Commitment to IDEA

IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) is MACC’s commitment to leading consciously within our sector: centering the voices and experiences of those most impacted by oppression, resisting white supremacy culture in how we operate, and building a future that is just, equitable, and inclusive for the communities our members serve, and within our own walls.

Our Commitment to IDEA

IDEA at MACC is an acronym that stands for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility. The communities our members serve have always found ways to build strength, solidarity, and care for one another even in the face of intersecting systems designed to exclude and oppress them. Human services nonprofits exist to amplify that power, and MACC exists to make sure those nonprofits have the infrastructure, capacity, and solidarity to do that work well.

MACC believes that human services organizations should be of, by, and for the community. They should be tools to build strength, solidarity, and care for one another.

We also believe that the need for human services is too often a result of systemic racism and other intersecting forms of oppression, and that human service nonprofits have a responsibility to resist those systems of oppression and not uphold them.

MACC believes that everyone has the right to well-being.

MACC commits to trust and center the experiences of community members with lived experience and those working to dismantle oppressive systems.

MACC commits to ongoing learning and progress. Our IDEA journey is continually re-beginning; we will make mistakes, we will not reach perfection, we will hold each other accountable, and we will courageously keep trying.

MACC commits to working in solidarity with Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latine, and all other marginalized people to resist systems of oppression in human services and in our connected communities.

MACC commits to allocating tangible resources to make IDEA part of the fulfillment of our mission.

Our IDEA Values

Values are a bridge to help us connect our strategic priorities to our daily work through the ways we apply them in our actions. For our staff team it’s why do we do this work. For our members, it’s how they know they’re partnered with a values aligned organization.

Timeline

Quarterly IDEA Dialogues

2026

With the guidance of our new Learning and Equity Specialist MACC staff held quarterly IDEA dialogues focusing on themes of Identity, Values, and shared Experiences. These dialogues are a way to build connections and shared understanding, explore different perspectives, and examine power dynamics, all things that are critical to our work.
IDEA Events

2026

In 2026 we hosted several events both for staff and our network: a June 2026 Pride Month Panel explored Queerness and Art: a Conversation, for Black History Month we looked at Equity and Resistance Amid Oppression – Then & Now, and in January we learned about Native plants and foodways with Indigenous Food Labs at Owamini.

November 2025

MACC shared its Action Plan for Honoring Native Lands and Peoples with our network. The Action Plan is a living document, shared with humility, with the goal providing transparency and accountability for this work and to invite conversation with our Network and community partners.

October 2025

MACC hired our Learning & Equity Specialist – a dedicated role that brings focused capacity to our internal IDEA work, from assessing our culture and developing equity-centered training to supporting our HR member organizations in building more inclusive workplaces.

February 2025

MACC created a new platform for the voices of our network — Powerful Voices, Lasting Impact, a podcast mini-series featuring brief but powerful conversations with nonprofit professionals sharing their unique experiences, perspectives, and identities in the nonprofit workplace.
IDEA Events

2025

in 2025 we hosted several events for both MACC staff and our network: for Native American Heritage Month we explored the impact of Boarding Schools on Native American Families, focused on the ways we can make resistance joyful as we looked at the intersections of Queerness + Reproductive Justice for Pride, and uplifted the Past, Present, and Future Impact of Black Women in Nonprofit Leadership for Black History Month.

January 2025

After a year of research, staff engagement, and collaboration, MACC’s Honoring Native Lands and Peoples workgroup completed a draft Action Plan — a multi-year, cyclical commitment to concrete, action-based change that engages staff, leadership, and the Board of Directors.

November 2024

As part of MACC’s ongoing IDEA learning journey, staff gathered to hear directly from Native leaders within our member network — listening, learning, and deepening our organizational understanding of the intersection of Native communities and nonprofit human services.

January 2024

MACC’s 2024 strategic framework marked a significant milestone in our IDEA journey establishing two interconnected priorities: embedding IDEA throughout all existing programs and services, and advancing systems change and advocacy to address the systemic racism and underinvestment holding our sector and communities back.

June 2023

MACC formed the Honoring Native Lands and Peoples staff workgroup to develop a meaningful, action-based approach to our relationship with Native communities — creating a process to move beyond acknowledgement toward genuine allyship and accountability.

June 2023

MACC celebrated Pride with a panel featuring Agate Housing and Services, HOPE 4 Youth, and Avenues. These members graciously shared their expertise with us in a thought-provoking, action-orientated conversation on the victories, challenges, and necessity of queer specific housing programming.

April 2023

MACC co-created its IDEA commitment through a multi-month process that engaged staff at all levels, senior leadership, and the Board — establishing a shared foundation of values and accountability that continues to guide the organization’s work today.

September 2021

MACC staff launched Expanding: A Series on Gender, Intersectionality, and Ourselves an organization-wide learning series exploring the intersections of gender identity, sexual orientation, and race, facilitated by Minneapolis-based educator, community organizer, and abolitionist Justin Tolliver.

June 2021

MACC, with the guidance and partners of our IDEA Coach In-Residence, forms an IDEA Workgroup to help guide MACC’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility work into the future.

April 2021

MACC partners with Lissa Jones-Lofgren to be our IDEA Coach In-Residence to support and guide MACC and our team through developing our IDEA work and organizational strategy.