ASSOCIATION OF FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONALS
Greater San Fernando Valley Chapter
IDEA Commitment — Inclusion · Diversity · Equity · Access
Adopted 2026 • Aligned with the 2027–2029 Strategic Plan
Our Commitment
The AFP Greater San Fernando Valley Chapter is committed to building a vibrant, welcoming, and accessible professional community where individuals of diverse backgrounds, experiences, identities, and perspectives feel valued, respected, and empowered to participate and lead.
We believe that strong philanthropy is rooted in representation, access, and shared responsibility, and that ethical, effective fundraising depends on the full participation of the communities we serve across the Glendale, Pasadena, San Fernando Valley, and Santa Clarita Valley regions. Meaningful progress requires intentional, sustained action, and our Board of Directors holds the chapter accountable to it.
As a chapter, we strive to ensure that our programs, leadership, partnerships, and culture reflect the diversity of our region and the highest standards of the fundraising profession, consistent with AFP Global’s IDEA and FORGE principles.
What IDEA Means to Our Chapter
Our chapter defines the four principles of IDEA as follows:
Inclusion — Creating a chapter where everyone belongs, participates meaningfully, and has a purpose at the table. We cultivate spaces where members at every career stage can contribute their voice and be heard.
Diversity — Ensuring the broadest possible representation of individuals, experiences, and perspectives across our membership, board leadership, program presenters, program content, and partnerships. We recognize the richness that varied identities, organizations, and backgrounds bring to our work.
Equity — Ensuring that individuals have the resources, support, and pathways they need to fully participate and advance — with intentional attention to those who have been historically underrepresented in the fundraising profession, and to empowering them to lead.
Access — Removing barriers to engagement, education, leadership, and professional growth so that participation in the chapter and the profession is attainable for all. We regularly review the accessibility of our programs, events, and meeting formats.
Statement of Diversity
The AFP Greater San Fernando Valley Chapter serves one of the most diverse regions in the nation, and we celebrate and support that diversity in both fundraising and philanthropic awareness. For our chapter, diversity is an inclusive concept encompassing, without limitation, race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, age, economic class, educational level, language, physical mobility and ability, geography, and marital and parental status, with regard to the composition of our membership, board leadership, program presenters, independent contractors, and program content.
We also encourage diversity with respect to the organizations we represent, from large, well-established institutions to small and emerging nonprofits, and from faith-based, private, and governmental to public. The state of being diverse means having the broadest possible representation of individuals, experiences, and perspectives in all-encompassing terms.
Our Approach
The chapter advances Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access across all of its activities and governance. The Board of Directors leads this work in partnership with chapter leadership and volunteers, and integrates IDEA principles into the fabric of the chapter rather than treating them as the responsibility of any single group.
This commitment supports:
-
Ethical and inclusive fundraising practices, consistent with AFP Global standards
-
Equitable access to leadership, education, and professional growth
-
A welcoming environment for members at all stages of their careers
-
Integration of AFP Global’s IDEA and FORGE principles into chapter leadership, programming, partnerships, and communications