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From YouTube: Equity at the Center: January 2021
Description
Racial Equity Coordinator Faith Jackson provides an update on social justice work being done in the City. In this first episode, she provides an overview of accomplishments in 2020 and looking ahead in 2021.
A
In
october,
the
city
council
unanimously
adopted
a
racial
equity
business
plan
and
that
business
plan
really
lays
out
the
values,
the
goals,
the
performance
measures
and
the
strategies
for
how
we
plan
to
advance
racial
equity
within
our
internal
structure
over
the
next
several
years,
and
so
that
racial
equity
business
plan
is
available
on
the
city's
website.
When
we
adopted
the
racial
equity
business
plan,
we
also
committed
to
providing
the
community
routine
feedback
and
progress
reports
on
how
we
are
implementing
that
plan.
A
So
today,
I'm
here
to
share
with
the
community
some
of
the
things
that
we've
accomplished
over
the
last
several
months
and
then
moving
forward
in
the
year,
2021
we'll
start
to
have
sort
of
monthly
or
more
routine
updates
on
that
work.
Taking
you
back
to
november,
immediately
after
we
adopted
the
racial
equity
business
plan,
the
first
thing
that
we
did
was
assign
responsibility
for
the
plan
and
so
the
executive
leadership
team,
which
is
comprised
of
all
of
the
department
directors,
the
assistant
city
manager,
the
city
manager
and
myself.
A
We
came
together
to
assign
the
various
members
of
that
team
responsibilities
within
the
plan,
and
so
each
and
every
executive
leadership
team
meeting
is
responsible
for
one
or
more
good
one
for
some
particular
components
of
the
plan,
and
that
was
really
important
for
us,
because
we
wanted
to
make
sure
that
that
was
responsibility
and
accountability
and
actually
implementing
those
things
that
we
committed
to
doing.
One
of
the
things
that
we
started
to
work
on
right
away
was
embedding
a
racial
equity
lens
in
our
hr
policies
and
practices
and
programs.
A
We
also
designed
and
implemented
some
inclusive
recruitment
strategies
for
our
boards
and
commissions.
So
our
community
outreach
and
engagement
division
presented
to
council
opportunities
to
really
embed
a
racial
equity
lens,
an
inclusive
recruitment
strategy
for
boards
and
commission,
and
as
a
result
of
that,
we
added
the
collection
of
racial
demographics
to
all
of
our
board
and
commission
applications,
and
also
all
of
these
staff
liaisons
for
our
boards
and
commissions
will
be
completing
an
inclusive
recruitment
form
in
december.
We
revisited
our
organizational
assessment.
A
We
also
started
to
standardize
our
racial
demographic
collection
process,
so
oftentimes
for
our
parts
programs,
or
even
for
like
boards
and
commission
processes.
We
collect
information
from
the
community,
racial
demographic
information
and
there's
a
list
of
different
classifications
that
we
have
residents
select.
A
What
was
happening
before
is
that
we
had
different
classifications
used
based
on
the
different
programs,
and
we
wanted
to
bring
some
consistency
to
that
process
and
so
in
developing
a
standard
for
that
process.
We
reached
out
to
our
community
members
because
we
wanted
to
make
sure
that
we
were
using
the
terms
and
the
titles
that
most
actually
affected
how
the
residents
would
like
to
be
classified.
A
We
also
really
focus
on
providing
opportunities
for
bipoc
businesses
to
engage
in
contracting
opportunities
with
the
city,
so
we
had
a
group
of
staff
that
looked
at
sort
of
our
contracting
policies
and
purchasing
policies,
particularly
as
it
relates
to
when
we
are
utilizing
funds
received
from
federal
grants,
and
we
embedded
in
that
process
a
requirement
to
reach
out
to
diverse
businesses
so
that
they
can
be
aware
of
the
many
different
contracting
opportunities
that
we
have
so
to
kick
off
the
new
year.
In
january,
we
rolled
out
a
new
racial
equity
training
series.
A
So
last
year
all
of
our
staff
participated
in
the
introduction
to
racial
equity
training,
and
so
there
was
one
training
that
we
completed
throughout
the
year
this
year.
We're
moving
from
one
training
to
four
and
there
will
be
a
training
that
all
staff
will
participate
in
each
quarter.
The
first
quarter,
training
really
focused
on
identifying
and
identifying
racial
disparities
in
the
bloomington
community,
both
as
an
employer
and
with
the
community
at
large,
and
then
also
highlighting
those
opportunities
to
address
those
racial
disparities.
A
This
training
was
a
responsive
training
because
we
conducted
a
staff
survey
in
2020
and
what
we
found
was
that
46
of
those
staff
responding
to
that
survey
indicated
that
they
were
not
aware
of
racial
disparities
in
the
bloomington
community.
So
we
wanted
to
make
sure
that
we
made
staff
aware
of
where
the
work
needs
to
be
done,
and
so,
where
are
the
issues?
And
where
is
the
opportunity
for
improvement
so
that
they
can
be
better
engaged
in
addressing
those
issues?
A
We
also
rolled
out
the
racial
equity
speakers
series,
and
so
starting
in
january,
every
third
thursday
of
the
month.
We
will
invite
our
staff
to
hear
from
remarkable
leaders,
both
in
the
twin
cities,
region
sort
of
across
the
nation
who
are
leading
racial
equity
initiatives
in
a
variety
of
spheres
right.
So
this
different
disciplinary
backgrounds
and
in
different
sort
of
sectors
and
interests,
and
so
we're
bringing
those
remarkable
individuals
to
our
city
staff
via
zoom,
of
course,
and
providing
an
opportunity
to
learn
more
about
their
work
and
how
they
can
engage
in
that
work.
A
We
recognize
the
national
day
of
racial
healing.
This
event
really
brings
together
communities
across
the
nation.
To
imagine
what
it
would
be
like
to
start
to
deal
with
some
of
the
equity
issues
that
we
have
in
our
community
and
really
work
make
our
race
towards
healing
healing
from
some
of
the
wounds
of
the
past
and
also
building
bridges
together
for
what
we
would
like
to
see
in
the
future.
A
The
city
of
bloomington
partnered
with
the
bloomington
public
schools
district.
We
also
partnered
with
normandale
community
college
and
northwestern
health
sciences
university
and
the
human
rights
commission
and
bringing
together
a
three-day
series
of
programming
for
our
residents.
So
we
kicked
off
the
celebration
with
racial
equity,
healing
circles
that
were
provided
by
the
minnesota
peace
building
institute,
and
so
we
had
opportunities
for
residents
and
community
members
to
sign
up
for
those
and
engage
in
in
those
sort
of
talking
circles.
A
And
then
we
also
had
some
training
that
was
provided
by
the
minnesota
peace
building
institute
to
really
focus
on
how
to
provide
trauma-informed
care.
The
council
adopted
a
resolution
declaring
racism,
a
public
health
crisis
and
also
committing
to
addressing
the
underlying
and
social
determinants
of
health,
so
really
excited
about
that
work
and
as
a
result
of
the
council
adopting
that
resolution,
our
staff
is
kicking
off
a
strategic
planning
process
that
will
bring
together
residents,
businesses,
community
members,
non-profits
people
across
many
different
sectors
within
our
bloomington
community
to
come
together
and
talk
about.
A
How
do
we
as
a
collective
work
together
in
partnership,
to
really
address
the
inequities
in
these
social
determinants
of
health?
And
how
do
we
create
a
shared
vision
for
where
we
want
to
be
as
a
community
so
that
we
can
fulfill
that
vision
of
being
a
bloomington
where
people
of
all
races
are
able
to
drive?
Finally,
I
want
to
say
that
this
recap
talks
about
sort
of
where
we've
come
since
october.
To
date.
A
In
the
future,
we
plan
to
provide
monthly
updates,
and
so
I'll
be
I'll
come
back
to
you
provide
set
up
in
a
monthly
update
of
what
we've
accomplished
that
month
and
what
we're
looking
forward
to
accomplish
in
the
month
ahead.
If
you
have
specific
questions
about
where
we
are
with
any
of
the
initiatives,
specific
questions
about
the
racial
equity
business
plan,
please
don't
hesitate
to
reach
out
to
me
again.
You
can
contact
me
at
the
email
address
available
on
your
screen.