Our Commitment
The Cleveland Guardians are committed to developing and maintaining an environment that embraces all forms of diversity to enrich our core values, enhance our competitive position, strengthen our impact within our community, and foster a greater sense of belonging for our employees.
Inherent in our role as a civic institution, we strive to unite and inspire our city with the power of team. We have a long, yet imperfect history of doing this as an organization, but we are committed to making a difference. We know that sports can be a powerful agent of change in our society and it is our hope that we can use our platform to be a part of the positive change we need in our country.
What is Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion?
At the Cleveland Guardians, we commit ourselves to building a community that values and celebrates differences, encourages dialogue, fosters mutual respect, and highlights our shared purpose and beliefs. In pursuing our purpose to unite and inspire our city with the power of team, we embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion as strategic and moral imperatives in our work. We define diversity, equity, and inclusion to ensure common understanding across our community players, staff, and fans.
We understand DIVERSITY as medley of different backgrounds and experiences across multiple lines of identity, which may include race, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, national origin, language, physical ability, mental health status, sexual orientation, age, education, geographic origin, socio-economic status, political perspective, veteran status, immigration/citizenship, and/or religious beliefs. It also involves differences in experiences, talents, values, and perspective. We seek to ensure that the communities we serve are represented throughout our organization and believe that everyone should be able to bring their authentic self to our ballpark.
We understand EQUITY in terms of fairness and justice within our organization and our community. We recognize that we don’t all start from the same place and seek to ensure everyone has access to the same opportunities, experiences, support and resources needed to enable success while addressing and correcting any imbalances that currently exist in our organization.
We understand INCLUSION as cultivating an authentic sense of belonging for our employees, teammates, and fans. We seek to create an environment, free of judgement, where differences are welcomed, different perspectives are respectfully heard, and where people from all backgrounds, especially traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups, feel empowered to fully participate in all aspects of our organization.
We believe that creating a culture of belonging is a shared responsibility. Our purpose to unite and inspire our city with the power of team —rooted in people, culture, and community—guides our work toward becoming an equitable, just, and inclusive organization. The full potential of our diverse network will be reached only when we are an inclusive community.
Statement on Systemic Racism
The Cleveland Guardians organization stands united with the African American and Asian American communities, and all those who seek social justice and equality. We share in our community’s anger, and in this moment we will not remain silent. We stand together against racial profiling and incidents of police brutality that unfortunately continue in our society, despite the genuine efforts of so many to address these community issues.
As Larry Doby once said: “Kids are our future, and we hope baseball has given them some idea of what it is to live together and how we can get along, whether black or white.” In the spirit of Doby, we commit to doing our part to end the systemic racism that persists in our society and to call for empathy and understanding for all communities.
Statement on Team Name
Guardians Owner Paul Dolan issued a statement as a follow up to the organization’s initial statement on July 3, 2021 about determining the best path forward with regard to the team name.
“As we approach Opening Day, I wanted to provide an update regarding our team name and our plan moving forward. In our July 3rd statement, we shared a commitment to listening and learning from our community, and we appreciate the passionate response over the past several weeks.
Earlier this week, I had a candid and productive meeting with Terry and our players, where they expressed their desire to help our organization in this process. Our players care about the organization and feel strongly about social justice and racial equality. I support their interest in using their platform to unite our city and our nation through their actions.
As I explained to our players, I am invested in engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to help determine the best path forward with regard to our team name. In the coming weeks, we will engage Native American leaders to better understand their perspectives, meet with local civic leaders, and continue to listen to the perceptions of our players, fans, partners and employees. We feel a real sense of urgency to discuss these perspectives with key stakeholders while also taking the time needed to ensure those conversations are inclusive and meaningful.
We will continue to share periodic updates as we make progress. In the meantime, we are excited for our team to return to the field to continue our pursuit of a World Series Championship.”
Taking Action
We recognize that posting a statement and talking about our beliefs is not enough. We don’t pretend to have answers, but we commit to being part of helping our community find them. We have already started conversations with our players and staff to make this an ongoing priority in our organization, and we will work to partner with civic and community leaders to listen, learn, and then act. And as we shepherd in a new era as the Cleveland Guardians, we are brave enough to admit that we haven’t figure ed out all the answers.
To better advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in our organization and community, we have taken several steps to actively learn about systems of oppression and take action to fight injustices that exist in our sport:
- Equity Working Group
- Three Team Alliance
- Learning and Education
Workforce Diversity
We seek to attract, develop, and retain a diverse workforce that brings a broad range of perspectives and experiences to our company. Through supporting an inclusive work environment, we strive to recognize and value the distinctiveness of each employee and to take full advantage of those differences to improve our productivity, while cultivating an environment of belonging and respect for each other and our communities.
To further this commitment, we are dedicated to a process that emphasizes the quality of a candidate’s experience over the quantity. We value diverse lived experiences alongside learned experiences and focus on cultivating diverse candidate pools for every position we post. We are committed to finding and hiring the best qualified candidates for each position.
Our Talent Acquisitions team works with a number of diverse partners in the community to promote all open positions within the organization. We know studies have shown that people from historically underserved groups - including women and people of color - are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every one of the qualifications as described in a job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job and understand that candidate may bring certain skills and experiences to the role that are not listed above, but that would add tremendous value to our organization. We encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of our qualifications described.
Supplier Diversity
Our commitment to diversity extends to our business partners. Through our supplier diversity program, we aim to increase opportunities for a diverse pool of suppliers to compete for the procurement activities of our club. By identifying and building relationships with diverse business partners we seek to develop strategic advantages - promoting efficiency, creativity and profitability - while at the same time enhancing the economic growth and well-being of our diverse communities.
Jackson Robinson Day - Most Valuable Diverse Business Partner (MVDBP)
In 1998, Commissioner, Bud Selig authorized the creation of the Diverse Business Partner (DBP) program, an economically driven business initiative established to cultivate new and existing partnerships with minority, and women-owned businesses, by increasing opportunities for minorities and women to participate in the procurement activities of MLB.
Every year to honor the spirit of Jackie Robinson, MLB and the Cleveland Guardians select one Minority or Women -owned business as the year's Most Valuable Diverse Business Partner.
Previous MVDBPs:
- 2018 - Ten10 Design
- 2017 - PromoShop
- 2016 - Image One
- 2015 - North Cost Sales & Maint.
- 2014 - Brandview Solutions
- 2013 - TLC Spring Water
- 2012 - AAA Flexible Pipe
- 2011 - CHI Corporation
- 2010 - Industrial Video
- 2009 - Dependable Painting
- 2008 - Fine-Line Communications
- 2007 - AG PrintPromo Solutions
"Cleveland is rich in diversity. It is important to reflect our community's diversity in the companies in which we do business," says Bette Prendergast, the Guardians purchasing coordinator.
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Progressive Field
2401 Ontario Street, Cleveland, OH 44115
216.420.HITS
LOCAL RESOURCES AND VENDORS
DIVERSE VENDOR SUMMIT
The MLB Diversity Business Summit is the premier sports employment conference and supplier diversity trade fair. This two-day event allows job seekers and entrepreneurs the unique opportunity of meeting with MLB's Clubs at both the Major League and Minor League levels as well as sponsorship partners.
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