Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?

When I started at TerraLoco, I was very interested in making sure staff, customers and the running community as a whole felt that TerraLoco was a place that all were welcomed. From the employee handbook to the $5 5K’s, TerraLoco already had a number of community connections and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI) in place. However, we know we have a long way to go. We want to ask the question–Is TerraLoco and our running community an inviting and inclusive community space for all?

We have many grand ideas, which will take research, partnership and buy in from ALL our staff.

Here is a list of our current commitments:

1. Our staff handbook states the company values and we are constantly looking to use these in the store and with staff: Inclusivity, Generosity, Community First, Progress Over Perfection, Curiosity, Generosity, Honesty and Integrity.
2. TerraLoco gives back to the community in numerous ways. The Monday evening $5 5K’s have been very successful for the running community to become more knowledgeable about the local nonprofits in our community, along with giving the proceeds from the run to the organization for the evening.
3. Several times throughout the year TerraLoco donates new clothing, shoes, and accessories to various organizations including Family Promise Rochester, The Landing, Boulder Options, The Women’s Shelter, and Paws and Claws.
4. We are committed to making sure everyone feels seen and prioritized: People of Color, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, all body shapes and sizes, and ethnic, cultural and religious minorities. One change we are excited about is replacing our outdated mannequins with gray ones once the remodel is completed in April.
5. We are attending workshops put on by the Running Industry Diversity Coalition. This is an amazing organization that provides learning opportunities nationwide on numerous topics for the running community and industry. The most recent was on creating inclusive events.

List of future commitments:

1. We are working on providing training for the entire staff of TerraLoco that will consist of education on terms, biases, and prejudices we may have even if just subconsciously. We realize that making a big change starts within ourselves. We are ready to talk about big and hard topics and to learn from experts in the field.
2. We want to make connections with many organizations in the community.  We are working on partnering with the Rochester Diversity Council to help us with education of staff. We also are working on finding out more about volunteer opportunities with organizations such as Bolder Options and Journie. ​​We want to give back to the community not just monetarily, but also with our time & talents
3. We want to not only prioritize diversity, but celebrate it. We hope to do this by offering educational opportunities to our staff, eventually to our customers, and then the running community as well. Book Club opportunities? Special speakers? Events and special opportunities bringing awareness to dates and organizations we might not all be aware of? We are excited to bring all kinds of new ideas and opportunities to Rochester.
4. We envision starting a taskforce to work together throughout the Rochester community. We’ll be inviting local running clubs and other organizations to address the lack of diversity in our local running community, and tackle equity in a sport that can often be hard to enter without resources.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.