Our Approach: Mission-Driven
Our mission is to promote meaningful and sustained well-being for children, youth, and adults facing educational, developmental, mental health, and other challenges.
At the heart of our mission are people. From infants to elders and every stage in between, we support the people in our programs and our team members to identify and build on their strengths so they can experience a sense of well-being, enhancing their ability to live meaningful lives.
Both our theory of change and our commitment to diversity, belonging, inclusion, and equity are at the core of who we are as organization, how we work with our team members, and how we run our programs.
Laser-Focused:
Our Theory of Change
We developed a theory of change that clarifies where we focus by identifying the domains of well-being that inform and align our work, regardless of the people or unique needs being served.
When each of us is Connected, Capable, and Healthy, we are well positioned to experience sustained and meaningful well-being over the course of our lives.
Meaningful and sustained well-being =
Connected
Having healthy interpersonal relationships and links to communities.
Interpersonal Relationships
Communities
Capable
The ability to identify goals based on our hopes for our future, make plans to achieve them, believe in ourselves, and do the work necessary to achieve what we set out to accomplish.
Knowing how & being empowered to set goals
Believing you can reach goals
Learning & building skills needed to reach goals
Healthy
Experiencing positive physical and mental health.
Physical Health
Mental Health
Deeply Committed
Diversity, Belonging, Inclusion, and Equity
“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”
— Robert F. Kennedy
Diversity, Belonging, Inclusion, and Equity
We are dedicated to working together to build capacity and change systems in order to be a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization. We still have work to do to fully understand and dismantle all forms of oppression and discrimination faced by our team members and the people we serve. We acknowledge that we are on a journey to celebrate and appreciate every identity (diversity), ensure all voices are heard, and those unique perspectives are brought to the table (inclusion). We also strive to remove barriers to participation (equity). Yet, we must ensure equity (fairness) before we get to equality (sameness).
As an organization focused on our mission to promote meaningful and sustained well-being for children, youth, and adults facing challenges, we strive to be an anti-racist organization, to support team members to be advocates for the voiceless, to bring awareness to racism and inequities, and to be purposeful in supporting our team members from all backgrounds by creating a better belonging environment for them. We understand that equity work requires a lifetime of learning, unlearning, and dismantling injustices, along with ensuring that we give people what they need to show up as their best selves.
We are RFK Community Alliance and we are dedicated to being on the right side of history.
RFK Community Alliance's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
Statement of Purpose
We strive to commit to and include diversity, belonging, inclusion, and equity at the center of RFK Community Alliance’s work–from how we support our program participants to building and supporting our workforce. We will work hard to be free of the bias, prejudice, and oppression that is rooted in various identities and lived experiences including, but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex/gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, different abilities, and unique identities.
The RFK Community Alliance DEI committee will work to actively promote opportunities for everyone–especially individuals from historically marginalized populations–to feel connected, capable, and healthy to be their most authentic self.
Our commitment to diversity, belonging, inclusion and equity will require the assistance of accessible training and education, as an initial step, to help eliminate all biases based on personal characteristics and perceptions. This will include identifying and closing gaps across the employee experience, which will lead to identifying top actions leaders can take to support and optimize employees.
Will you join us on this journey?
Mission
The RFK Community DEI Committee is committed to taking action in the following areas to help our organization, the human services industry, and society at large address the problem of prejudicial attitudes among ourselves and others that place barriers to the hiring, advancement, and overall success of people due to social perceptions, rather than merit and performance.
1) Becoming aware of unconscious bias and internalized prejudice based on social characteristics.
2) Creating a safe, trusted environment to discuss and hold each accountable for the change to root out any traces of bias and barriers.
3) Raising self-awareness of one’s own background and self-identifying how perceptions and attitudes towards others formed over time and consciously working to accept and understand people who have had different lived experiences and truths.
4) Strengthening our respective programs and agency with a DEI lens by promoting and accepting different experiences and knowledge which can help the organization and its employees to operate as successfully and collaboratively as possible.
Chief Diversity and Culture Officer
Meet Dr. Jessica Pepple
Dr. Jessica Pepple is the organization’s inaugural Chief Diversity and Culture Officer and is a member of the executive leadership team.
Few people have the combination of data analysis skills, experience in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and engaging presence that Jessica has brought to her role as RFK Community Alliance’s inaugural CDCO. She holds a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from Boston University, an Ed. Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership from National Louis University, a MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University, a BA in risk management-insurance from Florida State University, and an Associate’s in business administration from Valencia Community College.
Prior to joining RFK Community Alliance in 2022, Jessica worked for the King Phillip School District as Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Before that, she served in a variety of Administrator and Instructional Coach roles at Browne Middle School in Chelsea, Prospect Hill Academy in Cambridge, and Orange County Public Schools in Florida. She is a strategic thinker and thoughtful contributor who is intuitive and gregarious. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family and going to the movies, as well as visiting local museums and art exhibitions.
A Q and A with Jessica:
What are you most passionate about in your work?
I’m excited about equity; I love it, as it makes people feel human. This is important as we are coming out of a "disconnecting" season due to the impact of COVID, and people being nervous to talk about cultural differences that exist. I’m passionate about modeling and teaching a pathway that will lead to more belonging and togetherness in this organization. Seeing people gloat about their differences is amazing, as it shows that we are truly the same.
What are your aspirations for the coming year?
Equity work requires patience and passion in equal amounts. Dr. Maya Angelou stated that patience alone will not build the temple, and passion alone will destroy its walls. Therefore, it is essential for me to teach everyone about the diversity, belonging, inclusion, and equity framework and theory of change that will guide us as a human services organization. I also aspire to meet and interact with each and every one of our staff members to understand their purpose and dedication to the work that makes us unique. Overall, I want to be able to change hearts and minds, one person at a time.
Get in Touch:
Email Jessica
Dr. Jessica Pepple is the organization’s inaugural Chief Diversity and Culture Officer and is a member of the executive leadership team.
Few people have the combination of data analysis skills, experience in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and engaging presence that Jessica has brought to her role as RFK Community Alliance’s inaugural CDCO. She holds a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from Boston University, an Ed. Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership from National Louis University, a MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University, a BA in risk management-insurance from Florida State University, and an Associate’s in business administration from Valencia Community College.
Prior to joining RFK Community Alliance in 2022, Jessica worked for the King Phillip School District as Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Before that, she served in a variety of Administrator and Instructional Coach roles at Browne Middle School in Chelsea, Prospect Hill Academy in Cambridge, and Orange County Public Schools in Florida. She is a strategic thinker and thoughtful contributor who is intuitive and gregarious. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family and going to the movies, as well as visiting local museums and art exhibitions.
I’m excited about equity; I love it, as it makes people feel human. This is important as we are coming out of a "disconnecting" season due to the impact of COVID, and people being nervous to talk about cultural differences that exist. I’m passionate about modeling and teaching a pathway that will lead to more belonging and togetherness in this organization. Seeing people gloat about their differences is amazing, as it shows that we are truly the same.
What are your aspirations for the coming year?
Equity work requires patience and passion in equal amounts. Dr. Maya Angelou stated that patience alone will not build the temple, and passion alone will destroy its walls. Therefore, it is essential for me to teach everyone about the diversity, belonging, inclusion, and equity framework and theory of change that will guide us as a human services organization. I also aspire to meet and interact with each and every one of our staff members to understand their purpose and dedication to the work that makes us unique. Overall, I want to be able to change hearts and minds, one person at a time.
Get in Touch:
Email Jessica
A Q and A with Jessica:
What are you most passionate about in your work?
I’m excited about equity; I love it, as it makes people feel human. This is important as we are coming out of a "disconnecting" season due to the impact of COVID, and people being nervous to talk about cultural differences that exist. I’m passionate about modeling and teaching a pathway that will lead to more belonging and togetherness in this organization. Seeing people gloat about their differences is amazing, as it shows that we are truly the same.
What are your aspirations for the coming year?
Equity work requires patience and passion in equal amounts. Dr. Maya Angelou stated that patience alone will not build the temple, and passion alone will destroy its walls. Therefore, it is essential for me to teach everyone about the diversity, belonging, inclusion, and equity framework and theory of change that will guide us as a human services organization. I also aspire to meet and interact with each and every one of our staff members to understand their purpose and dedication to the work that makes us unique. Overall, I want to be able to change hearts and minds, one person at a time.
Get in Touch:
Email Jessica
The Road Ahead: Our Strategic Plan 2023-2027
We are excited to share The Road Ahead, RFK Community Alliance’s 2023-2027 Strategic Plan.
This plan embodies our ambitious vision to strengthen our programs, deepen our impact, and address even more needs within the communities we serve. It simultaneously expresses our commitment to fostering a workplace that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive, with an exceptional culture.
Thank you to the numerous stakeholders, internal and external- that contributed to this plan.
Our Plan
➙
A Learning Mindset
Like those we serve, we seek to learn on a daily basis, from best practices, real time experiences, and each other.
