Dear GrubStreet Community,

We are excited to share an update on GrubStreet’s Cultural Belonging work for 2023. In November 2022, we hosted two sessions (in-person and online) for community members to come together and have invaluable conversations around what belonging should look, feel, and sound like at GrubStreet. You can read our previous update on this work here.

One of our desired outcomes was to create a statement of belonging for GrubStreet. The statement’s purpose is to outline how we as community members show up in our classes, events, and meetings. By creating a clear, succinct statement of belonging, we seek to create a common understanding of what community members both aspire to and can expect from one another as well as how to address behaviors and moments that do not meet our shared agreement.

We are writing to share our statement of belonging with you, a valued member of our community. We worked to create an inclusive construction and revision process, utilizing community members’ direct feedback from the November 2022 sessions and post-series surveys, consulting our student guidelines, and having in-depth conversations with our staff, Board, and instructors.

GrubStreet Statement of Belonging:

At GrubStreet, belonging means creating and maintaining spaces where we boldly share our perspectives and our work as writers, readers, and audience members. Every member of our community commits to engaging across differences with curiosity and a desire to learn and grow together.

Community Agreements:

• Practice cultural humility, ask questions, and engage with different perspectives
• Offer grace to speak in draft form and be open to making mistakes
• Check our biases and be aware of how we carry our own identity and privilege as well as its impact

We are currently working with our Programs team and gathering feedback from instructors on how to thoughtfully and intentionally implement this statement and our community agreements in our classrooms. We look forward to sharing more about our progress in the coming months and continuing this important work together.

With gratitude,

GrubStreet Cultural Belonging Committee