Doing Racial Equity Work

It’s Not Easy, Never Ends, but is always necessary…

This past Wednesday, I had the pleasure of facilitating and designing the City of Seattle’s, Workforce Equity Planning and Advisory Committee (WEPAC) Retreat focused on a racial equity approach & practice to engaging employees, in an authentic and meaningful way, to address institutional racism and racist practices.

As a former City of Seattle employee, I recognize that The City of Seattle has been profoundly impactful on my learning journey. I’m so proud of the continued progress made & real commitment shown; at every level. It’s not perfect, may be clunky, doesn’t move fast enough, and some people voices may still be missed; despite intention to include. But because I have worked in [many] other institutions and continue to engage with people across the United States, I’ve become keenly aware that the City of Seattle is willing to name and call out the system of racism, stay committed – even when inertia can be tiresome and results are not always seen. There are leaders that have put skin in the game for years, some pictured here and some not pictured. Sometimes we forget what happens behind the scenes because we’re waiting to see it on stage! I am both excited and humbled to provided my skillset to support this team of rockstars on the frontline everyday in everyday.