Better Future Project (BFP) is an organization committed to building a social movement to tackle the climate crisis here in Massachusetts. We strive to center justice at the heart of our work. The last nine months has been a time of reckoning for BFP, as we discovered how hard it can be to live our values in the day-to-day life of the organization. 

In May of 2021, a former employee of BFP posted on social media about allegations made in 2014 of sexual harassment against the Executive Director at the time. This Executive Director was placed on administrative leave in May 2021 and is no longer with BFP.  The former employee alleged that the organization failed to respond appropriately when the incidents were first reported in 2014. In response to the resurgence of these allegations, BFP immediately hired an external investigator, who investigated the incidents from 2014, including review of BFP’s ongoing workplace culture, relevant documents and interviewing current and former employees. The investigator concluded that the BFP sexual harrassment policy and procedure were violated in 2014 and that the organization had failed to respond appropriately to the complaint.

BFP has the obligation and opportunity to recommit and reexamine our values as we continue to learn, grow and evolve as a stronger organization. BFP staff and Board are working together to establish culture, structures, and processes of accountability that will protect the safety of BFP staff and community, and empower them to do their best work. We are providing clarity around what constitutes unacceptable behavior and when action is warranted, while providing clear and safe ways for employees to come forward with any complaints. Management and the Board are committed to hearing and taking seriously every complaint and acting accordingly.

We have learned a lot, and have made significant changes:

• The organization has created two seats on the board for current staff members.
• We have created a joint staff-board committee with the important charge to examine how to improve culture, communications, and employees’ sense of safety. 
• We have examined and adapted our organizational structure to improve communication and to create closer alignment between the staff and the board.
• We have invested in hiring an outside organization to ensure that employees have a safe and secure place to go with any concerns about workplace safety, communications, and the like.
• We are undertaking organization-wide trainings and policy changes to ensure that complaints or concerns are heard and communicated fully and appropriately.
• We have adopted the model MCAD Sexual Harassment policy.

These actions are only the beginning of our transformation process. We are taking essential steps toward building a safe, transparent workplace that holds those who harm accountable.

The BFP staff commits to work with the Board and our community to build an organization that holds us accountable to our anti-oppressive values, both in the public arena and within our organization, as we engage with each other across lines of identity and power. We are heartbroken by the harm that has occurred and our organization’s failure to properly address it. Accountability is crucial to our movement, and by leaning into this work we can become a more just and powerful force in the climate movement.  

The BFP Board takes responsibility for the mistakes of the past and deeply apologizes for the harm that was done.  We are enormously impressed by the staff's ongoing commitment to the work of BFP, and are deeply grateful for their partnership with the Board through this transformation.

We have learned a great deal from those who spoke up and led BFP to reckon with our values. This past year has been a difficult time, and has triggered a great deal of soul-searching. We are enormously appreciative of the staff, volunteers, and other members of our community, who have continued to focus on the critical work of the organization, who have given their all, and who together have been making important strides toward a brighter climate future.

We emerge recommitted to our mission to grow the climate movement in Massachusetts in a way that builds community and lifts up others.