Academy for Educational Development

VISION
 

AED is a global organization that mirrors the rich diversity of the world, values and respects the uniqueness of each person, and strives to create an environment in which all employees can maximize their full potential and contributions.

MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY
 

AED recognizes and values diversity; we acknowledge and honor the inherent dignity of each person. The acceptance and understanding of diversity are integral to AED’s philosophy and tradition, and constitute one of the organization’s core values.  We define diversity broadly as similarities and differences as well as cultural values and behaviors. 

Attention to diversity is an important element in AED’s work of promoting innovative and sustainable solutions to the critical social and economic problems confronting the communities with whom we work in the U.S. and around the world.  Consequently, all employees are expected to participate in AED’s diversity initiatives and continuously improve their diversity competencies.

The Academy is committed to taking concrete affirmative steps to guarantee the equitable treatment of all employees in the workplace, with appropriate attention given to members of minority social-cultural groups in the U.S. and in AED’s global context. AED fosters the acceptance and understanding of differences based on race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, culture, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, and other forms of diversity, among employees, donors, and populations served in all of our work worldwide.

We are committed to honoring both the spirit and the letter of the U.S. Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity policies and procedures, and to moving beyond them, recognizing that within the globally diverse arena in which we operate, the ability to work effectively in our diverse context is a core competence for all our staff worldwide.

We demonstrate our commitment to diversity by focusing on three broad areas: 

1. Compositional Diversity - working to ensure that as an organization, we have staff at all levels whose cultures and identities mirror the many dimensions of diversity within which we work.

2.   Organizational Diversity and Inclusion – proactively creating organizational systems that provide for fair and equitable treatment of all staff, and creating hospitable work environments that allows everyone to contribute to her/his full potential.

3.    Diversity Competence - setting the expectation, providing the education, procedures and processes for each employee to have the cultural/diversity competence to be effective in interactions in the workplace and in the communities in which s/he works.