunteers and develop a plan to reduce them.
    • Standardized reporting of council staff and board member race, ethnicity, and gender data to ensure representative leadership.
    • The What, Why and How of Diversifying Your Coaching Pool — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Access and Inclusion Webinar, a precursor to A&I series — Council Staff and Board (live webinar)
  • 2015
    2015
    • Revised curriculum using an access and inclusion lens by integrating diverse constituent input and utilizing a girl-centered design approach to help participants connect learning to their lived experiences.
    • Released parent-facing and participant-facing materials in English and Spanish.
    • Inspiring Greatness through Diversity and Inclusion
    • Ensuring Diversity and Inclusion at Your Council — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
    • Creating Diversity Initiatives that Work
    • Realizing the Many Dividends that Come from Diversity and Inclusion — Council Staff and Board (Summit)
  • 2013
    2013
    • Began purchasing and distributing compensation benchmarking data to ensure competitive compensation for employees. Councils report salary data annually to HQ with the goal of every employee being compensated at the 50th percentile or higher for their position, industry, location, and level of experience.
    • Introduced a total compensation plan to ensure equitable pay for HQ staff.
    • Committed to recruiting diverse board members who could strengthen board deliberations and decision-making.
  • 2011
    2011
    • Launched inclusive employee performance review process where 50% of annual performance is based on behaviors that align with the core values.
  • 2008
    2008
    • Established policy to welcome anyone who identifies as a girl to participate.