“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.” Maya Angelou said it best. We cannot have an accessible future if we presently have prejudice in our communities.
As a BIPOC woman running the 5 Buckets Foundation, I am invested in prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion within our nonprofit. It’s a passion of mine, not only professionally but also personally. Inclusion is not a privilege – it is a right. Every person deserves to feel included and respected in all aspects of their lives.
At our Foundation, we acknowledge that there are a plethora of issues regarding discrimination and racism, especially in the financial industry. We commit to continuing our work to ensure our curriculum is as inclusive as possible and acknowledges the racial injustices in our financial system. We are currently examining and upgrading our curriculum with diversity and inclusion as a top priority. Our new curriculum will prioritize how racial injustices hinder financial resources for underserved communities, and make sure to consider the experiences of the people we are educating.
We will focus on our mission of educating underserved communities and continuing to make our curriculum as accessible as possible. While we are proud of our inclusive, comprehensive education – we know that education itself is not enough to solve the inequalities in our financial system. Barriers in our financial system negatively impact underrepresented communities and will not be solved until we can acknowledge and fix the issues of access and inclusion.
The 5 Buckets Foundation stands against racism, hate, and injustice and we commit to devoting resources and programming to make our world a more inclusive place, with opportunity and justice for all.
-Yasi Agah, Executive Director
October 6, 2021