Just.

We know that diverse perspectives create better solutions, so we actively work to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of our staff, leadership, and governance—and strongly encourage Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to join our team. The center unequivocally upholds that Black Lives Matter and maintains a fervent commitment to being an anti-racist organization.

The Stanley Center is committed to the hiring, retaining, and promoting racially and ethnically diverse employees. Our retention and promotion strategies are focused on providing a culture and work environment where racially and ethnically diverse staff members have the opportunity to be successful in their careers and to be represented at all levels of the organization including senior leadership.

Our staff are our most valuable asset. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities, and talent that our diverse staff members invest in their work represents a significant part of our culture and long-term success. We aim to create a welcoming, supportive, and collaborative environment where full participation is valued and voices from diverse backgrounds and perspectives are heard.

We value diversity—in people and perspectives—because we know it strengthens what we do. The Stanley Center’s racial and ethnic diversity initiatives are applicable but not limited to our practices and policies on recruitment and selection, compensation and benefits, professional development and training, mentorship and sponsorship, work, and project assignments, promotions, transfers, social and recreational programs, layoffs, and the ongoing development of a work environment built on a premise of racial equity that encourages and enforces:

• Respectful communication and cooperation between and among all staff members.
• Teamwork and employee participation permit the representation of all
  groups and employee perspectives.
• Employer and employee contributions to the communities we serve to promote a greater understanding and respect for traditionally underserved and historically marginalized populations.

October 2025

The Stanley Center is proud of our commitment to the creation and maintenance of a gender-diverse workplace. Individuals who self-identify as women or nonbinary constitute more than half of our workforce and leadership team.

The Stanley Center strives for gender diversity and inclusiveness in our workforce. Gender diversity is intended to be equitable or fair representation of people of different genders. It most commonly refers to an equitable ratio of men and women, and also includes individuals who identify as transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, or gender fluid.

Our goal is to have a workforce that is gender diverse in all job classifications and levels and to ensure that all genders are equitably represented in senior leadership, executive, and board roles. The Stanley Center also seeks to foster a culture in which the organization recruits, retains, and promotes traditionally underrepresented genders in areas/roles where that gender has historically been marginalized or otherwise discouraged from participating.

Since different genders may have different viewpoints, perspectives, ideas, and insights, a gender diverse workforce enables better problem solving. By promoting gender diversity, we strive to attract and retain more diverse talent.

October 2025

The Stanley Center is committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion and will recognize and address barriers to employment. We provide equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants and prohibit discrimination.

At the Stanley Center, we recognize that our people are our most valuable asset. Our recruitment policy outlines a fair, transparent, and consistent final selection process, grounded in our core values and commitment to equal opportunity. This hiring policy serves as a guide for all employees involved in recruitment, helping us maintain a high standard in hiring practices and ensuring our workforce reflects the diversity, expertise, and innovation that drive our mission.

October 2025

The Stanley Center is committed to fostering, developing, and maintaining an inclusive work environment and culture of belonging. We work to ensure that all employees are made to feel welcomed, valued, safe, and supported.

We recognize, embrace, and celebrate our employees’ differences in age, color, race, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, religious
affiliation, socioeconomic status, citizenship status, and other identities that make our employees unique.

We value, accept, and openly invite participation, ideas, viewpoints, and perspectives from all employees. Every individual employee should feel comfortable expressing themselves or raising difficult issues without fear of negative consequences.

We solicit meaningful feedback through quarterly performance conversations and regular employee surveys. The qualitative and quantitative employee experience data we collect informs the center’s continuous improvement in fostering, developing, and maintaining an inclusive work environment and culture of belonging.

All staff members of the Stanley Center have a responsibility to treat others with dignity, empathy, kindness, courtesy, and respect at all times.

All staff members are expected to exhibit conduct that reflects inclusion during work, at work functions on or off the work site, and at all organization-sponsored events. All staff members are expected to give and be open to feedback about behaviors arising from
unconscious bias, and they are expected to be open to ongoing learning that can address those behaviors and their root causes.

October 2025

The Stanley Center’s accessibility policy centers our staff. Our values and principles extend that policy to all of those we interact with. We continuously seek ways to address accessibility needs at our events, in our publications, throughout our website, and in the other ways we engage program participants and visitors.

To ensure equal employment opportunities to qualified individuals with a disability, it is the Stanley Center’s policy to create and maintain an accessible work environment, adhere to the Principles of Universal Design and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design in our workplace, and comply with all federal, state, and local laws concerning the employment of people with disabilities.

October 2025

The center works proactively to advance a culture and work environment where employees feel inspired, motivated, and engaged.

The Stanley Center is committed to a workplace where all staff members give their best each day, feel committed to the Center’s vision, mission, and values, and are motivated to contribute with an enhanced sense of their own well-being. We define engagement as the emotional commitment staff members have to the organization and its goals. We understand that employee engagement is about staff members having a clear understanding of how the center fulfills its purpose and objectives and how it is evolving to better fulfill them.

The Stanley Center strives to operate transparently and encourages all staff members to voice their opinions for continual strategic improvement of the Center. The Stanley Center regularly schedules staff retreats as one way to build teamwork, share information, generate suggestions, and prioritize action steps. Employee engagement is based on trust, integrity, two-way commitment, and communication between the Center and the staff. We believe that employee engagement contributes to organizational and individual performance, productivity, and well-being.

The Center works to ensure that all staff members are:

• included fully as a member of the team.
• focused on clear goals, trusted, and empowered.
• receiving regular and constructive feedback.
• supported in developing new skills.
• thanked and recognized for achievements, milestones, and exemplary performance.

October 2025

Center leadership maintains constant two-way communication with employees to be sure voices are heard and concerns are addressed, including concerns related to compensation, benefits, workload, and well-being. The center also has formal, established protocols for addressing employee concerns.

The Stanley Center acknowledges that nonsupervisory employees have the right to engage in protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act and will interpret and implement its policies accordingly. Protected concerted activity includes taking action for the pursuit of common goals regarding the terms and conditions of employment, such as working conditions, health and safety, benefits, and organizational transparency.

October 2025

The center is committed to providing compensation that reflects—at a minimum—what individuals need to support themselves and their families based on the actual costs of living for a 2-adult household, with one working.

The Stanley Center is committed to providing a living wage for all employees. A living wage is defined as financial compensation that reflects what individuals need to support themselves and their families above the poverty line, based on the actual costs of living in a specific community. A living wage helps with the basic and essential costs of living and helps to provide an adequate standard of living. The Stanley Center uses the MIT Living Wage Calculator as the standard framework for determining the minimum living wage for our staff.

October 2025

As part of our commitment to pay equity, the center ensures equitable compensation in all job classifications that is reasonable and justifiable for all staff members. The compensation ratio between lowest and highest pay is also reviewed annually.

The Stanley Center is committed to pay equity, meaning equitable compensation in all job classifications that is reasonable and justifiable for all staff members. The Stanley Center recognizes that there are merited differences in employee compensation within and between an organization’s levels of employees and pay equity does not preclude merit-based increases based on performance. An annual review is conducted of the compensation ratios between the lowest and highest paid employees.

October 2025

The Stanley Center maintains a pay scale with a maximum variance in pay of 2% among racial and ethnic identities within each of our pay classes.

The Stanley Center is committed to hiring, retaining, and promoting racially and ethnically diverse employees. Our retention and promotion strategies are focused on providing a culture and work environment where racially and ethnically diverse staff members have the opportunity to be successful in their careers and to be represented at all levels of the organization, including senior leadership.

October 2025

The center works to eliminate any gender bias in our pay practices through annual reviews.

The Stanley Center is committed to gender equity in pay and to ensuring that we have no systemic bias and discrimination related to the undervaluation of work traditionally performed by women or those who identify as women, non-binary, gender non-conforming, or gender fluid.

The Stanley Center is committed to ensuring that everyone is treated on the same basis in terms of compensation for the work they perform. All staff members responsible for the same or similar work or work of equal value based on performance will be compensated equitably.

The Stanley Center is committed to performing annual gender pay equity audits by job title.

October 2025

The Stanley Center wants employees to be physically healthy in order to thrive personally and professionally. 

The Stanley Center promotes physical health in the following ways:

• Encourages the use of frequent breaks.
• Ensures that people with disabilities can access spaces.
• Maintains a drug-free and tobacco-free workplace.
• Provides onsite facilities such as a gym and bike racks to encourage biking.
• Provides a Lifestyle Spending Account to employees, which can be used for reimbursement for physical and wellness-related expenses.
• Promotes healthy foods (including plant-based selections) and drinks at center events and in breakrooms.
• Provides fresh produce onsite all year round.
• Provides standing desks and ergonomic furniture.
• Provides an ergonomic self-assessment checklist to new staff members.
• Sponsors occasional group exercise classes and group fitness activities.
• Demonstrates a duty of care for employees while traveling.
• Onsite garden and herbs available to all employees.

The Stanley Center promotes safety in the following ways:

• Ensures keycard access to the building for employees only.
• Requires a code of conduct for participants during programming events.
• Provides a crisis plan for employees during travel.
• Provides a subscription to Worldcue for safety and security alerts.
• Requires employees who travel to take part in travel safety courses.
• Retains an automated external defibrillator onsite in case of emergency.
• Provides an inclement weather plan seasonally.
• Provides an organizational ombud to address conflict and concern within the organization.
• Requires Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Training for every employee every year.

October 2025

The center is proud of our efforts to reduce the amount of work-related stress—and prevent stress—by creating an environment that nourishes and energizes employees. A number of benefits and policies comprise our comprehensive employee well-being program.

The Stanley Center believes that it is important to promote the mental health and emotional and psychological well-being of our employees and to foster a healthy work environment. We believe that the use of effective workplace well-being programs and policies can reduce stress and improve the quality of life for our workforce. We are committed to optimizing the emotional, social, and spiritual well-being of our staff and to create a work environment and atmosphere that allows employees to feel recognized as multidimensional, complex, and evolving individuals. We invest in workplace well-being programs to improve employee mental health, work-life balance, productivity, recruitment and retention, organizational culture, and employee morale.

We are committed to a comprehensive employee well-being program that incorporates the following components:

• Flexible work arrangements.
• Meditation and stress reduction education programs, including apps.
• Dedicated space for lactation, meditation, prayer, reflection, etc.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Paid Health Care Leave (to attend to physical or mental health needs).
• Paid Vacation Leave.
• Two days of paid leave for personal business and two individual paid holidays.
• Workplace Culture Committee, which focuses on maintaining work satisfaction, inclusive staff activities and celebrations, and health and wellness.
• Paid parental leave, pregnancy and childbirth leave, and adoption leave.
• Unpaid leave.

October 2025

The Stanley Center offers robust healthcare insurance coverage—including medical, dental, and vision—as part of an employee’s total compensation package and makes this coverage available to family members. The center covers more than 90 percent of our comprehensive healthcare plans.

The Stanley Center offers a comprehensive package of health care benefits, including group medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage, to all regular full-time and regular reduced-time staff members. Eligibility for the following benefits begins the first of the month following employment.

Provided for all regular full-time staff members at the Stanley Center’s expense:

• Short-term disability insurance.
• Long-term disability insurance.
• Life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance.
• Employee vision insurance.
• Employee assistance program.
• Workers compensation insurance.

Offered to all regular full-time and reduced time staff members at shared cost:

• Medical and prescription drug insurance.
• Dental insurance.
• Family vision insurance.
• Flexible Spending Accounts are offered to all regular full-time, reduced-time, and part-time staff members.

October 2025

As part of an employee’s total compensation package, the center offers a generous retirement plan to help employees save income for their retirement years. Employees are eligible for participation from day one.

The Stanley Center provides a defined contribution 403(b) retirement plan with auto-enrollment for regular full-time, reduced-time, and part-time staff members who are age 21 or older. Regular full-time and reduced-time staff members have immediate eligibility for the 50% employer match of up to 3 percent of the staff member’s salary. Employees can choose to make elective deferrals at a higher level, up to annual IRS maximums. Employees can choose to opt out of making contributions to the retirement plan. Regardless of whether the employee makes elective deferrals, the Stanley Center makes an annual contribution equal to 7 percent of salary. All contributions, including the employer match and 7 percent annual contribution by the center, are immediately fully vested. Participant accounts are self-directed and managed by the staff member within the guidelines of Ascensus.

October 2025

The center applies an inclusive definition of ‘family,’ believes in accommodating special life situations as they arise, and, as part of our values and principles, promotes empathy in human relationships and interactions.

In order to support work/life balance and the needs of families, the Stanley Center provides the following leave options and other policies:

• Adoption leave.
• Bereavement leave.
• Extraordinary circumstances.
• Family Medical Leave for serious health condition of a family member.
• Flexible work arrangements.
• Healthcare leave.
• Pregnancy and childbirth leave.
• Parental leave.
• Short-term and Long-term disability benefits.
• Unpaid leave of absence.

October 2025

All employees are encouraged to pursue learning and development that builds personal and professional skills, and contributes to purpose. The center allocates funds annually for staff to participate in external training, professional development, and continuing education.

The Stanley Center believes in the importance of supporting and contributing to the training, continuing education, and professional development of all staff members. We encourage staff members to participate in training, continuing education, and professional development opportunities, as work priorities permit, to advance individual and organizational knowledge. External opportunities may include leadership development, language training, or other skill development such as technology/software competency. The Stanley Center allocates at least $1000 per employee per calendar year for external training, professional development, and continuing education purposes. This allocation may be used for conference or program registration fees, travel, lodging, and other related expenses. The Stanley Center may also directly provide or organize training, continuing education, and professional development opportunities for staff.

Training, continuing education, and professional development needs and interests will be regularly discussed by the staff member and their immediate supervisor. Before any commitments are made for external opportunities, the staff member should confirm approval with their supervisor. It is expected that the staff member will share knowledge gained through external opportunities with co-workers and/or at staff meetings.

The staff member will receive their standard pay during the approved training, professional development, or continuing education activities. The staff member will receive their standard pay during approved training, professional development, or continuing education activities. If out-of-town travel is required to attend the activity, please refer to Reimbursable Travel Expenses in Policies and Procedures. For non-exempt staff, please also refer to the Fair Labor Standards Act rules for overtime (available from Human Resources) and discuss with your supervisor your travel and the training, continuing education, or professional development schedule to determine how the rules apply.

Beyond training, continuing education, and professional development, the center also provides tuition support for higher education through the center’s separate Tuition Reimbursement policy.

October 2025

Stanley Center co-founder Betty Stanley believed ardently in the value of global education in local classrooms and throughout the community. The Global Education program at the Stanley Center is the primary means by which we engage area students, educators, and families to foster inclusive dialogue, celebrate diverse perspectives, and promote equity to build a more peaceful and just world. The center also strives for a healthy relationship with its home community of Muscatine, Iowa, in other ways.

The Stanley Center strives to maintain a direct relationship to our defined communities, encompassing the city of Muscatine, IA where our office is located; Muscatine, Johnson, and Scott County, Iowa where most of our employees reside; and the fields in which we work, such as the policy community, journalism and media community, and our local community of Muscatine. We pursue opportunities where we can engage with local communities through volunteerism, mentorship, and partnerships with organizations that are constantly striving to improve social, cultural, and environmental conditions, especially for vulnerable groups. Local community members are a part of our governance structure.

The Stanley Center recognizes the importance of community involvement and encourages all employees to participate in volunteer activities. This engagement ensures that our communities will benefit from our decisions and investments, as well as allowing them to
contribute valuable knowledge and perspectives that can aid our work directly.

In our strategic framework, we confirm that we value, promote, and strengthen global education to foster more globally minded individuals in our local community. Our global education programming is guided by goals and strategies captured in a work plan,
convenes local community members and groups, and regularly seeks feedback and input from its intended audiences (local K-12 educators, interested organizations, and caregivers of youth).

The Stanley Center consistently holds public building tours, coordinating with community organizations to facilitate these events. It hosts an annual open house as a way for our community to learn about and engage with our organization and values.

October 2025

The center is pleased to offer employees a generous amount of paid volunteer time at an organization (or organizations) of their choosing.

Community volunteering is an important measure of the civic health of a community and a nation, and we know volunteering provides valuable community services and strengthens communities in many ways. The Stanley Center is committed to giving back to our communities by supporting our staff members in their volunteering efforts.

The center will provide up to 16 hours of paid time off work annually for each regular full time or reduced-time staff member to participate in volunteer activities of their choosing as a service to non-profit organizations or charitable groups. Such activities could include volunteering in the classroom, mentoring youth, assisting the elderly, advocating for social justice issues, stocking food banks, caring for animals in shelters, and environmental restoration work.

Annually, the Stanley Center may also sponsor at least 8 hours of organized volunteering activities that all staff members can participate in. Staff members will also be paid their regular pay if the organized volunteer activities take place over normal business hours.

January 2022

The center is pleased to match employee charitable contributions and also makes charitable contributions aligned with our core values.

The Stanley Center is dedicated to supporting charitable causes through volunteer time and charitable donations. We strive to activate social change to benefit a wider population and address the significant inequities within the communities where our office is located and where our staff members live. The Stanley Center encourages charitable giving by our staff members to organizations designated as 501(c)3 by the IRS and will provide three to one match of employee contributions (for example, an employee contribution of $50 would be matched by the center at $150), up to a total annual match of $3,000 per regular full-time or reduced-time employee. Please see the Director of Finance for details.

We encourage charitable giving to organizations that uphold the vision of the Stanley Center where all people share and sustain a secure and enduring peace with freedom, justice, and dignity. The center may also make charitable contributions directly to IRS-designated 501(c)3 organizations. This may include gifts for a staff member’s retirement or at the end of a governance member’s service or in response to current events or community needs. These are made at the discretion of the president.

October 2025

Due to the nature of our work around the world, we cannot fulfill a commitment to buying local to our home in Iowa. We do, however, ensure that all procurement activities align with our commitment to social responsibility, sustainability, and local economic development.

Local Sourcing
When possible, preference is given to vendors, suppliers, contractors, and businesses that are independent and locally owned and operated. In addition, they should be located within a 500-kilometer radius of our headquarters in Muscatine. Local businesses are likely to be more responsive to local needs, and they typically put money back into the local community through wages that stay in the community and through purchasing and contributions.

Social Responsibility and Ethical Business Practices
We prioritize partnerships with vendors and suppliers who adhere to ethical business practices, including:

• No involvement in forced labor or human rights violations.
• Compliance with all relevant labor laws and standards.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We screen all vendors, suppliers, contractors, and businesses to comply with all United States and other applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to US trade sanction regulations and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Sustainability
We are committed to minimizing our negative environmental impact. Our procurement process prioritizes:

• Vendors who employ sustainable business practices, including waste reduction, energy efficiency, and responsible resource use.
• Products and services that help reduce our carbon footprint, such as energy-efficient equipment, recyclable materials, and services that minimize waste.

October 2025